King Alfred's Way | A 350km Off-Road Epic
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ส.ค. 2024
- Follow the 3 day bikepacking adventure of Richard wild camping this immense 350km gravel ride as he tries to make it around in one piece. The King Alfred's Way is the perfect off-road cycling experience.
Any questions please let us know in the comments, thanks for watching and happy riding.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:22 Start of Day 1
0:50 First Hiccup
2:48 Day 1 Campsite
3:37 Start of Day 2
4:15 Cow Pat Everywhere
6:39 Day 2 Campsite
7:20 Start of Day 3
8.47 Equipment and Navigation
11:47 South Down Hills
12:24 Back at the Statue
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I hope you enjoyed watching my adventure on the King Alfred's Way. If you have any questions let me know in the comments.
The bike I used for the trip was a Marin Nicasio+ and I have done a review on it here: th-cam.com/video/_rvNBoUMcZo/w-d-xo.html
Happy Riding everyone! 💪👍
Wonderful video of a bike trail I had not heard about. And the fact that you rode it on a Nicasio + makes me even happier as a recent owner of the bike model!
Cheers mate glad you enjoyed it. It is really a fun trail showing some awesome sites of the area. I hope you get along to it one day - let me know how you go. Happy riding!
Nice work!
Thanks Framework, good to hear you enjoyed watching it.
Love this!!!
Great stuff thank you Lee 👍
What a great trip! Thanks for sharing. Makes me want to get out there again soon.
Cheers mate, glad you enjoyed it! 👍
Be safe, and keep up with your next journeys.
Thanks for sharing us great moments.
Thank you BB Beo, glad you enjoyed the video. Hopefully not too long until the next Journey! 👍🚴
Cool trip I'll have to put this one on my bucket list thanks for sharing ✌️
Thanks mate. It was a great one and I would recommend it. Enjoy!
Great video, looking forward to the next one
Thank you Sean - glad you liked it. Already planning the next adventure don't worry!
What a cool trip, looks amazing!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed watching, it was an awesome trip! 👍🚴
Really enjoyed your video. Thanks!
Thanks Sean, glad you liked it. Have you got the King Alfred Way on your radar at all?
Chapeau
Thanks Stephen glad you enjoyed the video 👏👍
Looks awesome. Keep up the great content!!
Cheers mate, glad you enjoyed it. It was great fun and I'd thoroughly recommend it 💪
Did this route in 2019 on my full susser MTB. Took it easy over 6 days which was perfect distances. Book and download map from cuk very good.. well done in doing it in 3 days.
Thanks Gaz. An extra day would have probably made it a little more comfortable and allow some down time in the odd pub. Also some suspension on the first day would have certainly had its benefit! Well done on getting the route done 👍
Great video man. Inspired me
Cheers mate glad you liked it. Hope you get on to enjoy it soon then 👍😀
Hi,, Great video. I hope you will be producing more trail ride videos.
Thanks Tom, glad you enjoyed it. Yes there is a Jersey video due out soon as I am just finishing the editing. Then a wild camping one after that, again it's shot I just need to edit it all. Glad you enjoyed watching and thank you again. 👍
great content, lovely ride!
Cheers mate glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully you get onto the trail to enjoy it, happy riding 👍
@@mammothjourneys i'm Northern England and currently have an eeb, hopefully one day i'll get down your neck of the woods for a bike ride 🙌🏻 Really keen to get a gravel bike, seems daft using the eeb for days where you just wanna get out and clock up miles, i love the eeb, but it has a purpose, don't wanna ruin the battery for days out riding road, its best in proper downhill parks. I've been looking into either the Marin Nicasio or Cube Nuroad, 👍🏻
@@MrJustin8912 Nice choices, both are awesome bikes and would work for the riding you have in mind. Which one are you leaning towards? And which features are important to you?
@@mammothjourneys i like the Marin, but they seem to be like rocking horse shit in the UK! 😂 I like the idea of a steel frame that i can upgrade the components on.
@@MrJustin8912 yeah I know it sucks at times. Can be really hard to come by. Have you spoken to your local dealer?
