Cerne Abas Giant

Share your rides with us.

Moderators: Bearbonesnorm, Taylor, Chew

Post Reply
User avatar
sean_iow
Posts: 4269
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 12:08 pm
Location: Isle of Wight

Cerne Abas Giant

Post by sean_iow »

I did wonder if I should write this up as it's not the sort of trip that is usually posted here. I like to bivi as much as the next man (or woman) but sometimes I don't want to arrive late and leave early and fancy a lie in :smile: So for this 3 day trip I spent 1 night on a campsite and another on the brother-in-laws floor. Is this still bikepacking? Maybe that's a whole other thread although I would point out that commercial camp-sites are allowed on the Tour Divide and that's the pinnacle of bikepack racing? Also, based on the number of registered users and the number of regular posters there might be a large number who would like to try bikepacking but are put off by the bivi bit? If that's the case then do as I have and just go where ever you feel comfortable. Perhaps after some trips to commercial sites you'll have the confidence to bivi. The other reason I wondered about posting is perhaps no-one will be interested as it's a bit tame? But I'll write it up anyway :smile: I like to have a point to the trip, just some arbitrary reason to be out. I've never seen the Cerne Abas Giant and a look on the map showed it's only a days ride away and there's a campsite nearby so I took the Friday off work and packed the bike. For the return leg I thought I'd visit the Brother-In-Law in the New Forest and then ride back along the coast to Portsmouth to see what NCN Route 2 is like. As the wife says I talk too much I'll reduce the words now and hopefully the pictures will do (most) of the talking.

Image
16 mile road spin to the ferry.

Image
Riding through the New Forest. Just before this I ridden a bridleway through Lymington Reed Bed, the name is the clue, I'd avoid this unless you like wet feet :grin:

Image
As I headed west the bridleways became field boundaries which became more overgrown as I got further west.

Image
Before becoming character building :lol:

Image
This section is more used, be careful what you wish for.

Image
Home for the night. Most of the caravans were empty, I guess people leave them there all year and use them like holiday homes just popping along for the odd weekend. There were only a handful of people at the site.

Image
A piece of broken paving slab borrowed from next to the water tap to sit my 8g stove on. Dinner was supper-noodles and tuna.

Image
Warming up my still damp socks in the morning sun before putting them back on :smile:

Image
The man himself. I think they refresh the chalk from time to time as it was a bit dull and hard to make out.

Image
Cycle friendly pub? The chap on the sign has a saddle attached to him and is holding some new touring alt bars :lol:

Image
Day 2 and off to the New Forest. More Dorset bridleway fun, this section is disguised as a stream.

I made it to the New Forest in plenty of time, dinner with the Brother-In-Law and the Wife who had met me there. I slept on my new Thermarest and although I didn't notice any crinkling apparently whenever I moved it woke the wife up.

Day 3 would be an easy spin through the New Forest to Fawley and then a series of ferries along NCN Route 2 to get to Portsmouth.

Image
The OSM mapping on the Garmin shows an airfield.

Image
No sign of it on the ground :???: I think it was a WW2 airstrip and is long since gone.

Image
New Forest tracks are much easier going :grin:

Image
Ferry No. 1, £9 single with the bike :shock:

Image
Ferry No. 2, £1.75 single with the bike :smile: it only takes 12 people. The picture was taken after getting dropped off. The tide was too far out to get to the jetty so we were dropped on the beach.

Image
Ferry No. 3, £4.80 return with the bike. They don't do singles but I've got a year left to do the return journey as that's how long the ticket is valid for.

When I got off the Gosport Ferry it was a quick sprint through the traffic and onto the Portsmouth to Fishbourne ferry. Bought a ticket and straight on, they even lifted the barrier back up for me, so no time for a picture.

Image
Back on the Island and one last detour to the shop to get some milk. Nice artificial lawn outside would make a good bivi spot :lol: very soft but I don't know how well the pegs would go in.

Image
I didn't have room in the bags for the milk so I had to strap it to my waist pack, but it's only half a mile to home.

Image
Not bad for 3 leisurely days, although this does include the ferries :smile:

I really enjoyed the relaxed nature of this trip, taking time to talk to people, stopping at cafes and pubs for food etc. I might plan a longer version for next year, perhaps alternating bivi's and campsites. I think I'll head north though, not west, hopefully the going might be better. The route was quite flat which did mean I spent more time than usual sat down peddling which showed up I need a more comfy saddle, either that or a hillier route.

Sean
Adventure without risk is Disneyland - Bikemonger
User avatar
Dyffers
Posts: 872
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 4:10 pm
Location: Darkest Dorset

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by Dyffers »

Your fourth picture (and possibly the fifth one too) looks like classic Wessex Ridgeway, passable for about 2 weeks a year in early May when the chalk/clay clag briefly dries out but the nettles haven't yet had chance to grow together.
User avatar
sean_iow
Posts: 4269
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 12:08 pm
Location: Isle of Wight

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by sean_iow »

It is, well spotted :smile: I stupidly assumed that as it's a trail marked on the map that it would be a 'trail' on the ground :lol: I rode (and pushed) more of it the second day on the way back across. The nettles were so bad that my legs were stinging enough to keep me awake and I'm used to being stung on my local trails. I did wonder why it looked like no one had ridden it, they must all know and go in the two week window in May.
Adventure without risk is Disneyland - Bikemonger
User avatar
RIP
Posts: 9009
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2014 7:24 pm
Location: Surfing The Shores Of Sanity Since 1959
Contact:

