I promised I wouldn’t mention the sand. Well, that didn’t work. The overriding memory of the King Alfred’s Way, aside from the great company, endless eating and many friendly folks en route, was the beautiful and varied scenery and of course the sand.
Monday morning, the adventurers assembled at the top of Cow Down on the Ridgeway, all eager and not really knowing what we had let ourselves in for, but we’d never be far from home! The first day was our easy day, just a short hop along the Ridgeway to Goring, following the river trail to Reading and south to Farnham and our first overnight stop in the Premier Inn. Sounded easy, but after navigating the gas road works in Goring we were met by an extremely large tree blocking the river trail. After some impromptu route planning and some pushing of the bikes up a hill we were back on the path.
Detour off the riverside path near Goring, with view across the Thames Valley.
It only felt like the ride had just started when once again the riverside path added more surprises with some monster steps and some serious pushing to get the bikes up. Graham J. had some extra help as his electric mountain bike required quite a shove.
Eventually after navigating the “industrial” heartlands of Reading and the Green Park estate we headed south alongside a bridlepath next to the A33, eventually we ended the long morning in Mattingley and the Leather Bottle for lunch, after a diversion for a puncture.
The pub was more than happy to accommodate the electric brigade and provided hook up for the bikes to give them a boost before we took in the last section to Farnham and the Premier Inn. The last mile or so taking us around the grounds of the Castle.
Tuesday was the hardest day of riding; I use the term loosely as at a number of points we became our alter ego, namely the Newbury Walking and Sandcastle Club! Frensham Sands, and its famous ponds, and the Devils Punchbowl are beautiful. Even in the pouring rain, pushing your bike up long inclines and trying to cycle through the sand, they are beautiful. The purple heather was trying its best to make this feel like a summer’s day, although the crunch of bike gears as we rode through the sand was sounding expensive.
Steve making good progress across the sands
Soggy view over the punchbowl
Eventually we arrived at the coffee stop near Hindhead where some of us used a dog bowl to throw water onto the cassette and chain to clear the sand. It made a huge difference. Bowl was refilled so no dog would go thirsty. When we arrived at the Tea Barn for lunch in the early afternoon, much to our relief the rain had desisted. More chain cleaning and we could set off on the last leg that day for Winchester.
The only snag with this of course was the South Downs…. After eventually passing through Queen Elizabeth Park (home of the local parkrun, and a “Q” for the alphabet brigade) we then started an enormous bicycle push up Butser Hill. Apparently, at the top of the hill there lives a dragon, but obviously the sight of the Lycra clad soggy Newbury riders scared it away. The views were stunning, across to the Channel with the Isle of Wight a way in the distance.
View from Butser Hill back to Queen Elizabeth Country Park.
Should be easy now, except for the fact the bridle path had been closed around the Boomtown Festival near Winchester, so following much detouring around the rapidly filling grounds we were directed out onto the busy A272 where much discussion ensued on how to get to the hotel avoiding the heavy traffic. However, we managed, and that evening had a well-deserved curry.
Day 3 and the ride from Winchester to Devises was well set with breakfast for some of the party at Spoons.
Breakfast at Spoons set us up well for day 3.
The early part of the morning sailed by, probably much to do with relief from the previous gargantuan days ride. Food is nectar to cyclists and a chance conversation with a villager pointed us in the direction of the Broughton Community Shop. An hour or so out of Winchester, set behind the village hall it could easily be missed but was one of the few stops on the trail to Devises. Very welcoming, happy to fill water bottles and awesome home-made cake from an “old” villager’s recipe.
Old Sarum was another “castle” the route took us past on day 3.
The afternoon on day three we had an impromptu stop after one of the group caught a root and ended up on the deck; no harm done.
The climb over Salisbury plain was awesome with varied trails and tracks and views of the White Horse in the far distance at Woodborough. The descent, however, was not a great deal of fun down a steep and rocky path, but once down the ride to Devises was on tarmac which I think everyone appreciated.
Awesome paths over Salisbury plain – well some of them were!
The final day began with the short tarmac ride back to the route where we encountered more rocky climbs before eventually stopping at Avebury for coffee before joining the Ridgeway.
In places the climbs were a test of both rider and bike – Paris Roubaix eat your heart out!
So day 4 took us back to where we started at West Illsley, and Cow Down. With a late stop for lunch at Court Hill, the friendly staff were more than helpful providing us with beans on toast to recharge the reserves.
Team Photo at Wayland’s Smithy on the Ridgeway
Just for info, we had two electric bikes and, one gravel bike, one mountain bike and the rest were a mix of hybrid bikes. Only one bike had drop bars. We completed the journey in four days, covering about 100km per day, not getting to the hotel on day two until 7.30 in the evening.
And while the lads were taking it easy staying in hotels for the night, hats off go to Cassie and her “lads” who started the ride from Reading a couple of days before us and carried their camping gear! Some of those hills were tough! Well done Cassie!
Comments