For me the steel frame is ace and I love it. I've had an aluminium and steel gravel bike, both Marin, and much prefer the steel. Aluminium was not as comfortable.
Wow 3 days! Impressive. It took me 3.5 days to do the south downs way lol
Ha ha cheers mate. It was at the edge of challenging and fun, still had time for a few pub stops. South Downs is on my radar for the future. What kind of bike did you use? Well done for getting it done, I bet the views were epic 👏
@@mammothjourneys I used a gravel bike with 650b wheels kitted out with bikepacking bags. Shimano GRX 800 groupset, lowest cog 42T if I recall (bike was stolen a couple of months later).
Overall I was pushing a lot up some of the steeper hills and lost half a day at the beginning waking up late and bizarrely deciding to take the longest route to the start in Eastbourne. I wanted to avoid the main roads into the town from the campsite favouring country roads that went up to the ridge, joining the South Downs proper until going back down to the start point at the edge of the town, so I basically had to repeat going up and down and back up the uphill parts to join the ridge just to start! It was really hot and sunny for the first couple of days and the Eastbourne half of the route is the most dramatic up and down part. Im not that strong a cyclist (this was my first bikepacking experiment) so I think that combination of duplicating the hard work at the beginning, the hot sun and unusual weight of the bike killed my stamina overall. The Winchester end was much faster and more flowing. I have seen videos of people doing the South Downs Way in a day on a gravel bike (thus minus the bikepacking gear) so my bike was probably too heavy for its gear range. I was carrying a heavy 4 seasons 2 man tent for a solo trip in the Summer for example. I was carrying a lot of water too, 3L camelback included and even in the hot weather I did not need it all as there are frequent well mapped drinking water taps along the route.
The majority of other cyclists I saw were day trippers on Mountain bikes and e-bikes. I had the Red Shock suspencion stem and seatpost (very heavy again) but the seatpost was slipping with the saddle bag and that was reducing its suspension ablity to travel much so I was probably not getting any benefit there. There was one downhill section which was very loose and flinty and I was bouncing around a lot so therefore the braking ability was not optimal on such a heavy bike. I felt a bit out of control on that part and my hands hurt after the prolonged braking.
I read a lot about having to go far off route to get to a camping site but I was lucky and somehow managed to time each day reaching the fewer campsites that were actually along the route so I didnt lose any time doing that. The Eastbourne end half along the ridge is also more sparse in any amenities but there were a couple of cafes set up, one with a bike pump, so enough to stay fuelled without having to stop to cook lunch (I was carrying freeze-dried meals.
I now have a hardtail with more MTB geometry with a 12 spd 10-50T gear range which I tried on the Hebridean Way with a slightly heavier load (we had nearly 3 weeks), the long uphills are a real killer there but the gear range got me through without having to push from exhaustion but the South Downs Way had much steeper sections still. Ironically overall my old gravel bike would have suited the Hebridean Way better as I was slow due to rolling resistance on the 100% road surface of the route compared to my travelling companions on their road bike. Yeah so 2 bikes to choose from is the ideal situation!
@@suburbia2050 this is an amazingly in-depth answer, thank you.
Sorry to hear the bike was stolen, such a horrible feeling.
I've heard most people doing the SDW on a hardtail MTB which would probably be my preference. My Nicasio I worry would be a little uncomfortable for the type of terrain it is. Plus with some weight and the hills I would struggle on the gear ratio it has.
I have a hardtail I would probably use. Plus I reckon having a little extra comfort in comparison to my gravel would be appreciated towards the end.
I completely appreciate the surprise having some extra weight can have on the handling of the bike, so anything you can do to reduce that is key.
Sounds like you've done some great trips so far, very jealous.
What bikes do you have now?
