Bikepacking the Pennine Bridleway - Day 3
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 พ.ค. 2021
- Day 3!
The sun is shining, the legs are complaint and I'm just about keeping to my schedule.
it's hard riding but the landscape is fantastic and the weather has been absolutely blinding.
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After such an effort you deserve a pint of lager to the chips. That beer will be on me when you come to Sweden!
I did consider a pint but thought it would probably see me falling asleep in the pub garden if I did ;)
I very much look forward to my next beer with you in Sweden!
The Pennine Bridleway is brutal, and that is without Bikepacking gear! I ride and walk regularly in the Calderdale/Denshaw area and know the lanes intimately. I bikepacked from Cromford to Hayfield last year and there were some killer sections! Love you videos and I’m currently re-visiting them, looking for encouragement to take on more of the PBW. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, it lives in memory as the hardest ride I've done for sure. But a really beautiful and worthwhile one wit some amazing landscapes.
As is always the case, as long as you give yourself a realistic timescale and targets its completely doable and well worth attempting.
Thanks for watching :)
It did. Live up to expectations. Cycling on that surface, up an down these hills. That is some effort. I am exhausted just watching it 😉.
"Reminds " me of my cycling days with my brother years ago. But we never did hill climbs like that. On tarmac we did, maybe, but not on gravel roads.
Have a nice and recovering weekend.
Ah I'm glad. It was the kind of landscape that really should have been filmed with a drone but I think I did ok.
It actually only took me a day or two to recover and start thinking about what to do next. I'm tempted to do the King Alfreds Way as it runs right past my house nearly and is apparently a great route. Would be an easier proposition than the PBW for sure ;)
Cool. This ride looks like it will get the heart going. Chapeau.
It did indeed! I've never pushed my bike up so many hills or found descents that were as exhausting as the climbs ;)
A great ride though, I enjoyed it very much at the time and now after a week back at work I look back on with even more affection as is always the way.
@@JethroJessop I think some would call it character building. Some would also say that we only grow that we learn what our capabilites and limitations are when we struggle when we are faced with adversity with challenges. Well done for completing the ride. I hope to follow in your tyre tracks at some point.
@@alexmorgan3435 I fully agree. Small doses of hardship and even discomfort are (in my opinion) incredibly important in keeping a balanced view of the world and our individual places in it.
Coming up against and dealing with any type of hardship makes you a more capable, more confident person beyond the sphere of the issue itself.
I'd recommend the ride, my tracks will be there for ever as will the tracks of those who went before me.
Having never been to the UK at all, let alone this part of it, I am surprised by how much the region you’re riding through resembles the high plains of the American West. I am sure these videos cannot convey how hard it is for you. But on behalf of my fellow armchair travelers everywhere, thank you for your efforts, and for sharing these spectacular vistas with us. Wind noise be damned, this one was great!
It is a strange landscape, unlike the rest of the UK and I did actually find myself reminded of the US - as seen in films as I've never visited.
It's a good reminder that you don't have to go far to see landscapes completely unlike those outside your door.
I don't know the history of the place really but I'm guessing the lack of trees is down to human action way back. The geology though I won't even guess at.
It does make for amazing (but hard) riding though. I can assure you the video does not capture the steepness it the frequency of the hills 😉
I'm glad you are enjoying the vids. I have a new mic on order so the wind noise will hopefully be but a passing phase.
So the Peak District was the UKs first national park (and yer was largely deforested by some forebearers at some point). It's split into two halves, the light peak is more limestone and rolling green hills, where as the North known as the dark Peak is bleak moorland and full of rocky outcrops of a type of sandstone unique to the area called Gritstone. The dark peak is one of the best places for climbing in the UK. I think the dark peak in particular is ex-Glacial.
You did say it didn’t get easier and you were clearly correct.
Not a place to hope for a job in the forestry industry or to be relying on a hammock but I love high moorland (I would do, I was born on it).
Keep them coming
Very hard ride this one, I don't think the video really gets across the steepness of the hills, the roughness of the surface or the frequency with which you encounter new climbs.
