Rod_Saetan":3s918al7 said:
Like many we are thinking about moving out of the City and Chesham / Amersham (if we can afford it!) seem like a great compromise of proximity to London and Countryside. Anyone live / lived there? What is the cycling like, road/MTB/gravel (ha!)? Any awesome or indeed terrible things we may not have picked up on?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Rod,
I moved out of London to live in the Chilterns in 1988 though I am based about ten miles north of Amersham near to Wendover and Tring. I love the cycling around here. Not surprisingly, riding in the Chilterns mostly involves hills though there are some routes that avoid big hills by that following the ridges and the valleys.
About six miles NW of Amersham is the escarpment slope of the Chilterns which runs in a north easterly direction from the river Thames near Wallingford to the Dunstable Downs to the north. West of the scarp is the much flatter Vale of Aylesbury which is very popular with road cyclists.
The hills have significantly more in the way of forests than the mainly arable Aylesbury Vale. The off-road trails are a mixture of chalk and clay. This marl is rock hard when dry and but can be very muddy in the winter because it holds onto water and dries slowly. This can make winter riding interesting and so in winter, some riders prefer to ride in the area north of Leighton Buzzard where the sandy soils are drain better and so are ridable all year round.
Because the area is popular with horse riders the bridle-paths are often indented by the hooves when wet and retain many of these dents when the ground dries and hardens. So the riding tends to be slower than the fast smooth surface trails often found at purpose built trail-centres or on well maintained gravel tracks.
For easier riding there are quite a few of Sustrans' routes and canal tow-paths in the area, as well as long distance paths like the Ridgeway and Icknield way.
All-in-all, the riding opportunities in the area are many and varied.
I hope this is of help.
