Cycling

Peddle your way through South Oxfordshire

Just as with walking, cycling is a fun way to maintain good health, fitness and a sense of well-being. According to Sport England figures, cycling is the fourth most popular sport in the country.

If you choose to cycle, it allows you to explore some of the quietest corners of South Oxfordshire with its unspoilt historic churches, spectacular countryside and villages of character to rest in, with their unassuming pubs where log fires burn in the hearth and where often locally brewed real ale and good food is served.

The world is your oyster when you get out on your bike. You can just follow your front wheel and see and experience lots of things that you'd miss if you were in the car. It's a great way to get to know a local area; you can take in a pub or two, loop around or do a 60-mile trek all off road and it's such a friendly way to meet people too.

In South Oxfordshire, you can follow the Thames Valley Cycle route that runs via Wallingford, Didcot and Abingdon towards Oxford. You will revel in some of the most delightful beechwood clad Chilterns through Tokers Green, Kidmore End, Cane End, Wyfold before ending up towards Stoke Row. Continuing on, you can cross over Grims Ditch on the Ridgeway and descend into more open countryside near Crowmarsh.

Nothing beats a pedal along the designated Oxfordshire Cycle way or the disused railway line of the Phoenix trail. Every half mile on the Phoenix trail between Thame and Princess Risborough, there is a piece of art that is reminiscent of the history of the railway and its former use.

The Chiltern hills are covered with a wonderful range of bridal ways and rights of way for cyclists, giving an infinite number of routes to choose from. There are also several Sustran routes for those preferring to stay on smooth surfaces.