Enter through the right hand of two gates and follow the path. Soon this becomes concrete and arcs to the left. At the first opportunity turn right on a path through the trees. Follow this round and then turn right onto a path next to a wire fence. Go up the hill and when it has flattened out turn right on a path through heather. Follow this for ~100m then hard left onto another path. Folow this through some open ground, then through a bomb hole and turn right onto a road. Head down this road and cross the busy A339 at SU490639.
Follow the road in a S-SW direction towards Burghclere. After 2km at SU479621, turn right and descend down a rough track, go through the water splash and keep following the track. At a junction with a road (SU473619) go straight across and follow the track called "Ox Drove". When this track ends, turn left onto the tarmac road and then right at the T-junction 200m later. Follow this road for about 700m then turn left down a lane towards Ridgemoor Farm at SU461603. Follow this lane which turns into an unmade track. It climbs steeply, go straight on at a track junction (SU466596) and then enjoy the steep descent on the other side. Just follow this track until it comes out onto a road at SU469581. Turn left.
Stay on this road for 900m, then at a road junction, SU478580, turn right onto a bridleway. This starts off flat (can get muddy in winter) then goes up hill. Don't curse too much going up this hill as you'll be coming down it on the way back, trust me, its much better going down. Keep pedalling, go through a gate near the top, into an open field and hang a left at a cairn, SU476563, onto Wayfayrers Walk. You shortly pass Ladle Hill Fort which is the highest point of the route, then a nice open, fast descent on a wide grassy path, left at the field boundary, then right ~100m later (follow the way markers), through a gate, then follow a very vague track through a sheep field to gate on the far side onto a cinder track where you turn left and then reach a road at SU491567. At this point you could cross over and follow Wayfayrers Walk uphill followed by a right turn at the start of the gallops, but its much better if you turn right on to the road, go along the road for 350m then turn left onto a cinder track at SU493562. Follow this track for 270m then turn right onto a bridleway which is mostly gentle downhill singletrack (can get a bit overgrown in summer). Follow the bridleway (which eventually widens into a track) for 1.8km until you come to a belt of trees on your right. If you come to a road then you've gone ~100m too far. Turn right, SU501543, onto another bridleway. This is the route of the old Portway, an ancient Roman road. It starts off narrow with trees on your left and a barbed wire fence on your right. The trick is to carry as much speed as possible on the downward sections so that you have as much momentum as possible for the following uphill. Beware going down the third descent too fast as there's a road at the bottom which you have to cross, SU480532.
Cross the road and continue up the hill on the other side, keeping to the left edge of the field. This soon flattens out before an amazing singletrack descent weaving through trees. Just as you're getting the hang of it brake really hard and come out onto the road at SU462523. Turn right, you're now starting to head back towards Newbury. This is the only 2 lane road on the entire route and after 850m, turn left off it at SU459530, go over the A34 (short cut back to Newbury for the suicidal) and just follow the lane for 2.8km.
At SU443548, at a left hand bend just after Lower Woodcott Farm, turn off right and take the rightmost of two tracks up an initially steep hill. Keep on this track to a junction with Wayfayrers Walk at SU448555. Turn right. Follow Wayfayrers Walk SE, flatish at first then a great descent through some trees towards the A34. Just before the A34, check out the DeHaviland Memorial, this was where DeHaviland made his first flight. At the A34, SU462551, you have two options. The first is to think "do I feel lucky", then dash across the A34. The 2nd is to turn right, follow the concessionary path parallel with the A34 for 600m, go through the underpass, then follow the concessionary path on the other side northwards for 600m. This is the safest and recommended option. You'll find yourself in a grassy valley. Turn right (eastwards) and follow Wayfayrer's Walk, initially on grass, then on a bit of tarmac in the grass, then on a track where it turns first right, then left and heads north to the cairn at SU476563. You remember this point don't you?
Now some fun. Go left, through the gate and descend Ladle Hill at speed. Take care though as the bridleway is singletrack and the corners on it are blind and can't be taken at full speed as you might hit a walker/horserider/MTBer coming up the other way. In fact you'll be glad of this safety first attitude as it'll give you an excuse to brake rather than scare yourself ****less. Unfortunately, you'll get down to the end of this descent a lot faster than it took you to pedal up it. At the road junction, SU478580, go straight ahead.
Follow the road northwards for 1.3km until you get so a triangular road junction. Take the right fork then 50m later at the 2nd fork, go straight across the road onto a bridleway at SU477593. Follow this for 600m (sections can get boggy in winter), then at the end, turn left onto a track. After 100m you'll come to the wrought iron gates of Earlstone Manor, SU480598. If you're lucky, you'll hear a "click" and the gate will swing slowly open. If it doesn't then go through the plebs entrance to the left. Follow the track past the manor, out the gate on the other side and all the way to the road in Burghclere at SU473610.
At the road junction you have 4 options. You want the 2nd from right road or 3rd from left depending on how you want to look at it, but you want to head initially NNW then N. You only follow this road for 800m until the junction with Ox Drove track (remember this?) at SU473619. Turn right, then after ~100m find a hole through the trees and head off onto Burghclere Common. There are no official tracks across the Common but you'll see a sign saying you're welcome to cycle on the common so long as you don't start constructing freeride type jumps and stuff. There's plenty of paths to follow so just head in a NE direction and you should come out onto a track at SU481627, just before another water splash. Hang a right, through the water splash, up the hill then at the road junction SU483627, turn left and head back the way you came towards Newbury.
Cross the A339, then up the hill and keep going almost to the fence with the bunkers. Turn left and follow the path round in an arc past the disused missile silos. The 6 cruise missile silos are all that is left of what was once RAF Greenham Common. This was where the USAF based nuclear armed cruise missiles in the early-late '80s. After they left, the runways and taxiways were dug up for hardcore for the Newbury bypass but in what can only be described as bureaucracy gone mad, the missile silos couldn't be demolished as the Russians had rights to inspect them to make sure they were empty under the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty. The missile silos now remain a monument to the cold war, indeed they are designated an ancient monument. They're still owned by the MoD as Berkshire Council refused to buy them for £1, unfortunately, they're fenced off so you can't clamber over them. Enough history. Go across some open ground, turn left onto a well made gravel path and you'll soon be back at the start.