Aylesbury to Harrow
DAY TWENTY-ONE: Aylesbury to Harrow (28 June 2021)
Ascent: 470 m
Legs: Legs feeling fine, body fatigued
In naming "Harrow" in the heading here I really mean my home in Kenton. My food stash is gone so for the first time I plan in a breakfast stop, and that will be at Great Missenden. Then, to savour this last day, another break later in Harefield. Yes, I am experiencing that common twin desire to simultaneously get back home and to stay on the road.
After many days of tarmac on this return leg, today I find myself on a bridleway heading up a steep muddy track which is hard going even on foot. I have learnt it is usually best just to push on, so I do, and eventually reconnect with solid ground. It feels like the Gods don't want me to get home as my way is hampered by roadworks (I had ignored the road signs) and when I ride for a mile expecting to be able to wriggle round on a pedestrian walkway the road is totally blocked and I find myself retracing my steps and find a longer alternate route, or at least Komoot does. Stopping for breakfast at Great Missenden I am struck by a certain difference; people here are close enough to London to be disinterested in a passing cycle tourist so gone are the conversations with strangers.
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| Its damp in the Chiltern Hills |
The clue had been right there in the name - Chiltern Hills. I had expected today to be flat(ish), or at least the right type of ascents. No such luck and I push on until I reach a junction that is familiar to me from my day rides so I know the road and get to relax into the roll home. Arriving home feels like relief after a day of obstacles. A minimal unpack, food, and a soak in the bath where I start to contemplate the next adventure. Mr Benn style.
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| Ducking inside the M25 ring road |
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