Part 3 of a 300 mile multi-surface cycling adventure that routes around the counties of Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire. This edit is for those of you that like shorter videos! The full video is here https://youtu.be/nturijMSr5I
This adventure navigates to and through some historic sites, more info on the route can be found on the official website https://www.thekingjohnway.com/
Our route started in Holbeach as it was the closest point to us, we rode late afternoon on a Thursday evening and finished on the Sunday at lunchtime. This series is a record of our adventure giving an insight to what is on the route but there is so much more….. so get and and create your own memories on this epic route. Bike and luggage weight appx 28kgs.
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Check out some of my other content that visits some historic sites.
The Maldon Wyrm: https://youtu.be/2xmMf9JRZtU
The Essex Serpent: https://youtu.be/8AZp7ITEI2A
#bikepacking #adventure #exploring #historical #wildcamping
#adventurecycling #thekingjohnway #kingjohnway
#trekcheckpoint #trek #bontrager
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0:02 Intro
3:54 Newark
4:50 Tandem vs Bikepackers race
13:11 Castle Bytham
19:50 Crowland Trinity Arch and Abbey
23:19 Conclusion
Out back on the route. 14%. Come on, you can do it. Oh, made it without falling in That’s us finished with Lincoln. I’m just
turning back to the original route now. So, we’ve just rejoined it
and the wind’s picking up. It’s nice little path.
Quite enjoying this part. No people on here. Just us. Two cyclists. How are you enjoying the wind?
Loving it. Beautiful church. It’s nice wind. Keep talking
about it. It’s very open. had a pit stop to get some water and some food.
And because it’s so hot, I had my cycling cap dowsted in water. So, it’s very nice. Just
going down some other tracks now. Changed my jersey because my other jersey is a lightweight
jersey and the sun penetrates through it. Just on our way to Newark. A single track. King John Lackland was jokingly
nicked then by his father because he was the youngest son. So he was not
expected to inherit significant lands. Newark Castle was founded in the mid 12th century
originally in timber but later replaced by a stone structure. It was at Newark Castle where
King John died. Thought to be a dissentry, but some say he was poisoned. As a result of
the English Civil War, the castle was slighted in the 17th century. It was then left derelic
for many years and thankfully it was restored in 1889. This grade one listed building
stands proud alongside the river Trent. A day full of stop and get
more water. It’s just warm. There’s a perfect headwind here. Just standing up on tandems work. Had my fun. Caught them up.
Went past them. At least Wolfy has been useful for a change after a day of headwind. We do have
a bit of a tailwind. Not perfect, but a good start. Big spire ahead. Poking above the trees. Still still got tail wind. So it was about 72 miles today. A lot of itheadwind and then we got the tailwind. We just done the last 5 miles at 19 mph. So it’s
welcome cuz we got so far behind on time. The tailwind’s pushed us forward. So heading
towards Grantham. Probably get something to eat and then move on a little bit. Find
somewhere to camp for tonight and then work out what mileage we’ve got left for tomorrow.
So it’s been a good day today. busy at times, but most of the roads have been quiet,
not a lot of traffic. It is a Saturday, so you would expect it to be a lot busy if it was
ever going to be busy today. But it’s been good. on our way to Grantham Sunny evening. Mustard. Feels like another old railway
track, doesn’t it? Where’s all the beers?
Where’s all the beers? Ah. Am I’m enjoying this bit? Just going
into Grantham along the canal. It’s nice to track. Never expected it. Yeah,
a little bit of the route. It’s more bumpy down here. Number 66. Made it without falling in, which is always
a bonus. Overall a very good track. I’m not so sure that rough bits where I want to be. No. You will come and find yourself robbed in the
night. Do you mean robbed in the robbed during the day? Yeah. Seen some uh special characters is the best way to describe them. Slight detour looking for some food takeaway tonight I reckon. That’s fed watered in the last little push to
find somewhere to camp for tonight and then there should be about 75 miles left tomorrow.
