A 4 day MTB navigation of the King Alfred
Way, starting and finishing at Winchester.
[Music] So after going the wrong way to start with from the premier in um and a very hilly exit from Winchester. I’m now out in the countryside. Uh be going off road soon hopefully. So, the first village after um Winchester. It’s got a pub and there’s a post office which are both open. It’s about 9:00 in the morning. Just got 9. So, you can top off if you need to. It’s a bit of a main road section, but not too bad. Well, after a fair bit of road work since uh Winchester, more than I was expecting to be honest. Um it feels like we’re on uh off-road proper. Bit of single track, which isn’t the easiest to ride one-handed. Um but yeah, we’re out in the wilderness a bit more now and it feels more like looking out with way proper. Couple of hours in. Um still nice terrain, the odd damp patch, but no real standing water. Um you do find it’s terrain’s quite unforgiving. Like I’ve just come up a big hill and you literally go straight back down again and then you’ll be back up another hill. It’s just constantly rolling. You’re never either up or down. Um after the initial flat bit out of Winchester on the roads, I’m guessing it’s going to be pretty much like this at least till Ssbury um till you get on to Ssbury plane. But yeah, challenging but it’s fun. You can see that. Do believe that’s old serum up in front of me up on that hill where I’ll be stopping for a lunch break. Back on the road again. Just left Old Serum. Just see it there in the distance on towards uh Honey Church where I finish for the night. on a nice quiet country road about 10 miles further on from old terum I guess nice river down there below me don’t know what it is yeah onwards the just left Amesbury just crossed over the A303 um just over the brow of that hill which is where the track’s heading is Stonehenge So, making good progress. Perfect for a gravel bike. In fact, pretty much the whole rout’s been possibly better for a gravel bike cuz there’s a lot of road work. There’s not many places you would possibly have to demount, dismount, maybe one or two. So, just uh come up a horrendous road back there. relatively flat but on top of the hill and it’s blowing a gale and it’s a headwind unfortunately. Um between Lark Hill Army Camp and this is Rollstone Camp hopefully going to go back off road again soon. Get out the wind. So skirting around the uh military ranges now and they’re shooting today so you definitely don’t want to go in them. Um, single track. Still pretty windy up here and quite exposed, but not horrendous. Still on the ranges. This is the Ember Range. Um, I remember doing the Ssbury plane challenge on this uh range going through a village and it’s the area is huge. So, it takes a while to get across. Um, still pretty blustery. It’s a crosswind at the moment. Not sure how much longer I’ve got to go in that direction. Just coming off the um Impner range now. Took about 3 hours to get across that. It’s a long old drag in the wind. Um weather looks a bit threatening to the west. So I’m don’t know if that’s coming my way or not, but hopefully I only got about five miles to my stop. So hopefully I’ll miss it anyway. But downhill and then I think it’s road work until the end. [Music] Day two, probably about five or six miles in. We’ve just come up this uh monster of a hill from that valley down there. That was a killer. That’s been the worst hill so far of the trip. I think uh I think I’m now sort of heading up onto the roadway in Avery now. These stone circles are uh everywhere. Had lunch. Uh a bit of a break. Now back up on the ridgeway after crossing the M4. Lovely views. bit more um activity on here for more cyclists, if you want to walk. There’s obviously a bit of a more active part of the Gford Way. There seems to be loads of these uh fork hill forts on originally. This has got to be the fifth or sixth one. A white horse white horse fort maybe. I don’t know. [Music] at some view. One of the highest points on the ridgeway. I think it took some climbing to get up to here was a big climb just before this section. And uh as per it’s still very windy. [Music] Day three on the edge of the Wessix Downs, I believe, next to this river. I’m not 100% sure which one it is. Um, the inevitable happened and it’s been pouring with rain. It’s just stopped for the minute, but I don’t think the forecast is great, but I guess it was inevitable. It’s going to happen at some point. I’m in Reading now by the river. If it wasn’t pissing down, it would actually be very pleasant. Unfortunately, it is. So, alongside the canal, just outside Reading now, heading south. Canal’s to my left. Don’t know if you can just see it through the trees. Yeah. Uh, at least the rain stopped for the moment. I think it might be shortlived e onwards. Well, it stopped raining at least. Bit of blue sky around right next to this major dual carriageway. Um somewhere between I think there sign Kennet and Haven Canal, I believe. Very nice. Somewhere near all the shot now around Caesar’s camp, I think. Um very very sandy in some places. On the climbs it’s actually impossible uh without getting off. The sand’s just deep and claggy. Um turn my chain to grinding paste unfortunately. Just coming to the top of what I believe is the devil’s punch bowl. She’s a bit of a monster and it’s very very loose rocks that you sort of roll off of uh which just break your cadence all the time. It just finishes just up there I think. Still drizzling. Has been for most of the day to be honest. Apart from God sunny spell. Been a tough one especially in the sandy areas around all the shot. That’s the punch bowl. I’m up in the clouds now. Be careful when this is over. [Music] So, day four. Started off drizzly, but uh it’s clearing up. Um I’m on the grounds of Longmore Army Base now near Bordon, I think. Um started the day at Devil’s Punch Bowl. We didn’t film anything cuz it was uh very dark in the woods while it was raining. So push on now towards uh Queen Elizabeth Country Park where I’ll take a break. Just left Liss on these uh gravel tracks now. Skies are looking a bit threatening again. You can’t see it through the trees. Um rode the old abandoned list railway. It’s only for about 2 miles, but that was quite good. Should have filmed it really, but busy. Anyway, onwards. Getting somewhere close to Queen Elizabeth Country Park. I think I can see uh Butter Hill looming in the distance. So, I think I’m a million miles away. And particularly looking forward to that one with three days and 170 odd 180 odd miles in the legs. Anyway, we’ll get there. Talk about a hill, but that was pretty brutal. It’s pretty me up here. Getting somewhere near Winchester now, I think. Uh just come off the the hills. Still on the south down way, but I’ve been since Butsy been on top of the hills and now down the other side. Uh not 100% sure how far away from Winchester I am. But I’ve just gone the wrong way. So going to turn back somewhere above Winchester. Still on the South Downs way. We had a horrendous thunderstorm about an hour ago and I think there’s another one coming. But right now it’s sunny and I’m hopefully close enough to the end that I might dodge it. Can’t remember the name of this bowl, but it’s uh where the Americans were stationed during the Second World War. And just back over the hill somewhere there is where they do the um British motocross Grand Prix. I must be pretty close to Winchester by now, I think. Luckily, I managed to dodge the last storm. Just skirted round it. So another half an hour I guess 45 minutes and we’ll be there. On the railway line now almost to a town center. [Music]