Yattendon, Chilterns, Berkshire

Distance 28km (17.4 miles) Climbing 950m (3,116ft) Time 3hrs 30mins to 6hrs

Route summary A solid XC route through the beautiful, peaceful Berkshire countryside, with top-quality refreshment stops and opportunities to explore further along the way.

Start/ inish Yattendon village (free) car park (postcode RG18 0UQ, grid ref SU 552/745)

1

Turn left out of the car park and left on Chapel Lane. Cross the M4 and pass The Pot Kiln pub. Climb, then keep ahead when the road bears right. After 0.5km, in the woods, turn right and follow this trail as it becomes tarmac by houses.

2

Continue to a road junction and turn right, then fork left. At the junction in the village, go right then left soon after on a byway after the last house. Ride to Bucklebury Common, keep ahead until shortly beyond a thatched garage, and turn left.

3

Bear left on a byway, parallel to a road on your right. Keep ahead to a road at the far end. Go right, then quickly left, o -road, on a drive/bridleway (or the cafe is straight ahead).

4

Descend, then keep left to a road. Turn left, then left at the junction and right on the byway from earlier. Go left at the crossing and over the road, then right on a byway. By some houses, bear right, across another track and a car park.

5

Cross the heathland, bear right at the trees to a crossroads and go left. Turn left on a bridleway, across more heathland. Go over some doubletrack and right on the parallel singletrack. Cross a minor road to another road and over onto a byway. 6

Bear right and cross two minor roads, to a gravel track. Go left on a bridleway. Head right on a minor road, around a left-hander, then right over a road. Go right before the houses. By the road, turn left, descend, then head left, slightly uphill.

7

Go right on a bridleway and bear right, across a clearing and through a car park. Bear left across the heathland and right at a T-junction. Cross a road and go right near another one.

8

By some houses, head sharply left, to a minor road. Go left, pass a byway, then go right on a bridleway and keep ahead. Continue on the byway, climb to a road junction and go right, downhill, then left at the bottom.

9

After 500m turn left. Climb and go right on the road, then right before the motorway. Ascend, then turn left at a track crossing, to a road. Go left, over a crossroads. Go right into the woods. Descend on a bridleway to tarmac and head left.

10

Either follow the road back to Yattendon or go through The Pot Kiln car park, right on the road and play on the jumps on your left. Rejoin the road and go left at the T-junction, back to Yattendon.