I would usually say I'm a forest person, I like the feeling of feeling swallowed by trees, but the bleakness and the bareness of the hill here really was stunning. Amazing landscape to cycle through.
@@JethroJessop think you may mean ....”amazing landscape to cycle up and down in”
Rolling terrain, even when paved, is tough. I’d much rather have longer climb/descend and when gravel it is even tougher
Mind you, I doubt you hated it
@@markl2815 I loved every minute of it. It was hard but never painful and the weather was great. If I could have had a rest day after and then carried on I would have.
This trail blends almost straight into the Great North Trail. I could have picked that up and been half way to Cape Wrath by now! Damn work and real life responsibilities, cutting in to my riding time 😉
Another fabulous episode of Jethro's adventure's. I'm very jealous 😃
It was a good one indeed. Hard work but well worth it.
Glad you are enjoying the videos from the road 😀
@@JethroJessop how do you keep warm at night jethro?
@@welshbikepackingadventures this one was cold, frost on the tent every morning. I have a decent sleeping bag plus a liner and I slept in socks and base layers.
Only one night did I feel the cold in any noticeable way
@@JethroJessop I'm dying to get out on the road myself but very cowardly with the cold lol.. Brave man Jethro 👍
@@welshbikepackingadventures It was fine during the day and as long as you have some decent sleeping gear you'll be fine - plus, summer's coming soon. It has to be!
Jethro, you're a trooper. Confronted by such a challenging day of riding and the pressure to accomplish your desired distance, for Day 3 I might've posted, "It's was a very challenging and stressful day of riding, take my word for it. No video. See you on Day 4." LOL! Seriously, the added work and time to film a solo ride must be exhausting, so thank you for taking us along for parts of your day 3 ride. We always appreciate whatever you can share of your rides. Cheers!
I have a weird relationship with the filming. Part of me would love to just ride and not think about it but the other part really likes to document these places - not just for all you good folk who subscribe but also for future me to remember my trips.
I do struggle on hard to days to keep things coherent and it is so much easier to film the lovely smooth, flowing sections that this video in no way shows just how hard the trail was on this day.
I try to watch my own videos and be critical of how well they reflect my actual experience and to think about how I can do better on the next one but when time is short and hills are steep I do tend to focus on riding rather than filming.
I'm glad you enjoy the results though. I'll keep churning them out as long as I keep riding :)
@@JethroJessop I can appreciate your desire to film your trips for your own enjoyment and reminiscing, and well as for your loved ones' present and future enjoyment. It's why my wife and I always film our vacations, the last one of which was in the summer of 2019 to Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway (which I absolutely must cycle one summer, although my wife and I cycled around Alesund aboard Cannondale e-bikes, which were a blast). Again, thank you for the time and effort that you invest into creating your videos for us all to enjoy, Jethro.
@@bruin4937 AHH Norway. I need to get back out there as well. I loved cycling in that country.
One day soon I hope. I'll keep making the videos till one of them goes viral and I can go full time bike philosopher 😉
Its easy to sit here on a lap top and sound old and wise but . . . . . i would have factored in an extra day for a trail like that. That way you can allow for mechanical problems, a bad weather day, or if ya lucky have a day off.
I can't believe you didn't even get a still pic of your lunch? That's simply not good enough.
Apart from that, good job.
loving the films so far.
Yeah I would have been really scuppered by a serious mechanical. Fortunately I came through mostly in one piece and actually in the end I finished on schedule but I would have liked to stop at more places. There are so many amazing little hidden places, waterfalls and valleys that you could easily sit in for hours just hanging out, whittling or whatever.
And I passed lots of places that would have made nice camp sites too but didn't want to be stopping as early as I sometimes do.
It was a great ride though, really enjoyed it.
I can only apologise about the lack of documented lunch. I was very hungry 😉
I've done that climb up from the reservoir at 3:50 odd several times whilst mountain biking and it's brutal. I wouldn't like to take a fully loaded touring bike up there. I tip my hat to you Jethro.
