Er - I dunno, tbh: I am a bit rub at remembering route details. There were def some Hills. Brick Hill might have been the one I got up (without aid of granny ring, though!) by counting the discarded drink containers in the verge. Lucozade the clear favourite of Woburn litterers, although a fair showing from a variety of lagers as well.

I liked the park! I do not remember anything steep. Maybe I got to miss that bit (I think there was a road which went off to our left which looked steep). The Chilterns, now, that was steep.

KWYM about descent speed. Things that have helped me improve:
- practicing cornering by leaning (on flat roads first, moving up to littler hills) - gives me more confidence in my ability to get round the corner at speed.
- more confidence in stopping power of brakes (again by trying it out on less steep hills first).
- air-braking instead of brake-braking.
- the discovery that if you put weight on the pedal outside of the corner you're coming into, you corner better.

Mostly just practice, though. I can do 25-30 quite happily on middling-steep hills (& more if I can see a fully clear road & a hill coming up on the other side :-) ); very steep though & I still get nervous more from speed of acceleration than speed per se.