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by RIP »

Enjoyed that thank you S_I. "saddle attached to him" :lol: . Er, I imagine that you moving around on the Thermarest would indeed wake your wife-in-law up, the more interesting question though being how did she manage to squeeze onto it at the same time? "taking time to talk to people, stopping at cafes and pubs for food" - sounds an ideal trip :-bd . "Is it bikepacking?", with a lovely outing like that who cares what it's called? :-bd
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
User avatar
ZeroDarkBivi
Posts: 1267
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2014 9:18 am
Location: Somerset

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by ZeroDarkBivi »

Nice bit of photo-journalism.
Dyffers wrote:Your fourth picture (and possibly the fifth one too) looks like classic Wessex Ridgeway, passable for about 2 weeks a year in early May when the chalk/clay clag briefly dries out but the nettles haven't yet had chance to grow together.
Exactly what I was thinking! Had a go at that a few years back in August and it was horrendous - the only relief from sub standard trails was ploughed fields. after a few hours of 'WTF' and little progress, I decided to retreat back to the van, on the road. Have no intention of returning...!
ianfitz
Posts: 3642
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:33 pm

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by ianfitz »

Nothing wrong with a lie in. Or a comfy bed. Or staying with family.

Those rules only apply when racing.

The rest of the time there are no rules. That's one of the good things about this sort of thing :-bd
Image
User avatar
sean_iow
Posts: 4269
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 12:08 pm
Location: Isle of Wight

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by sean_iow »

ianfitz wrote:...
The rest of the time there are no rules. That's one of the good things about this sort of thing :-bd
Wise words. I do seem to forget that and end up too focused on distance/speed/climbing when sometimes I should just enjoy the ride.
Adventure without risk is Disneyland - Bikemonger
ianfitz
Posts: 3642
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:33 pm

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by ianfitz »

sean_iow wrote:
ianfitz wrote:...
The rest of the time there are no rules. That's one of the good things about this sort of thing :-bd
Wise words. I do seem to forget that and end up too focused on distance/speed/climbing when sometimes I should just enjoy the ride.
Thanks.

I've seen a couple of (really good, worthwhile and interesting) posts on here in the last few weeks were the op has seemed to say 'it was a slow/enjoyable/not-a-race/short(ish) multiday trip' and implied, or maybe felt, that because it didn't seem at their physiological limits that meant it was less worthy. Nonsense! No.

There's many people who post on here who are regularly getting out on trips which sound fantastic. Not because they are at the living-end-of-endurance, more because they visit interesting places, make good observations, see things differently, get away from so called 'civilisation' for a while.

There's nothing wrong with racing. I don't think. Wringing the last dregs out of yourself by pushing on past what is sensible. Forgoing sleep and riding through meals.

Non of it is more or less valid. For me at least it's the variety that makes bikepacking what it is. And long may that continue.
Image
User avatar
Scattamah
Posts: 2007
Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2014 4:18 pm
Location: Beyond The Black Stump

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by Scattamah »

It's all about adventure...not necessarily about sleeping with slugs. Nice post fella.

Greetz

S.
User avatar
dlovett
Posts: 1924
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 6:37 pm
Location: South Coast
Contact:

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by dlovett »

Can you post a link to the GPS or Strava please.

Many thanks
User avatar
sean_iow
Posts: 4269
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 12:08 pm
Location: Isle of Wight

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by sean_iow »

Here you go

Day 1 https://www.strava.com/activities/1188961902
Day 2 https://www.strava.com/activities/1188968346
Day 3 https://www.strava.com/activities/1188970912

There should be privacy zones around my house and the brother-in-laws so there will be gaps at the ends.
Adventure without risk is Disneyland - Bikemonger
User avatar
dlovett
Posts: 1924
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 6:37 pm
Location: South Coast
Contact:

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by dlovett »

Thanks Sean
User avatar
dlovett
Posts: 1924
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 6:37 pm
Location: South Coast
Contact:

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by dlovett »

I did the first bit today, it was a nice ride.

https://strava.app.link/asghW4GpTX
User avatar
faustus
Posts: 926
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2018 4:30 pm
Location: Newbury

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by faustus »

Agree with the sentiments about rules, and feeling like you must do something epic, and must bivvy. I couldn't fit a BAM in this month but did some nice riding anyway, and stayed with family instead. Also riding over similar terrain, bridleways that required painful bushwacking in parts. I used to live in Dorset and had forgotten how many bridleways become impassable in the summer. The below pic was meant to be a bridleway at the edge of a field of rapeseed...
ImageIMG_20190628_150517 by Matthew Walker, on Flickr
User avatar
whitestone
Posts: 7847
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:20 am
Location: Skipton(ish)
Contact:

Re: Cerne Abas Giant

Post by whitestone »

For competition, whether that's a full on race like the TDR or something slightly less formal, rules are there to try and ensure a level playing field. Even the rules of BAM are really just to encourage you to look outside the comfort zone. The rest of the time they only exist to make us feel good about ourselves or perhaps more accurately, better than others.

There is of course one golden rule (I'm not talking about the pub in Ambleside) that covers everything in life, including bikepacking: don't be a dick. Quite apposite given the thread's title :lol:

Overgrown bridleways and footpaths? We get a few round here, mainly narrow ginnels that wouldn't get grazed by animals. They do get strimmed back by either well meaning locals or the local parish council but nettles and briars do tend to be rather quick growing so it's a never ending task.
Better weight than wisdom, a traveller cannot carry
Post Reply