UK’s Smallest Bothy Microadventure | Jack & Matthew Go Bikepacking on E-Bikes

This video contains product placement on behalf of Giant. Jack, Mathew and videographer Felix set out on a chilly winter journey to the smallest bothy* in the UK. Will they make it before nightfall and survive the blistering cold temperatures of South Wales? You’ll have to watch to find out.

*Just in case you don’t know, a bothy is a solid but basic shelter found in remote parts of the UK that weary travellers can use for free.

Do you have any frosty winter bike-packing adventures for Jack and Mathew? Let us know in the comments.

For the world’s best riding advice head to https://www.bikeradar.com/

Follow BikeRadar on our social media channels:
https://instagram.com/bikeradar
https://facebook.com/bikeradar
Tweets by bikeradar

We also make brilliant magazines about road cycling and mountain biking. Find out more about Cycling Plus and MBUK here: https://www.buysubscriptions.com/magazine-subscriptions/cycling-and-triathlon-magazine-subscriptions

[Music] oh good god that’s nice hello and welcome to another episode of bike Raider Diaries which is all about what we like to get to hear it by grader today we have a stalwart of the channel but a newcomer to bike radar Diaries Matthew Loveridge formerly Allen hello yes after many months of persuasion jack has finally convinced me to try bike packin I have long been of the belief that yes outside is free but inside is centrally heated I like to end my rides with a hot meal and a warm bed here we go boys so with that in mind I’m gonna turn Matthews conceptions of what makes a good ride on their head and we’ve got a very gentle meandering ride up towards Abergavenny where we were then gonna go further on to a little bothy behind Abergavenny and the Brecon Beacons the smallest bothy in the UK where we’re going to spend the night these giant Explorer II plus two bikes have a 500 watt hour battery and all the mod cons so it should be possible to go the distance in style and comfort and comfort so I actually have previous experience with this bothy I’ve been on two occasions the first was in the middle of summer had a beautiful ride out with my brother and we stayed in absolute style and the second was not so successful where I arrived and I was almost immediately kicked out by rampant couple who warned with some ruling about would be taking on later so fingers crossed we don’t encounter anything like that today yeah it’s quite cold we need to get going every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step so we’re gonna go and eat pastry before we actually do any cycling let’s see how we get on [Music] we’ve just written out of kamerun we’re on this absolutely lovely canal path I’m having a really nice time on this bike I think it’s just it’s so relaxing and pleasant and stress-free and come up right looking at the scenery yeah which is something that we don’t always do when we rode our bikes haven’t broke a sweat and luke cool what more can we ask for nothing thanks good [Music] beautiful Felix our videographer is also on a giant ebike I mean yours definitely appropriate for the terrain yeah I’m definitely not over getting here at all fiction 3 yeah I think I found our Buffy so that with bigger than Jack sent but you know our accommodation for the night really is very small so like I said that means miss barfi before and it’s lovely it’s very small smallest Buffy in the UK for sanitation of any sort no I mean he’s basically a shared with a bunk in it about 15 20 K in making friends hello that’s nice we’ve got a new friend Kasim he bikes are a really great way to meet new people you see the world you talk to people move a very leisurely pace and yeah we’ve see pontypool and distance and the hills were aiming for fancy a little bit of lunch yeah I’m really dying for a coffee yeah Jeff unlit Jack Ludacris ticket but we’re a bit conscious that the lights going so kicked it up to eco plush which is actually surprisingly quite a lot of faster than Eco mode you don’t want hang around too much but we’re actually quite a bit further along than we thought we were so that’s good you want some yeah you get the best bit [Music] we just made it to have a give any that’s lovely sunny Africa been you we are truly spoiled today rabbit toasties [Music] [Applause] we’re just going to Tesco Clubcard point corpulence about you sweetie i think i’m gonna say for my hungry boys we’re gonna go for a two packets of spinach and ricotta yeah we’ve just got some supplies yeah how far have we got left I actually don’t know I just go where I’m told Matthew’s quite fussy we should have asked him his man who actually knows what he wants we got checked that it’s actually screw-top yeah I don’t know if Jack said but there’s a it gets a little bit off-road yes this thing is gonna be a bit more technical so that would be interesting I’m gonna use a higher power mode than I have been because I’ve got loads of battery left so I think I can afford to use a little bit more than I have been using losing civilization losing civilization and the light let’s go let’s do this thing [Music] we’ve thrown efficiency