This trip seemed to be mostly brutal climbs. It was a fantastic ride but I have never pushed up so many hills on a single route before.
Amazing part of the world though!
@@JethroJessop I've done most of it in sections as part of MTB routes. It's not so much that the hills are so steep, but the trail is a field of broken rocks and ruts that are hard to get any traction on. Even on a full sus mountain bike.
@@Bobario1 yeah, and the frequency is high as well, it's constant climb/descend and very little cruise.
It was a memorable one for sure!
Looks great!
It was. Wish I was still up there
Felt for you, bro'. You didn't exactly choose the flattest route! Well done.
Thanks. It was indeed a route defined by gradients. My legs still have nightmares about this one (it was amazing though)
We found this section brutal as well, all those ascents pushing bikes, dropping to reservoirs, more ascents. In that opening sequence with the reservoir at Tintwhistle the gate was locked and we had to do a big detour to cross that main road. A very challenging route indeed. This day on your route is the same section where I wondered if I wanted to do the whole route, so would be interesting to know if it gets better.
I've sort of edited out the hard bits from my memory now but it is a hard route from start to finish.
I pushed multiple times every day as far as I remember but there are easier sections and fun descents and there some incredible views and landscapes to take in.
Slow and steady is the key. Eat lots, drink lots and just keep on at it
@@JethroJessop along with the terrain was it a combination of the heavy bike, gearing & fitness that didn’t help?
What gearing were you running?
@@br5380 it was mostly terrain. Its quite rough on a lot of sections and the trail is constantly switching between short, steep climbs and descents so I never felt like I got into a good groove.
I've done rides on the same bike that were similar distance and similar overall elevation but that were nowhere near as hard.
Gearing wise I can't remember my exact spec. I have the Rohloff on the back so that's 14 gears but I can't remember what my tooth count was. I know I switched up the rear for better climbing after this trip though 😉
You definitely need those big tyres on that terrain. I just did the trans pennine trail on 35C tyres and it was rough through the pennine hills just past the Woodhead tunnel turning. I could have gone on the road at that point but followed the GPS and nearly hurt my Achilles pushing up the steep hill over the top. I know you have said you have had a bad Achilles sometimes. Really tiring and I was not going north/south and over so many rocks.
I did a chunk of the TPT on my way back from my ride in 2019. There were some pretty rough bits, and some big old hills on that one too! Did you do the full length, end to end?
I have had achilles issues on and off. For a long time I thought it was down to a time when I was riding with SPDs but I'm now pretty sure it was due to my saddle being too high. It flared up at the end of this ride after raising the height just a cm or so to help with the climbing. It's amazing how much tiny changes in geometry can affect you.
I will view the vid tonight. But the first thumps up is from me.
A preemptive thumbs up! I'm honoured :)
I hope the video lives up to your expectations
Looks tough!
It was. But well worth it, a fantastic ride
Great video (as always) and truly a lovely trail. Although far too rough for me. For my own part, I'll probably slip-slide down into Monsal Vale from one side (north or south remains yet to be determined) and then choo-choo along the rail trail to Bakewell. But all that will be next year or later.
It was a lovely one. Very hard work but worth it I think as it is hard to find places in England that feel anything like wild or remote. I did have a look at the Monsal trail and it looks good. So many great trails to ride and so little time to ride them all!
I've ridden around the Peaks (ok, I cheated on en eBike lol) and theres a lot of climbing there so fair play for getting it done! And theres me worrying about my first ever bikepacking trip on the Peddars Way in Norfolk with 1200ft of climbing 🤣.
Haha yeah, Norfolk is kind of the other end of the scale. But I guess you might get some North Sea headwinds to contend with that are a difficulty in themselves.
I've not explored that area much, I'd be interested to hear what it's like for cycling.
Another awesome adventure. You sure know how to punish yourself.
I deserve a lot more of this kind of punishment 😉
Haha pure punishment:)
Next time you have to do the whole ride with back pockets full of lego.
