Bikepacking Cycling UK's Royal Chilterns Way

When Ewan (my 14yr old son) and I rolled our bikes off the train at Reading station on Friday morning, we weren’t there for the music festival or the biscuit history. Reading may be the largest town in the UK without city status, but it’s also the gateway to something new: Cycling UK’s latest long-distance adventure, the Royal Chilterns Way.

(Video coming soon on our YouTube Channel)

The route—175 miles of bridleway, towpath, chalky climbs and forest track—was only launched on 18^th August. It’s part of Cycling UK’s “Adventure Series”, designed as long-weekend escapes: achievable, but with enough mud, sweat and tears to feel like a proper adventure. Ewan and I had already tackled the Cantii Way in Kent and the Rebellion Way in Norfolk. This August bank holiday, the Chiltern Hills would be our little adventure playground.

Day One: Reading to Great Missenden (52.3 miles / 2,789 ft ascent)

We eased in gently, tracing the Thames out of Reading before the land began to rise and fall, the first taste of the constant undulation that would define our weekend. Gradients steep enough to force us off the saddle had us pushing our bikes, panting. But every lung-busting climb was rewarded: sweeping views over patchwork fields, or the sudden reveal of a flint-walled village indicated by a church spire peeking over the hedgerows.

Lunch was at the Cheese Shed: toasties oozing with organic cheese made on site. Later, we grovelled up Whiteleaf Hill to admire its chalk cross before the final descent into Great Missenden, Roald Dahl country, where we pitched our tent in the field behind the Black Horse pub, just in time for a pint (of orange juice in Ewan’s case!) and hot food before collapsing into our sleeping bags.

Day Two: The Northern Loop from Great Missenden (68 miles / 5,180 ft ascent)

We rose early to head 8miles along the route to Church Mead parkrun in Old Amersham—Ewan opting to sit it out while I jogged UP and down the two laps through fields and woodland. Breakfast followed at Seasons café, then north through Berkhamsted, past First World War practice trenches and on towards Whipsnade, where the Tree Cathedral (trees planted in the layout of a medieval cathedral) offered a surreal pause.

By the time we reached Dunstable Downs for a late National Trust lunch, we were spent and we were only half way. Taking a moment to enjoy the views before we were back on our bikes. The climbs kept coming while flinty tracks made the descents nerve-jangling: Ashridge Monument (for the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, a pioneer in canal construction), Wendover Woods. Darkness fell as we detoured around HS2 closures and so we decided to take the road route back to Great

Missenden to finish the loop and return to our campsite rather than risking more trails in the dark, and what a choice, a steady descent on smooth tarmac meant we smashed out the last few miles, rolling into Great Missenden again, lit only by our headlamps.

The pub had kept back two burgers for us—an act of kindness we’ll never forget. Ewan fought to stay awake long enough to eat his. “The toughest day’s cycling we’ve ever done,” I wrote later. He nodded, too tired to argue.

Day Three: Great Missenden to Wallingford (37 miles / 3,100ft ascent)

An early awakening this morning by the sound of stakes being banged in, fans and burners going. As we peeked through the door of the tent, the sight of two hot air balloons being prepped for flight in the centre of our campsite – up, up and away!

Coffee and porridge in hand, we watched them drift skyward before striking camp and packing the bikes.

Fatigue hung heavy. At Peterley Farm we stumbled on a local producers’ market and gratefully paused for coffee and cake. The climbs came thick and fast— starting with the drive up to Benjamin Disraeli’s Hughenden where Shrek was walking by! Then overgrown bridleways bristling with nettles and brambles, leaving us both with cuts and tingling legs!

By Marlow we’d had enough. Our laden bikes and weary legs simply weren’t up for another evening of chasing daylight into camp.

So over a pint (alcohol free!) and a bite we improvised: re-routing on tarmac through Henley-on-Thames, then onto the Thames Path towards Wallingford. Purists might wince, but this is the beauty of Cycling UK’s routes: they’re frameworks, not straitjackets. Our reward was an earlier arrival, a pleasant meander by the Thames and watching boats going through Hambledon Lock, a gentler, smoother ride, and the chance to recover.

Day Four: Wallingford to Reading (21 miles / 1014ft ascent)

Our final morning was mellow. We brewed Monsoon Estates coffee on the stove, kites circling above us, then pedalled through parched wheat fields towards Goring. Coffee and cake at Viv’s café there fuelled us for the last test: the notorious Hartley Steps, a punishing push that felt worthy of a medal.

After that, it was smooth sailing—until Reading beckoned with festival crowds, marshals, and, inevitably, Ewan’s rear tyre hissing flat. A quick tube change and we rolled into Forbury Gardens to pose by the Maiwand Lion, just as we’d started three days earlier. 180 miles, 12,000ft of climbing, and one more Cycling UK route ticked off.

Reflections from the road

Riding with a teenager adds its own texture: Ewan’s “humour” when I flagged, his quiet determination when the climbs bit. Over toasties, burgers and chocolate brownies, we shared the kind of unfiltered conversation you only get when you’re too tired to filter anything at all.

Would I recommend the Royal Chilterns Way? Absolutely. But here’s what I’d tell anyone thinking of it:

Take five days, not three. Have a recovery day!
Run low gears and wide tyres; a mountain bike with front suspension is no bad idea and will certainly make it easier on your body!
Be prepared to push your bike up some of the hills, especially if you’re fully loaded with camping gear.
Keep an eye on your GPS — trees can play tricks on the satellite signal. I found using satellite image view useful sometimes to check I was on the right trail.
Be flexible, fancy a break from the gravel and hills? There’s often a road alternative.
Don’t be afraid to divert into villages for a café stop.
And if you can, avoid returning to Reading during the festival!

The Chilterns have a reputation for genteel English countryside: red kites, chalk downs, commuter towns. But from the saddle, over three sunburnt days with my son, they revealed themselves as something else entirely: rugged, relentless, and quietly extraordinary.