@@mammothjourneys Hi I went for the Titus Silk Road sold by Planet X, a hardtail MTB with 29inch wheels (max width 2.6 inch) and a carbon "adventure" fork with mounting points. I figured the 29ers would get me back to more like a true gravel bike with faster rolling momentum once going than my previous 650bs which I timed as being slower overall on long canal towpath/road surface routes near me (I was always striking the pedals on the ground with my gravel bike with the 650b wheels as well). The fork mounts were useful for the Hebridean Way but perhaps would get in the way on something more tricky like the South Downs way, although coming to think of it there wasnt really any tight single track there, even the forest section in the Queen Elizabeth Park was quite wide and no deep ruts. I recently upgraded from the stock 29ers after the rear wheel could not handle the weight on the Hebridean way and I lost all my tubeless liquid due to the wheel deforming. I am tempted to do the The King Alfred next later in the year on it to test out my new wheels!
@suburbia1950 Not seen this bike before but it looks perfect for that type of riding. After reading your comments about striking your pedals on the ground it made me realise how I have had this happen on my Nicasio a few times. I couldn't figure out why. I have hardtail MTB with 29ers I would use for the SWD and I think in the future if I get a gravel bike I would get it at 700c for that rolling ability, but now also the clearance. Nice thinking mate and thanks for teaching me! I've also become distracted looking at the Hebridean Way - a 3 week trip is mega, very jealous. Did you camp the whole way on that?
Do you ride a Nicasio? How you been liking it?
I sure do. Review of it here if you are looking at it th-cam.com/video/_rvNBoUMcZo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=1PNCFFYgd9EqllJk
Loved the video. Do you think it’s a good option for occasional riders of moderate fitness (in 4 days rather than 3)?
Cheers mate glad you enjoyed it. Yeah having it spread across 4 days would work well. I'm similar fitness (I'd guess) to you and having an extra day would have been nice to allow a more chilled time enjoying pubs and views a bit more. When are you thinking of going? And what bikes are using?
@@mammothjourneys Looking like July next year. Would use gravel bikes - we live in London so haven’t ridden any off-road really. Looks awesome though, doesn’t seem difficult to bail out at any point if we’re finding it too hard
@@Deep_stew nice idea. I guess if you can do it outside of school holidays hopefully the route will be nice and quiet.
You're right there is plenty of places to bail. Plus from Winchester clockwise, only the first day is there any technical stuff, which is short. So you'll be fine. Hopefully you can get some rides out of London on the weeks leading up to it. Enjoy it mate you'll have a great time 👍
Great video. Had planned to do this at the start of half term last week but forecast was for day after day of heavy rain so I gave it a swerve. I’ve read it can be difficult to find places to refill water bottles etc. Did you find that?
Thanks Paul glad you enjoyed it. This past week would have made it pretty tough going with those downpours for sure - have you rescheduled at all?
I didn't find it difficult for the refills at all, I had 2 x 500ml of water. Found myself going through a town or village often enough so would stop at a cafe or pub for a feed and use the taps there. Hope that helps with any concern there may have been. Let me know if you have any other questions and best of luck when you do go for it. It's amazing and I'm sure you will have a great time.
@@mammothjourneys cheers for getting back. Work commitments means this probably won’t happen until next Easter at the earliest now unfortunately. Had a look at the Marin website…..no dealers in England?
@@pauledgerton1759 Ah that's a shame, but having the wait for better weather probably not such a bad thing. Any day rides you can do near you? Where are you based in UK? There should hopefully be a dealer near you - www.marinbikes.com/gb/find-a-dealer. If you put your details in it should pop something up - let me know if you manage to find something. What took your fancy or simply browsing? N+1.....
Hey Richard, thanks for a terrific video. I have been looking at purchasing a new bike (as my last mountain bike was stolen!!), and am considering a move to a gravel bike as I am 54 and not really pursuing tech mountain bike any more. The aim is to be able to take kids on tracks and then extend further afield with touring (a bit of allround riding). The Marin Nicasio Plus has come on the radar for price and steel frame. What are your thoughts and recommendations? Keep up the great videos.
Thanks for your kind words Stuart, I'm glad you liked the video.
Gravel bikes really do open up your local area for exploring, it's been great.
The Nicasio+ is ace and I love it. However another great option which could suit your needs even better may be the Marin Four Corners. Nice upright geometry and a steel frame so super comfortable. The gearing is more forgiving so better for climbs and ultimately smoother, and the stock tyres are more knobbly which makes it more suitable for tracks. The Nicasio+ tyres are smooth and in wet weather or muddy conditions on tracks becomes a little useless, which I experienced before changing them. The Four Corners is more designed for touring so hence more comfortable. If you went for the Nicasio+ you'd be happy, but may need to change the tyres as I have done here.