out the window it’s get a bit dark so we’re in normal mode now smashed out the last few case so since our burger Benny we’ve basically been going uphill almost the whole time we’ve been using the normal mode on our bikes for the most part just to make it a bit easier because we want to get there before it’s actually dark especially if it turns out that it’s occupied so we’ve then gonna have to turn around and go somewhere else bloody hell this looks very sporty oh good god we’re losing the light now and but I believe this is the final stretch that last bit was really really rough getting bounced around quite a lot you are a small man I am a small man that is good fun yeah we’ve got about one hour of five minutes round this corner is the moment of truth when we discover if the bath is occupied or not [Music] we go down here yeah right I’ll go find out I think we’re in that boys I feel confident hello she pees [Music] yes nobody in so we’ll just cross the little fence we’re coming down to the water with a little tiny tiny tiny Buffy’s when Reggie sleep about yeah I romantic king man’s oldest art fresh to them no I mean it’s TJ oh it’s very exciting oh my god you are shaming I’m so attracted transfer is the brightest bit yeah yes hi boys welcome this is nice [Music] so if you got any top tips than Jack for life in the perfect well I think one of the ones that we’ve really done well I’ve got stay organized I mean this is absolutely minuscule it’s by top three by three meters or three by two meters very small so although there is an upstairs there is the penthouse suite and yeah stay organized get the fire on as soon as you’re going in is lovely one now and bring something to keep you entertained and and wear pajamas because I am so snuggly now I’m gonna pull this into my M my Camelback bottle cuz I’d ever gasps yeah I mean it that’s right now we’re gonna drink to reward ourselves for our wonderful efforts here’s here’s to the boys chairs chairs [Music] [Applause] [Music] Wow yeah pretty much absolute pleasure not Mya titanium covered this does look appeared to be titanium so compliant I hear that roar supposed to go the wind eh I just saw went repeat I saw the biggest shooting star everything in my life I was unbelievable but from that side of the valley like we’ve had a good day with artless certainly through eating alone mind and body are both satisfied what about you Matthew it’s extremely warm in here although I am conscious that it’s going to be extremely cold in the morning but right now I’m trying not to worry about that too much part you know [Music] well there goes the creature it’s pretty cloudy others pretty nice bit of light on me I’m reservoir actually I had to film this because the Sun is suddenly just broken into the valley and it looks absolutely amazing [Music] we’re all packed up and then loaded onto the bikes and we’re now going to make the epic descent back into a burg of any where we’re gonna have a huge breakfast get some coffee inside us because all we’ve had to eat so far is very cold bit of pastry left over from yesterday of course is the media elite of cycling journalism that will not cut it the bothy life has not delivered the luxuries require so yeah Abergavenny we’re we’re looking forward to a bit of a spicy descent now aren’t we jack yes perhaps a little bit under bikes but it’s gonna be exciting it’s all part of the fun [Music] good dissent yeah what yeah that was all right that bit I think it’s probably rockier further down but that bit was pretty much yeah so now we’ve got a beautiful view the dam behind Felix and we’re gonna take a little cruise across look at some useful industrial architecture yeah carry on [Music] yeah we got about 15k back down to a poker penny now factually downhill most of the way so yeah although it’s quite a big climb towards the end but hey Ronnie bikes [Music] [Music] yeah so thus concludes our boss the adventure we’re back now amber given station we’re gonna head back to Bristol you’re going back home but what do you think of our little body adventure I love to I wasn’t exactly comfortable all of the time but I had a great time so some lovely scenery felt a little bit wild and backcountry ass no it’s great really liked it should say I’ve done that ride what kind of a form of it three times now but this was definitely by far the most relaxing yeah it was good cuz we didn’t have to worry too much about the weight we were carrying so we had loads of sleeping equipment we had loads of cooking equipment and proper wine with loads of extra food so we have to stress about that at all it’s great yeah really fun midweek adventure thank you to join our sponsors they’re sending us the bikes really enjoyed riding them even if they were good girl sewing a bit chunkier like Felix’s for the love it’s certainly a little bit out their limit on some of it but we were pushing the limits of what you would ever use a bike like this for so that’s to be expected they still held up and there were a lot of fun so yeah thank you for watching don’t forget to Like and subscribe and hit that little bell icon so you get notified about all of our videos line [Music]