King Alfreds Way

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dlovett
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King Alfreds Way

Post by dlovett »

I am thinking about having a crack at the above this Tuesday and Wednesday, if anybody fancies joining me, for some or all of it.

Timings tbc confirmed
lune ranger
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Location: Peoples Republic of Devon

Re: King Alfreds Way

Post by lune ranger »

Have a great ride but expect to be slow.
I did the Wessex Ridgeway last weekend and spent a lot of time up to my axles in clag.
I know it’s not the same route but the terrain is similar and it’s had another week of rain.
Some photos here on my Strava might be of interest...

https://strava.app.link/MJvdEoQA83
If you are going through hell, keep going.
WSC
anagallis_arvensis
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Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:32 am

Re: King Alfreds Way

Post by anagallis_arvensis »

dlovett wrote: Sun Feb 16, 2020 6:19 pm I am thinking about having a crack at the above this Tuesday and Wednesday, if anybody fancies joining me, for some or all of it.

Timings tbc confirmed
Pack some armbands!! Good luck.
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sean_iow
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Location: Isle of Wight

Re: King Alfreds Way

Post by sean_iow »

dlovett wrote: Sun Feb 16, 2020 6:19 pm I am thinking about having a crack at the above this Tuesday and Wednesday, if anybody fancies joining me, for some or all of it.

Timings tbc confirmed
Did you go? And if so, how was it?
Adventure without risk is Disneyland - Bikemonger
Rob Colliver
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Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:30 pm

Re: King Alfreds Way

Post by Rob Colliver »

I do fancy this one - its too close to home to miss - I did have the O/S gpx that was posted but it now seems to have been swallowed up by the internet; will wait for the official one to come out (maybe).
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faustus
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Re: King Alfreds Way

Post by faustus »

I'm hoping to do this sometime this year if i get the chance, looks a good route.
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dlovett
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Re: King Alfreds Way

Post by dlovett »

sean_iow wrote: Sat Feb 29, 2020 4:57 pm
dlovett wrote: Sun Feb 16, 2020 6:19 pm I am thinking about having a crack at the above this Tuesday and Wednesday, if anybody fancies joining me, for some or all of it.

Timings tbc confirmed
Did you go? And if so, how was it?
Very wet and soggy. didn't bother going more than about 50kms. Defo not a winter route unless its a dry winter.
Rob Colliver
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Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:30 pm

Re: King Alfreds Way

Post by Rob Colliver »

Can anybody help with public water taps on or near the new King Alfred’s Way route please in the Pewsey, Amesbury, Salisbury area?

The official route is not out yet so being bored at home, I’ve plotted my own edit of it (sticking close to the info I had) and want to locate taps in this area so I can ride this once lockdown is done….. I’ve been going stir-crazy on the turbo trainer since 15th March and want to do a decent ride!

The route goes west of Pewsey, crosses the A342 near Marden, through Enford, Larkhill, Upper Woodford, then down to Old Sarum.

If there is anybody who knows the area and can assist, I’ll send a gpx of the route to you of the exact route I have plotted.


Many thanks

Rob
Rob Colliver
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Re: King Alfreds Way

Post by Rob Colliver »

Going to wander around this tomorrow - the weather is too good to miss and we're allowed out to play!

This should be a live tracker - aiming to get underway around 0900 and be out for 22 hours give or take.

http://tinyurl.com/robdodgingbears

if you feel like watching progress - there will be a stop in Goring for chips around 4.30 in the afternoon.
slarge
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Re: King Alfreds Way

Post by slarge »

How did you get on Rob?
Rob Colliver
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Re: King Alfreds Way

Post by Rob Colliver »

Its a fun route - lots of variety of trail obviously, tarmac, deep sand, chalk, flints, ruts, hike a bike, grass and mud.
I took 22h of moving time and had one crash that bent the mech hanger and sent the chain into the spokes that took a bit of sorting out.
Never been on the Ridgeway apart form a section of a Trailbreak event (in the rain) so it was great to see the views, though I still love the south downs! Salisbury Cathedral was stunning,it was just after I'd had a nap and beween dawn and daylight and the mist made it look vaguely exciting and made the entire ride worth it just for that.

I grabbed water at a petrol stn at Phoenix Green and fish n chips at Goring on Thames and then topped up with water at a tap on the R'way and with 4 litres, that got me back to QECP before the ride home.

There are some great flowing bits of basic singletrack and fast downhills that could be done faster if you take out the thoughts of 'don't put the emergency services under any strain' and there are bits that frustrated me where I had not done enough research in making the route detailed enough.... bear in mind this was my creation of a legal bike route from info gained from here and then adapted so I could follow a line on the gps.

For a first riding it went well and I will tweak the route myself and feedback to Cycling UK to see if any mods I made can be helpful to them before they publish the entire route.

Fitness was not too bad, cos I'd only been turbo training since mid March with one trip out a week earlier to test the bike; certainly noticed that I had fallen into the habit of stopping to do just one thing compared to the race head style of collecting three items of admin to do before stopping.

The day was approx 230 miles in the end and 14,000' and well worth repeating; the walkers and bikers I met were all more attentive and aware of other trail users than usual which was handy and the social distancing thing was working well.

If I did it as a bikebacking trip, there are loads of sneaky stop points to nab at any place on the route.

A grand day out.
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