WORDS AND PICTURES PHIL BARELLA
Gently does it…
The War Memorial at Bradfield
Arrivéesummer/autumn2019
It may be just a stone’s throw from London, but the mellow country byways that form the route of the 208km Gently Bentley ride seem a million miles away from Britain’s sprawling capital city. Phil Barella of Kingstone Wheelers, experiences an event which has been described as “an early season pootle on Surrey and Hampshire lanes”.
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THE GENTLY BENTLEY is an essentially flat ride. The only hills are out of Henleyon-Thames, and near the Golden Pot – and even they are just drags, though there are one or two bergs which require the little ring. Basically, there isn’t much on this ride that’s troubling, though the fatigue certainly accumulates. So it is, on Sunday 17 March this year I’m up at 6am and kitting myself out for this gently rolling Audax. The forecast suggests slightly gusty conditions with occasional rain and maybe some hail. Average temperatures will be as low as 5C, so I add some layers. I set off for the tennis club and sign in. Number 9 – nice. After a coffee and a chat about the previous day’s Six Nations rugby, we’re off, and everyone’s in good spirits. The conditions dictated that I get across to a decent group and share the work where I can, and get round steadily. The ride isn’t a race or a time trial, it’s more about pacing and keeping everything relatively steady and riding within yourself as well as eating and drinking sensibly.
It’s about pacing, and keeping ❝ everything relatively steady, and riding within yourself ❞
We made steady progress through Kingston, when a few small pelotons formed. Riders were riding in small and not so small groups! I got into a group which was quite large, but all were riding at a sensible speed, so I thought I’d get involved. The first of three points of interest were recorded near Ascot, and then we had to get across to Henley, via Waltham – a fast route, though the headwind slowed our group up a fair bit. Once we arrived at Henley we all made our way to places for a bit of food, but because of the delays at the café, I decided to eat a Soreen bar, wash it down with some water, and then joined a group that was pretty solid in terms of pace, heading for the next section, the rolling hills from Henley to Pangbourne. The initial rise was Gravel Hill, a steady climb that gets you up to near Peppard Common, and then the road goes up and down towards Goring, Whitchurch and Pangbourne. It’s scenic and unspoilt, and this part of the course flows well. The group was ebbing and flowing and we were catching and passing a few riders, and when the group partially splintered and others had stopped to wait for one of their colleagues, I went on ahead knowing that one of the climbs was a bit steep and they’d catch me. I
worked with a few others that were going at a similar pace, including one rider who kept getting the turns wrong! We then came upon the second point of interest, the War Memorial at Bradfield. This was a welcome break for a few minutes and the bigger group reconvened. We then headed towards Lasham garden centre via the Golden Pot The group splintered a little to the point there were five of us, but we kept each other in good spirits, until we got to Lasham. At the café area we ate a fair bit - jacket potato and beans for me with a sideserving of tuna mayo sandwiches and two cokes. The roads from Lasham to Bentley are again gently rolling, so we did our usual thing of riding uphill at our own pace and catching up on the descents, which were becoming more plentiful. This part was where there was a bit of rain and hail for a few minutes, before we got to familiar terrain around Dockenfield. We went past some recognisable farmland. I recalled the music festivals I used to enjoy there. It’s called the Hangout and happens every September. They’re a
