OXFORD Mail picture editor Keith Price is a keen cyclist and took a trip along the new Thames Valley cycle route at the weekend.

Here, he gives cyclists the inside track on the 97-mile long attraction, which was launched yesterday, for the region's huge community of cyclists. He writes: "This was my first trip on my new bike - A Raleigh Silverblade - after the old model was pinched. I wanted to give my new set of wheels a proper test.

After checking my tyres and giving my bike a full service, I set off from George Street, in Oxford city centre.

I left at 2.30pm on Saturday afternoon. After cycling past the Westgate centre, I joined the cycle track which runs alongside the towpath by the Thames.

I rode past Iffley Lock and then I joined the new pathway, which has just been constructed for the National Cycle Route, leading to Kennington. It was a very hot day and I needed plenty of water for the trip, which took just under 16 hours.

I rode through the centre of Abingdon and then targeted the cooling towers at Didcot power station. From Didcot, the track runs alongside a ploughed field and leads to Wallingford.

From Wallingford, I headed towards Twyford, just outside Reading, where I stopped for my brother's 50th birthday party. By this time it was 8pm.

I stayed the night and despite feeling a bit fragile following the celebrations, I got back on the saddle at 9.30 the next morning and headed towards Maidenhead and on to Windsor. I was pleased to see I was making steady progress with the clock tower in Maidenhead telling me it was 10.45am. I was then able to cycle through Windsor Great Park, but I would recommend leaving the track for a couple of hours to see Windsor Castle and surrounding attractions.

On the cycle route towards Staines, there are more and more people using the path, which is very well marked. You just keep following the signs.

After Staines, I started heading into London and the path takes cyclists straight past Hampton Court. It was 6.10pm when I reached the end of the route at Putney Bridge, in London.

A keen cyclist could do the new route in a single day but I wouldn't recommend it as a family outing, because it took me 16 hours of hard pedalling.

A large proportion of the route after Windsor is flat but before that I had to use all my energy to climb Wittenham Clumps.

This route has clearly been well thought-out and there is plenty to see along the way."

Story date: Tuesday 19 October

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.