Cycling London to the New Forest semi off-road 🌳

Setting off from Bromley I battled an all-day headwind to reach the New Forest national park. Along the way I mixed up the route, taking full advantage of the gravel bike to get some good off-road trails into the mix!
Route : https://www.komoot.com/tour/2322661086
More Epic Rides! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVGeWDr7MCk&list=PLYkMarnIxnDqtbfxyP0l6Xt1kZOhJDpiT&pp=gAQB
CycleXplorer youtube : https://www.youtube.com/@CycleXplorer

[Music] London to the New Forest. 170k. Let’s go. [Music] [Music] Yeah. So, London to the New Forest. Currently going through Surrey Hills. We’re going to go just shy of Guilford and then through or around the Devil’s Punch Bowl. That’ll be a a new bucket list item ticked off. and then uh going southeast and eventually get to Southampton and then to the New Forest from there. Uh yeah, a lot of this place I’ve haven’t seen before. So New Forest will be brand new. Southampton also I think I probably driven through it once or twice but haven’t really seen anything. And most of the countryside around there never seen before. So, a journey of discovery. But for now, we’re on some very janky quote unquote gravel. But I wish I had my mountain bike. We’re actually on the North Downs way now. Yeah, I remember this from when I did my failed bike packing attempt going the other way, of course. Yeah, this this part of the route I remember being very spicy, but also very beautiful. So, going to enjoy that for as long as it lasts. [Music] Hello there. Bloody hell. Oh my brakes are not enjoying this. [Music] [Music] Oh, the speed is out. Oh my god, it’s been stung like 40 times. Is that funny? Yeah. [Music] [Music] Now we’re on the downs link. It’s funny. I cut across somewhere in London. There were loads of cyclists and they had all the London London to Brighton bike road jerseys on. So I guess that’s happening today. So I had to mingle with them for a little bit and now I’m on the London right off road route. I still need to sign up for that this year actually. Uh leaving it a bit late. It’s in like 2 months I think. Two or 3 months. Yeah, I got to give that a go again this year. [Music] All right, we are just coming out the other side of the Surrey Hills. Next, big turn we’re going to hit is Liss and then we’re going to carry on souththeast. Uh I think that really steep gravel tech I went down earlier. I think that was the punch bowl, so I kind of missed it. I didn’t stop to look, but uh yeah, it was very steep. I wouldn’t want to come up that the other way. Not on the scrabble bike anyway. The gearing ain’t low enough. All right, let’s see what’s next. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] [Applause] So, the arrow bars are new. I’ve only had them about a week, so I’m still kind of getting the position right. But everyone raves about the arrow position where the elbows are on the pads, right? The position I’m loving is like this with your hand on it. You can basically be completely upright and stretch your back out on long rides. It is incredible. So, it’s it’s the anti- arero bars. But no, I’ve been doing it all day and I love it. Never even thought about it until today. Not on climbs though. [Music] [Music] Oh, stain nose. [Music] Nice one. So, I’m now on Punch Bowl Lane. So, I’m guessing this is the Devil’s Punch Bowl, not that steep bit I was on before, but uh I don’t really know what I’m looking for, to be honest. I’m guessing it’s something similar to Devil’s Day, but I don’t really know. It’s kind of on a road right now. There’s no real vantage points to see out anywhere. So, yeah, maybe it’s not the end of this or maybe I’m just going to miss it. I’m really not sure. We’ll see. [Music] Yeah. Found it. It’s quite incredible. Maybe there’s a bit of view on the right. I’m not sure. Surrey Hills being extremely sorry hills right now. Absolutely knackered. Right, let’s keep you in. [Music] [Applause] Found a better one. [Music] That’s quite [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I swear some of these trails, it felt like going through someone’s back garden. Yeah. Going down the main road and all of a sudden you’re in a field. Love it. Oh, where are we going? This way. Yeah. [Applause] Down this lane is where they planted Canadian maple trees. Now, I know nothing about Canadian maple trees. I’m just trying to look at the leaves to see if I recognize the leaf. Maybe. Yeah, I guess in the autumn they go bright red and they get that distinctive color, right? So, yeah, not much to see right now. [Applause] All right, bit of a road talk for right now. Let’s see what we see. Another tunnel. Let’s go. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Another good channel. [Music] Yeah, I think there’s a bit of gravel here. Then I think we’re back on the road for a while. And then there’s a there’s a a rail trail we’re going to hit at some point. I swear it’s got a Z in the name like me or something. Knees maybe. But that’s quite away from here I think. pine forest. You sure know how I feel about pine forest right now. The best forest. Definitely come down here before when I did London to list. We’re basically following the same route into Liss, including that other amazing pine forest just before list. That’s right next to the military training area. I can’t remember the name of it right now. It’s like Logore or something. Speaking about Logore Ranges, we’re literally in it now. I guess it’s the same vine for us. [Music] Yeah, it’s trails like these where gravel bikes really come alive. More fun than mountain bikes where it’s just kind of like flowy. A few roots and rats here and there you can kind of weave around while going extremely fast. Yeah, incredible on the outskirts of List pretty much. I think this is the same road I came in on when I did the London to list. So, I may have recorded this view before. We’ll see. It’s quite a good one. Just going to stop in at list to get a resupply. might need some more water and some more snacks and then uh we’ll see what’s after that cuz yeah, I really don’t know the southeast beyond beyond list very well at all. I know that we need to cross the south down way kind of south of Winchester so that’s going to be fun. another hill, but then once we get over that, I think