Vic and Graham's journey to the start of the ride, From Loughborough to Abingdon.
27th June 2021
Part 1 Loughborough to Weedon (Just West of Northampton).
We arrived at Weedon just before 4pm. After having left Cossington at 9.30am We managed to get to Northampton almost exclusively off road. Having travelled on the canal to Mkt Harborough where we lunched near the Butter market. Then on past Little Bowden and along the disused railway to Brampton Halt steam railway. Then on road around perimeter of Allthorp and finally over M1 to Weedon.
Room is adequate and just had a warm shower.
After a tour of the delights of Weedon we are settling down for our 2 for 1 meal offer. Weather for tomorrow not looking great for our ride down to Abingdon via Bicester and Oxford.
Vic and Graham
Part 2 Weedon (Just West of Northampton) to Abingdon.
Monday ride report by Graham.
We were awoken early in the morning by the pitter patter of rain outside. At least I was, Vic had already been woken several hours prior by my snoring.
Anyway, we the intrepid pair continued our southwards journey, fully waterproofed up, but in fact the rain gods were kind to us and we were able to 'de-layer' at our mid-ride stop in Bicester.
Our route today was mainly on road, via quiet country lanes (if you don’t count crossing the M40 and A34). Straight through Bicester and then Oxford where we hit a slight hitch when a bridge on our route was closed. Anyway a helpful local pointed us to a Thames-side path which was probably an improvement on our planned route.
We rolled round the Abingdon ring road to our hotel, arriving after 4 hours pedalling and having traveled 55 miles and climbed 1800 feet. Where we joined Howard and Derek and later Eric and Stuart, and are currently diligently replenishing our fluid levels, as per Clyde’s advice 🙂
Anyway, warm up over, the ride proper starts tomorrow...
Eric's Ride Report for days 1 & 2 of tour.
In the absence of a blog for now and for those interested in the KAW .. the following ..
After
a long and challenging day yesterday we did mere 44 miles today.
However that was the hardest days cycling I have ever done. Even Graham
the King of off road admitted it was tough!
It
took nearly 8 hours . The first 22 miles especially to the stretch to the Devil's Punch Bowl
was murderous! There was mud, sand, rocks, (boulders) and hills, and combinations of
all 4.
I have to admit although I had thought I
had followed Clyde’s excellent advice somehow I failed and hit “The wall
“ just short of lunch break at the Punchbowl and limped in totally
depleted of energy and very, very fatigued .. it had taken 4 hours to
complete that 22 miles and I felt every minute of it.
I
tried to refuel at lunch but it was too late and felt terrible for at
least half the afternoon.. which was thankfully marginally easier. We
are now in the pub and I still don’t feel great .. so Clyde I may need
your expert advice (hopefully free😃)
The South Downs look high tomorrow but hopefully they will be firmer under wheel and maybe we can stay on on the ridge!
(Needless to say that advice has now been gratefully received and has been taken onboard; Howard).
Vic's Ride Report.
We arrived at a Petersfield Premier Inn at 6.15pm having left Farnborough at 10am. Although only 40 ish miles and the first 5 on road back to Farnham it still ended up a tough day. This was due to the surfaces we cycled on and the climbing. Mud, sand, gravel, boulders and other materials were under wheel today.
We met Stuart at the Devils Punchbowl a local natural phenomena. It was about half way, Eric had just hit the Wall and he had run out of energy. After tea, pasties, sweets and cake we set off at about 3pm. The afternoon again was mostly off road. We arrived tired but in reasonable spirits. Weather has been brighter with the odd glimpse of sun.
Report by Graham,
Many of you all have heard of our King Alfred’s Way
adventures, here’s a brief synopsis of the week. There’s loads more
detail and anecdotes, see any of us (Graham, Howard, Vic, Eric, and
Derek) on a Wednesday for a full unexpurgated version.
Our
ambition was to ride the Cycling UK 350Km (217 mile) off road route
over 5 days, starting and finishing at Wantage, the nearest point on the
route, to minimise driving.
Graham
and Vic decided to pedal rather than drive to Wantage, making it a 7day
trip rather than the planned 5, and the map and statistics relate
to their 7 day escapades.
The
ride down went well, as did the next 3 days from Wantage to Winchester,
but then with the forecast looking increasingly grim and wet, 3 decided
to send the last day sightseeing, leaving Graham and Vic to get as far
round as they could. In the event the forecast was wrong, they stayed
dry and managed to finish the ride to Wantage.
Purists will note that due to overnight locations, we didn’t do exactly all the route, but it was close enough for us.
Total distance, 600.8 Km or 373.3 miles
Total elevation 6122m or 20085.3 feet.
Total moving time 35 hours 5 minutes
Despite
the route being very arduous, there is some fantastic cycling and
views, and we would recommend it to anyone fit enough to attempt it.
Learning points and advice for others thinking of following in our wheel tracks:
- Off-road riding is hard. Much harder than on-road, and despite a few local training rides we all struggled at some point.
- Try
and book accommodation as close to the route as you can, we added time
and distance most days with hotel diversions, This might mean a smaller
group, or not travelling just after a pandemic when all UK rooms are
booked!
- Take your time, We initially planned 4 days but
changed to 5 to allow sightseeing, which we still did very little of.
It needs at least a week if you want to see anything other than the rear
wheel of the rider in front.
- Enjoy!
I merged my and Vic's tracks for the 7 days and here’s what I got. If anyone wants the full gpx, let me know, it’s 17MB.
(The route taken by Graham and Vic over 7 days, Whilst Howard, Derek and Eric completed the Abingdon to Salisbury part over 4 days .)
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