@@RuggedJohnWoodland There's probably some folk who would be up for that. Maybe bare feet as well ;)
Great episode. Looks very peaceful!
It really was. No peace like the peace of the road.
Riding right through my local spots in the start of this video, I know you’re bikebacking but there’s some awesome singletrack/enduro to hit round there
I can imagine there would be. It's a fantastic part of the world to ride in though not easy on the legs!
You forgot to film your lunch?! Seriously... How could you disappoint us like that? 😂😉
I know, I feel terrible, it won't happen again! In my defence they weren't very good chips, though there was quite a nice view from the pub.
You will never make it to top tier influencer without lunch plate pics !
I know! Maybe I just don't have what it takes. I'll keep trying. My next video will just be chips from beginning to end 😉
@@JethroJessop LOL!
Hard but rewarding ride by the looks of it. Beautuful video and soundtrack! I'm glad to hear you got some chips ( frostbitten ?) In the end :)
They actually weren't very good chips but I was hungry enough not to care.
They did the job though and powered me through the afternoon
Very nice video as usual. May i give you a little feedback ? The music is a bit too loud compared to the sound level when you talk. I have to put up the volume to hear you but then i always jump when the music starts again 😉 Looking forward to watch and enjoy your future adventures.
Yeah the audio was all messed up on these. New phone, my mic broke, all kinds of excuses.
You are not the only person to have pointed out the shoddy audio and I will try to improve it in the future.
I have the King Alfreds Way coming up in a few weeks so that will be the next proper ride video.
Thanks for watching :)
Might have to train and get a few easier rides under my belt before I try this one! 👍
Nah, just dive in 😉
It's all about having time to complete it. You can do any ride if you don't have a crazy deadline for for finishing.
Really enjoying this series. How far do you aim to travel each day when you plan your trips. I'm interested to know what's feasible. Thanks
Depends on the route really but I'm not someone who pushes myself to do big days. On this one I knew there was going to be a lot of climbing so I was only aiming for 30ish miles per day. Which turned out to be lucky because it was harder than I expected.
I'm sure there are some people out there who would do this in a couple of days but I've never been excited about the whole ultra endurance, push yourself to the limit approach to riding. I'm more interested in looking around and stopping often for snacks than I am in doing 100 mile days.
I'm due to do this, this summer with a brother-in-law ! I'm not feeling very fit watching perhaps i should stop watching! I've done the SDW a couple of times, this is only double the distance!!!!
It's a really nice route, worth putting in the effort to do. I'd just say to give yourself a reasonable amount of time based on your preference for miles per day and keep in mind that you will be pushing up a few hills (unless you are an absolute machine).
Hard routes only really become a chore to complete when you have deadlines that force to ride harder than you would like.
The Legs are compliant? or are complaining....?? Stunning landscape, I think i'd rather walk it than try to cycle, but I imagine walking would be fairly tough going too...
They were a little of both to be honest 😉
I saw far more walkers than cyclists on this one and even fewer horses considering it is (apparently) a bridleway.
Would be hard no matter your mode of movement I think but a great trip and we'll worth the effort.
Casual.
I try my best 😉
Great chilled.vid, looks really hard. How far would you get.riding for a day, any feedback massively appreciated
Normally I try to average 60km a day. On this ride I often did less - 45 or 50 if I remember right.
It was a super hard trail. I don't remember any sections that would really allow you to get a good cruise going, it was all short sharp climbs and descents
@JethroJessop cheers dude, I'm trying my first one in May in the peak district and have (!?) To do 75 k each day ( over a weekend) hopefully it shouldn't be as hard as your epic, but as much fun 👍
@@davidmt23 75km is doable if you can actually ride it all and don't have to do too much hike a bike.
Get going as early as you can, give yourself long days, eat and drink more than you think you need and have a great ride.
Let me know how it goes!
Can you go back and film the chips? Beautiful trip.
Haha. I forget to film a couple of lunches on this trip just because I arrived too hungry to think.