it’s relatively flat relatively. Okay, we have just hit 100k. 70 to go. We’ve broken the back a bit and once we’re past the South Downs National Park, it should flatten out a little bit, which is good. There’s my legs. I’m starting to feel the pain. Cue suitably epic music as the South Downs are right there. We got to go over it. We’re going to cross the South Downs way perpendicular. Yeah. Got to climb a very big hill first. Oh my gosh. Heat. Heat. [Music] Love all these oldies. [Music] Uh, not sure where this is, but the South Downs are looming ever larger on the horizon. So, I’m almost there. [Music] Made it to the top. Here is the South Downs Way crossing that way and that way. I think I’m going to carry on that way. I’m going to take a few seconds to eat and drink something after that. That was a spicy climb. All right. See a bit there’s more. There’s always more. I thought the South Way crossing was little peak, but nope. Still going up. [Music] Southampton never disappoints. We are going to the top. Look at that. Bit misty over there. I’m not sure what the next town is we’ll be hitting, but Southampton can’t be too far away. I just can’t remember if we’re going to anything else before that probably. I just cannot remember right now. But Southampton’s the next big one. I don’t think I’ve ever been down this road before. That’s incredible. Yeah, it’s still windy. Very windy. Dealing with it though. About 120k in. So, we got another 50 odd to go. So, we just need to get to Southampton Harbor, cross the bridge, and then get into the New Forest. And I think my route takes me straight to the train station in the center. But if I go past the pub, I may just have to stop, you know. All right, let’s do this. Right. And that rail shell I was talking about earlier, it hasn’t got a Z in it. It’s just called the Meon. Meon Railway. This goes quite a way south, but we’re only going to be riding it, I don’t know, not even halfway, I think. Just wanted to get off the road for a bit. [Music] And this was on the map. So, let’s go and have a look. I imagine it’s going to be very flat, rather straight. [Music] It’s looking like it may rain. The forecast did have some splotches of rain like all day. I’ve dodged them all so far, but I might hit one now. It’s not going to be too bad, though. And now there shouldn’t be any more major hill climbs. There’s only three on this route and I’ve done them. I guess it depends what Garmin thinks there’s a hill or not. [Music] Yeah, we’ll see. We’ve done uh roughly 130k, so it’s not much left really. I haven’t seen anywhere with a place name that I recognize yet. Lower Wangfield Farm. Wait, there’s a place called Wangfield. Okay. All right. Oh, man. I live in Wangfield. Oh, okay. It’s getting very gray and it’s getting colder. I’m not sure if I can dodge this rain. Well, maybe. I mean, we’ll see. Going all right so far. I think I think I’m either in or just going through Southampton now. But I’ve never I haven’t seen any signs saying Southampton. I’m just kind of guessing. Yeah, I was wondering when we’re going to get here. We’re running out of mileage. There it is. So, we got to go down here, across a bridge, and then into the new forest, if I remember correctly. All right, there’s only one landmark left and that is the entrance to the New Forest. Let’s go and find it. I want to say it’s football, but it might not be. Shows how much I know about football. I’m guessing it’s football. [Music] been following the cycle way for a while. I think I might have uh messed up the landmarking again because I think the big bridge I was talking about is coming up cuz I’m still parallel to the harbor and the bridge goes uh perpendicular over it. So, I think uh I think there’s a much bigger bridge that I’m waiting for. I don’t know where it is. But 20k left of the route. So we should be in the new forest any minute a bridge like this one. Maybe h well well yes. So, now we’re definitely on track. And the last landmark I want to see is a New Forest sign. It wasn’t a sign, but I’m assuming this is it. [Music] All right, made it. Look at that. Just as the sun goes behind a big cloud. All right. I want to see some horses. I want to see what else. Ponies. I want to see Oh, no. What else you got here? Tigers, lions, sea lions. I take a sea lion. All right. So, my route takes me towards the center. I can’t remember the name of the place, but it’s got a train station that goes to London. It’s not Peter. It’s not Petersville. It’s I don’t know. I can’t remember. Let’s go and have a look at the new forest. Can’t believe it. There’s There’s some nice gravel in the UK. What’s going on? I did hear that there was some nice gravel here. Who was it? Mr. Cycle Explorer. There’s I’m going to name drop another cycling YouTuber that you should all go and have a look at. He’s a bike packer ultra racer. [Music] Done a lot of cool races that I would love to do someday. But yeah, go and check him out. He’s uh I think he’s local around here. So, but yeah, he’s got a couple videos up about good routes to do in here. So maybe one day I’ll get around to it. Uh yeah, this place is pretty amazing. You’re in a forest and then you’re in whatever this is tundra. I don’t know. It’s great though. Just had to stop and give directions to someone who was trying to find Lindhurst. I had no signal on my phone. So, Google Maps was barely loading. So, hopefully I gave him good directions. [Music] Yeah, still a headwind all day. Oh, bloody day. [Music] This is quite beautiful though. Oh, wow. They’re off. Me coming a mile away. Oh, the horses. Yeah. Now we’re getting a full fat experience now. We got deers. We got horses. We got sun. We got good gravel. We got bad gravel. We got whatever this is. Yeah, it’s very peaceful here. Don’t hear a single car. Barely seeing myself. Maybe five people. It’s very nice. [Music] It’s just endless gravel trails. It’s really nice and flowy. I have no idea where I am, but I’m having fun. [Music] All right, I’ve just come out the other side of the new forest. My camera is playing up a bit. I think the battery is about to die, but uh yeah, it should be the station very, very soon and the end. My bottom will be very happy about that. Made it. All right, my GoPro is about to die. I never do good outros, so see you later. Don’t.