If you go onto my TH-cam channel I review the Four Corners, which may help your decision making.
Where abouts are you based and would you use it for anything else other than rides with the kids? Should have probably asked that first! 🚴👍
@@mammothjourneys Hi Richard, thanks for the reply. I am based on Sunshine Coast, QLD Australia. My useage would be mainly fitness (riding on roads to the mtb track), non tech mtb track with a view to gear up for small overnight tours. My main criteria is flexibility of use, and robust quality. Like most men, I tend to go for the more expensive bikes thinking it will be better, but the minister of war and finance, has 'encouraged' me to be more practicle and realistic. I will take a look at your Four Corners Review. Thanks for the recommendation and advice. Look forward to your next instalment. Cheers
@@stuharrison1 ha ha 😂 always good to keep the Long Haired General on side! The Four Corners I reckon would be a better choice for this. It truly is a one bike that can do it all. I've done tarmac loaded touring, rocky single track along with muddy trails on it. It's comfortable and robust, and price point very reasonable. Whatever you pick I hope you have fun and get out exploring. I bet in QLD there are some amazing routes to explore, very jealous. Send any cool pictures over to me so it can inspire me to get over and see it for myself! Thanks Stuart and happy riding 👍🚴
Seeing how the N+ performed in this video, you made me tiring to think if I should get a N+ instead of a 4Corners again 😂
What a dilemma
Ha ha sorry about that! Both great bikes so depends on your specific needs. What do you intend to use the bike for??
@@mammothjourneys mostly for commute to the store and nearby exploring, but I like the option to go try bike camping and long trips as well. They are both great bikes and price is close enough to not be too much of a factor. I just wanted an all rounded , durable gravel bike that’s good for both tarmac and some off road trails
Wonder what would your advice be? I am open to getting the right bike first and upgrading / a spare wheel set
@@hkchan1339 where you live is it hilly? Would you be carrying kit on the longer trips?
What kind of trails is the local exploring on? Compact gravel or mud or a variety?
Lots of questions but good to get an idea of what you'll use it for.
@@mammothjourneys the area I am planning to move is more flat with just a bit of slope , nearby are some gravel tracks to go explore.
But I would like the option to take more gear on longer trips just in case and go up more hilly areas on the trips. Probably can get 2 bikes when the day comes but I would like to start with one bike first.
PS: I haven’t been on a bike in some years but will be moving to UK in the next 12 months. Just doing my research atm and can wait until I move to make my purchase. So far from my research Marin seems to give the best value for price , my budget is around 1200 pounds
Thank you so much for your advice 😁
@@hkchan1339 if the vast majority of your riding is on tarmac and compact gravel, with not a lot of hills and not carrying kit I would go with the Nicasio. If you decide to go touring or somewhere hilly you can attach kit on but will have to work harder due to the gearing.
If you were using the bike regularly on muddy trails, or hills, or definitely knew you'd be carrying kit fairly often, then I would go with the Four Corners. The knobbles tyres and easier gearing make it better suited for that. If you got the four corners for the riding you'd be doing it would obviously work and be fine. It's one bike that can do it all.
The aim is balancing the strength of each bike for the majority of riding you'd be doing,and accepting it wont be perfect for every scenario.
Does that make sense?
Orginalne są tu opony 650x47. Czy wejdą opony 700?
pytasz o ten rower czy o tą trasę? Mam nadzieję, że mój polski jest OK.
@@mammothjourneys wow ;) Polski jest super;) mój angielski jest do dupy ;) pytam o opony w rowerze. Czy założę np. 700x42
@@panetoh6647 Użyłem 42x650B. 700 byłoby ok. Ważną rzeczą jest bieżnik. chcesz równowagi niektórych pokręteł, ale niezbyt dużych, spowalnia cię. Użyłem WTB Resolute i były asami. amzn.to/3iOTJcp