These trips are a constant struggle between me just wanting to ride and enjoy it and me wanting to stop and film every climb and every corner.
This is the reason the film's sometimes feel a little jumpy and scattershot.
I just saw you bought a spoon on the Ko-fi store! Thank you my friend, I will try and ship that today, otherwise it might be Monday.
Hope it doesn't disappoint - it's quite nerve wracking delivering an actual thing to a real person ;)
@@JethroJessop It’s beautiful and I’m very excited. I’m expecting it will make every trip as magical as yours wherever I pack it in my kit.
@@craiglycke6170 I really hope and I very much appreciate the support.
I'm pretty sure it is carved from a piece of Rowan (aka mountain ash) and I've heard, but have no source for, that the Vikings would make the tillers of boats from Rowan as they believed it had magical properties that made it lucky for travellers.
I hope they were right
@Craig Lycke I just shipped the spoon. I popped a a little bonus in there as the package seemed a bit empty. Nothing special, just a little scoop. I'll be honest, it was a practice piece but maybe it will be useful for something. If not then it will make some high class kindling - oiled silver birch 😉
if ya ever get to new england, id ride with ya bub..
Awesome, I'll keep that in mind!
There are so many places in the world that I'd love to visit and so many others I've never thought of that are just as great.
I wish I could spend my whole life just cycling around and meeting folk. One day maybe, fingers crossed.
Cheers for the offer though, and thanks for watching, I appreciate it
I got no world travel ideas. The US is so big it could take a few lifetimes to absorb it all through adventure and exploration.
@@lazerblastoid this is a truth that many people never really learn. I feel the same about Europe. I could explore for the rest of my days and never even get on a plane.
There are places of love to see in far flung corners of the world, bits of the US, New Zealand, but in reality I don't need them to have adventures and it's unlikely I'll ever get there.
We shall see.
i just got an ogre, after riding from maine to north carolina on a trek hybrid in fall of 2019 and then tooling around on a fixie all summer last year, i saved up and got a real big boys bike. mine is all stock i think, and thats perfect for me, and quite honestly perfect for any brand new pandemic bike purchase. the fixie feels so tiny now, and to think how i hit all the single track trails around here on that just for goofs and how easily the ogre just rolls over what my fixie tires would have just cut into like a knife in butter. feels real good. if a bicycle is freedom then an ogre is what freedom rides for a bike.
@@lazerblastoid nice! The ogre is a beast for sure. Rolls over everything and is super comfy as well.
I still have a full sus that I occasionally take to trail centers but more and more the ogre is becoming the only bike I want to ride.
Never even tried a fixie but I know people do stuff on them I wouldn't think possible. The HT550 happened a few weeks back in Scotland, I'm not sure there were any fixies there but definitely a few single speeds. Nutters 😉
Hey come on Jethro, how can you not film the chips..that's out of order..haha!
You seem somewhat despondent in this one; but I cant help feeling that you were so lucky with the weather up on the pennines.
Imagine how much more "sapping" it would be in wind and driving rain.
Because I'm new to bikepacking, you'll have to excuse my ignorance; but isnt it harder work with those big fat tyres?
When I ride my road bike it is so much easier than the seeming drag and rumble from normal mtb tyres. I can only imagine the drag from those fat boys. Aren't they meant for sand?
Iam really interested in the answer to this point about the tyres; even if it does demonstrate how much of a newbie I am..haha!
I'm intrigued by the hint of a guest rider, later in the adventure..the mystery shall be revealed!
Take care Buddy.
In my case the fat tyres do the job of suspension as it's a solid frame. On this route I wished for even fatter tyres!
There is a little more drag on a larger tyre but that's a trade-off I'm more than happy to make as it also means I can roll smoothly över much rougher terrain and get a bit of cushioning from the bumps.
On tarmac the Chronicles actually roll really well if you put some pressure in them, they aren't massive knobbly MTB tyres, they are just high volume.
