LFGSS Bikepacking Weekend 7: Berkshire with bonus forumers

Weather not looking so good on Sat/Sun but that's maybe not a bad thing. 23/24 degrees.

Sounds pretty ideal to me. Provided it's not pissing down all night :D

That looks to be exactly when it’s pissing it down according to the slightly schizophrenic report from BBC weather
I realise we won’t be in Tilehurst itself but should be similar

1 Attachment

The rest of Saturday and Sunday is sunny :)

Just called up and thetrainline.com confirmed that you cannot book bikes on the trains to Tilehurst. GWR website suggests we can only take 2 bikes on the entire train - seems like nonsense...I'll be at Paddington for the 08:57 train on Saturday morning.

How many others are on the same?

Me and Harrison @hp93 will be there for that one

Still 16 degrees - it's practically Ibiza mate!

That's slightly concerning regarding the train. @platypus doe we have a vague final count?

RE the train, a bunch of us managed just fine on the way back from brother in the wild last year, must have been about 20-30 cyclists crammed onto a train, just don't ask and get on I reckon.

That was arse end of nowhere though. There wasn’t even a ticket office. This is London Paddington

True, but better to ask for forgiveness than permission innit*

*of course not in all circumstances.

Bit rapey

Ha. It'll be reet!

My gf and I are still keen for this - have tested out bivvy stuff and it was all good. Carrying it on MTBs will be interesting though...time to get super-minimal. We'll be at Tilehurst station before 10:00 on Saturday, coming by car so see you there. Looking forward to/nervous about meeting some Internet People. Any more thoughts about food on Saturday night? For packing/preparation reasons...

Plenty of pubs in Wallingford (I think we stopped there last time and to get snacks etc from a supermarket), nearer to where we camped last time there is the Crooked Billet (spendy, upmarket) and the Cherry Tree Inn (a bit less so) both in Stoke Row. The Rising Sun on Witheridge Hill, where we stopped last time is open again, not been there since last time, since I thought it was shut.
The Unicorn, The Red Lion both nearby are also fine. Theres also the King William in Ipsden, I've not been there, but undoubtedly fine.

Plenty of pub options - I'm going to pack foodwise assuming we have at least one pub and one food shop stop on Saturday and similar on Sunday.

Shan’t be bringing food supplies myself. Will rely on shops etc

Preliminary packing test. There's a stove, gas and pan in there. But a pub on Saturday night would be great for food!

1 Attachment

Worst comes to worst, you can split the group and some go via Guildford and also take a later train.

Weather update. Now forecast to rain Saturday evening but not during the night

King William in Hailey (Ipsden) is lovely. Beer in barrels.

Bikes on the train - no bookings needed. Just show up. Had 5 on the same train no problem with the last trip, it’s a quiet time of day too.

Food - as I’ve said earlier I will be making all my own food. I want to keep stops to a relative minimum as there are lots of people coming and faffing takes ages. And making your own food is always more fun.

That said we’ll probably stop off at a pub for a while. There are plenty of stops along the way to buy food.

Forecast - Windy (the only forecast I believe in from experience) is showing good weather all weekend, no rain, sun and clouds.

Yeah I'll probably make my food too if a few others are, otherwise pub grub is tempting.

Bike is now built, just need to fettle with the gears a bit (not my strong point).

What's the trusted forecast you speak of?

Sensom when are you heading south?

Fine, I’ll make some butties

/ live off quorn soss rolls

forecast: https://www.windy.com/51.551/-1.021?51.160,-1.021,8
their app is really good, you can compare 4 simultaneous forecast models over one location

Is there a pub near the end of the ride?

If its going to be raining it might be best to get some shelter/food before settling down for the night.