King Alfred's Way 2022

 

Three members of the club Calum Cheshire, Rich Butler, Will Hornby made a plan to ride the King Alfred's Way in September 2022 from Friday 2nd - Sunday 4th. If you have not already heard of the King Alfred's Way it is a 350km route devised by Cycling UK in the South of England along quiet roads and bridleways. For the full details of the route and lots of helpful advice which we used ourselves check out https://www.cyclinguk.org/king-alfreds-way

Our plan for the route was to do it in 3 days so we booked overnight accommodation for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. In the end we had to cancel our accommodation for Friday night because of work commitments and instead travelled up to Wiltshire early on Friday morning.

Friday - Salisbury to Reading

We started from the Beehive Park and Ride on the edge of Salisbury https://goo.gl/maps/soG46K6FX9FgmtzDA which was decided while we were driving up to Wiltshire and looking for somewhere to get some breakfast and to park. The park and ride was great because it was free for the whole weekend and fairly secure as well (at least Rich's car was still there when we returned on Sunday). The route for day one was great with lots of interesting terrain and fantastic views. It was also a day of mechanical problems which started off being fairly minor with Rich puncturing which was easily repaired with a replacement inner tube but unfortunately for Calum he dropped his bike on his rear derailleur bending the hanger which caused his drive train and available gears to be limited for the rest of the weekend. I (Will) punctured my rear tubeless tyre on fast decent after hitting a sharp stone and the hole it caused was too big for the sealant to repair so for the rest of the weekend it was held together with energy bar and gel wrappers with an inner tube. 

Apart from the mechanical problems that slowed us down we were a little under prepared for the length of the ride we had planned which was mostly off road. It turns out 160 km was a long way and it was just as well we brought lights with us!

The accommodation for Friday night was the M4 South Travelodge at Reading which while not the most salubrious location did benefit from a plethora of fast food eating establishments and somewhere to buy extra food supplies and a few bottles of beer at our late arrival time.

Saturday - Reading to Aldershot

We were more than a little tired when we woke up on Saturday and thanks to Rich plotting a route we started off with a small scenic detour to Halfords in the centre of Reading on a bike route alongside a canal. At Halfords we stocked up on inner tubes to keep us going and I (Will) decided against trying to replace my rear tubeless tyre and instead continued with the inner tube and wrapper repair. Calum had also broken a spoke on day 1 and was hoping Halfords could fit a new spoke or at least supply a replacement but that was not an option that was available and we were not keen on waiting the week Calum was told would be required for his wheel to be repaired. 

Back on the route which we agreed was generally much easier going terrain than we had encountered on the epic day 1. We did have a couple of small mishaps on the ride just as we contemplated finding somewhere to stop for our lunch. Firstly Calum managed to crash on a particularly steep bridleway with loose stones which combined with his slipping gears caused by his misaligned rear derailleur. Only a few kilometres further on Will got another rear wheel puncture and made good use of one of his new inner tubes from Halfords. While Will was making running repairs Rich and Calum were conspiring to make changes to the accommodation booked for Saturday night to reduce the amount of riding required and the deviation from the King Alfred's Way. 

The new plan for the rest of the day and Saturday night was to stay at the Travelodge in Aldershot rather than heading off towards Dorking and the Holmbury St Mary Surrey Hills Youth Hostel. The change plan allowed for a far easier day of only 56 km which was welcome after the long ride the day before. We had finished our riding by about 1 pm and spent the rest of the day within a few hundred metres of the Travelodge right in the centre of Aldershot with Nando's, Pizza Express and Morrisons ensuring we had plenty to eat and drink.

Sunday - Aldershot to Salisbury

We woke up earlier on Sunday morning anticipating another long hard ride on the bridleways and lanes to complete the route and get back to where we started on Friday. So we could leave by 8 am we bought food for breakfast the day before in Morrisons which was a good plan although we were not too sure about the flavour of the just add boiling water porridge and hadn't thought about how we would eat it without spoons until we had prepared it in the morning.

The riding on the final day presented different challenges and more interesting terrain to ride on with the Devil's Punchbowl being a highlight with deep sand and plenty of steep accents to ride. Calum's lack of gears with his impaired drive train were not making things easy for him and Rich managed to crash twice in the deep sand which was amusing although I am sure the fact we did not all crash was more down to luck than extra skills.

As we progressed on the route on the last day of our adventure we joined the South Downs Way which was very enjoyable but also included some very tough hills including the incredibly steep Bridleway through Buster Hill nature reserve which none of us were able to ride especially Calum with his jumping gears. I am sure much to the amusement of the family we had just ridden past very slowly Rich fell off covering his back in chalk which is prevalent in this part of the country. Rich's valiant attempt to complete the hill on much too big a gear with a fully loaded bike was commendable although it seemed inevitable that it would result in failure.

Perhaps the highlight of the final day was the Bucks Head pub where we stopped for Fish and Chips chosen by Rich. It was an excellent meal and coincided with the realisation we were all flagging with mechanical problems and tiredness that we needed to take an easier if not shorter route back to Salisbury.

For the final leg of our journey from Meonstoke to Salisbury we plotted a much more direct route along roads including many busy A roads through Bishop's Waltham, Eastleigh, Chandlers Ford and Romsey which although not so much fun were significantly quicker than sticking the King Alfred's Way. Once we got past Romsey our alternative route along much quieter lanes in Hampshire and onto Salisbury where our journey started in Wiltshire were again a lot more interesting and allowed us to enjoy the final few kilomtres of what was still a long day in the saddle at 150 km.

Conclusion

We really enjoyed our trip despite missing out a little of the final section of the full King Alfred's Way route. 350 km is a long way over three days of predominantly off road cycling.