But it's a horses-for-courses thing. You wouldn't put 3" tyres on a road bike as you'd gain nothing and lose loads of speed.
I'm not in the business of going fast though, i want to be comfy and push as little as possible 😉
@@JethroJessop Thank you so much for that. Like I've said before, I'm keen to research and learn from folk (like yourself) who already have experience.
So basically, fat tyres are mainly a suspension thing, as well as grip!? Why don't folk tour on bikes with suspension; is it that the weight difference too big, or some other reason!?
I know that commenting is beneficial to the channel; and if I'm learning something too, then it's win, win, for us both. But I would like to apologise if my comments are too verbose.
Waffle should have been my middle name. And this will probably make you laugh, but I'm actually trying hard to keep them short!🤣
Take care Jethro.
@@timporter8886 it's just having the right tools for the job. On tarmac a road bike with slick, smooth tyres will leave me in the dust but repeat that ride on sand and the situation will reverse.
I try to ride off road when I can, and when I'm on tarmac I'm not bothered about going fast so the bigger tyres make sense.
Some folks do tour with suspension. You'll see people touring in every kind of bike from full sus to a Brompton. There was a chap who did the NC500 on a penny farthing and a lad who went round the world on a unicycle.
It's a cliché but I believe "the right bike is the bike you have"
You can do a trip on anything. Not every trip but A trip. You choose a bike that enables you to ride the ride you want to ride. This inevitably gets tangled up with all kinds of consumerism and marketing but at the end of the day there is no right way to do it, only the way that is right for you, right now.
Great job done. You are a cowboy! Electric bike in the future?
I actually really like the idea of an electric bike. I'd love one of those cargo jobbers with the platform out front.
But I reckon I've got a few years of unassisted pedaling in the old legs still 😉
E-bikes are a crime against cycling.
@@alexmorgan3435 strong words indeed!
I think they have their place. Cargo bikes are a great idea and could realistically get a lot of cars off the road and if an e bike gets someone out cycling who couldn't or wouldn't have done it before, maybe on a long and hilly commute, then I can't fault them.
Personally, while I'm able to be 100% leg powered I'll stay that way because I enjoy the simplicity and the freedom of it but maybe one day when I'm a rickety old geezer and I'm having to push up every hill...
I agree that a lot of folk seen to get them because they can't be arsed to ride up the hills or just because they Want a new gadget which I'm not keen on.
The comments section of my channel is so much classier than most others. We get some proper good topics being discussed 😀
@@JethroJessop Yeah Ebikes seem really popular in the Netherlands. It's a flat country. How lazy can people be? Shameful.
@@alexmorgan3435 I saw a few on this ride, big old mountain bikes that zip up the hills. I kind see the appeal but it seems like you lose some of the spirit of the ride.
I also remember meeting a girl on one up on Exmoor once and it has stopped working mud ride leaving her to pedal the rest of the day on an incredibly heavy bike.
I’m new to your channel and enjoy watching your view on bike packing. But I have one question, is there reason why you don’t wear a helmet? ( just out of curiosity).
Fair question. I don't have a good reason not to wear a helmet beyond them being uncomfortable and clumsy compared to my Tilly which also keeps the rain off and the sun out.
I did actually have a helmet with me on this trip which I wore on a couple of the descents and on the road section at the end of the final day.
I suppose I perceive (rightly or wrongly) my fairly slow and steady style of riding to be low risk enough to forego a helmet though I will put one on if I'm doing trail riding, fast descents or getting in with traffic.
It's not a good answer but it is a true one and one I'm happy to discuss.
@@JethroJessop Thanks for the honest answer, each to their own. I will continue to enjoy your next adventures..
@@CG-vb9di I hope so. Hopefully it wont involve me falling off and sustaining an ironic head injury ;)
Only 3 thumbs up? That isn't much. Maybe writing this comment will help you get more viewers (who'll give thumbs up)
Thank you. I'm confident the numbers will go up a bit, they usually do.
But every comment, every thumbs up, every view really does help. I appreciate your support very much, I hope you like the video 😀