All being well seen better days. Hills out of Grantham on a full belly but think I’ve got tailwind which helps road feel deserted. Oh, spoke too soon. Second day with triple figures. Last day final push. Perfect little camp spot that. Got a friend traveling
with me. So, quiet lanes on this Sunday morning. We’re going to go to Stamford and then back up towards Holbeach. It’s about 60 miles. Another beautiful day. Very few clouds. Sun’s been up for an hour or
two. Well, quite a few hours now, actually. That’s use momentum to get up this Oh, managed the first bit. I think
I’ll spin this second bit out He’s on lookout. Aha, I reckon that’s the catle there. And he was right. It was Castle Bytham. I’d ridden past it, not even noticed it. Too busy focusing on the next climb. The castle was built on a spur of land above the river Tham not long after
the Norman conquest of 1066. After a siege, it was captured by Henry III in 1221. It was he
who ordered the castle to be destroyed. It was restored with connections to Henry IV in the 14th
century, but its demise didn’t come long after in the 15th century where it burned down during the
War of the Roses. The stone was robbed for local buildings and by the 20th century there’s no
longer any stonework to be seen above ground. It’s a bit like you getting up in the morning. cyclist behind. Are we okay to come through?
Thank you very much. Have a great day. A lot of churches on this route.
There’s like one every two miles. So, it’s Sunday today. On Tuesday, I had a
look at the weather forecast and I decided on Thursday that I would start this ride. The
weather’s been really good. I couldn’t ask for more. There was some rain patches about, but
thankfully they stayed away. Done well. Just doing that last minute sort of planning. Now I’m
not too fussed about rain, but if I can avoid it, I will. I had tomorrow Monday as a backup day
as well, just in case it took a bit longer. Hello. Hello. Crowland has two sites of historical interest. The first is
Trinity Bridge which dates back to the 14th century. It once stood over the
river Welland. The river since has long been re-routed. Odd in design with
its unique threeway stone arch and onto the abbey. The monastic
history started here in the 8th century, but it and the community was
entirely destroyed by the Danes in 866. After bringing it back to its former glory, it was again destroyed by fire. First in
1091 and 1170. It was rebuilt each time. In 1539, the abbey was dissolved with the monastic
buildings being demolished. During the English civil war, the remains of the
abbey was fortified and garrisoned. And after a short siege, it was taken by
parliamentarian Oliver Cromwell. This is when it appears to have sustained the most
serious damage to its structure. The nerve roof fell in 1720 and the south wall was
taken down a couple of decades later. Today, all the remains intact is the North,
which is in use as a parish church. Does that fit you that? Just about 50 mi done for today. Maybe we
could have 10 miles left. Plus or minus. Why can’t all tarmac be like this? Beautiful. About 5 miles left. Leaving Leaving a sign that says Holbeach. That’s our little
target where we started. It’s been a really good route seeing the demographic of the UK in all its
glory. Everywhere’s a little bit different. Yes, we’ve done a circumnavigation sort of
loop, but there’s a lot to see in that. It’s a nice mixture of roads, tracks,
byways. Yeah, it’s been all right. and the bits I didn’t like that was soon forgotten
about. But the distance is not too much elevation. We’re talking over 300 miles and 7,000 ft.
That to me is not a lot. Most of the climbs are just gentle. There’s a few cheeky little
sharp ones in there. If you’re not confident, you could get off your bike and push it
up. But most cyclists shouldn’t find it too challenging. Hello. It’s been a good few days. We
can recommend the King John’s Way. It’s got a bit of everything. Plenty of history, plenty of
good scenery, plenty of tailwinds. Yeah. What about the headwinds? Well, we don’t count those.
Yeah. Exactly. We forgot about them, haven’t we? We forget those. rose coloured spectacles. Yeah,
it’s definitely a recommendation. Depends how long you want to take doing it. We’ve done it
over 3 days effectively. Four days on paper, but we started late on the first day. Three full
days. Yeah. So, three full days. We stopped at the place we want to stop. You could stop
longer. Depends what you want out of it. We just like the adventure and then going to places we haven’t been.
And it’s fully recommended. And that’s the King John’s Way