King Alfred Way

ha, they need to be quicker with their edits, or quicker on the road to put things on shelves that are less obtainable.

Does anybody know what the conditions are like at the moment, particularly the Winchester to Stonehenge-ish section?

Would like to ride some of it on Saturday, ideally Winchester and up to swindon but 130km of heavy slop might be too much..

Thinking about doing this on a long weekend on our gravel "rigs". #spiritofgravel

Would get train to Reading but not sure if we should go Fri night and get a little head start (camping near Reading?) or train out early Sat morning?

I guess it's pretty wet out there now but maybe in a few weeks it might be ok.

Clockwise or Anti? Any shit-hot campsites or pubs we should pillage on the way around?

Avoid the South Downs Way for the next couple of hundred years and you'll be good.

For the rest of it, I'd wait until late May at least given the current ground conditions and forecast if you are wild camping

I've done part of the South Downs before and I don't remember it being too bad (I did crash in a rut though so maybe my memory of it is worse than I thought).

I've not looked closely at the route but if we can get around in hotels then it'd be nice not taking camping gear. Then again, we have all the camping gear so that's also an option. Wanted to use it more of a shakedown ride before Seven Serpents.

Molly Weaver has just done a FKT attempt on it, so worth checking out her socials for the latest on the conditions

The inn with the well, Marlborough had nice pizza.

Rose and crown freehouse likewise

The Shoe Inn nice and bougie lunch stop

The Beech Cafe at the sustainability centre was pleasant too.

Upper Parsonage farm was a nice camp site.

Workhouse Coffee in Reading

Barista Lounge in Farnham had nice bagels to pack out.

But yeah I wouldn't ride the route if it has been rainy. Best time to ride I think would be September hopefully after a dry summer.

Thanks.

Wonder if she'll do a ride report somewhere other than 'saw it once, never seen again' Instagramz

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Thanks for the suggestions, I'll mark 'em on the map.

But yeah I wouldn't ride the route if it has been rainy. Best time to ride I think would be September hopefully after a dry summer.

That's not when we have bank holidays though unfortunately. I'm less interested in the route and more interested in getting away from any royal shit (ironically by riding a route named after a fucking king). I guess we could do something else like the Rebellion Way in Norfolk but that could be equally sloppy.

Second city divide is nicely isolated from most civilisation for a good while. Don't have to do the whole lot - train to Glasgow and see how far you get in 3 days?

West Kernow Way is amazing if you can get out there. Recommend it over kaw. Night train to Penzance so minimal holiday usage.

That's a bit more logistics and planning than I'd, err, planned for. I like the idea of Reading start because it's one train for us. Plus it's just another route I get to check off my ever growing list of todos...

I'm looking on RWGPS for SCD and there's like 4 different trracks all with different distances, is there an "official" route file?

Why, yes, there is:
https://www.secondcitydivide.cc/
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40764540

Farnham Travelodge and a hostel by Meon I think. The cycling UK guide has a list of all accommodation along the route.

How much is that train? Not like the Scotland night train I hope?

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37415093

I dunno it's probably similar. No doubt you can find out for your exact dates.

I think wkw is just more of a holiday overall, better food and drink options, definitely doable in 4 days just using hostels so you don't have to ride sleeping kit up and down hills and because it's coastal it feels a bit more like a break. It's reported that it drains better too. Kaw is nice, but we really had a time with the mud 2 years ago in July and I didn't feel like the accommodation or food stops were as good. Your mileage may vary depending on your preferred levels of comfort and fitness. Mine are relatively high and low respectively.

Looks like £79 (before discounts) for a seat in the overnight. ~8hrs.
I can't see if they have sleeper cabins or is it just chairs?

Fair. I was just looking at KAW because it's close and it's something I've not done.
Any riding around London though is pretty shit these days. I've done most of it in some fashion already so you're probably right about the WKW being better. Maybe I should look further afield.

No there are berths. It's probably not going to be cheap but I thought it was really fun. Maybe I should have finished my write up...

Anyway if you want to do KAW then this is where I stayed on my 4 day trip starting from Winchester:

https://bradesacre.co.uk/ camping

https://www.courthill.org.uk/ hostel but we were camping

Farnham premier Inn

upper parsonage farm camping.

I'd say the joy of the route is that it starts and ends at major train stations, which takes most of the logistics away. The rest of the overnight stops are already signposted on the route, so depending on whether you spend a night at Greg's Hut bothy or not, you could essentially credit card tour it

The other one to throw into the mix is the Old Chalkway. When I rode that we started in the Salisbury plains and did 3 days to the Norfolk coast https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE4MjMwNjYzOTIwMTM2ODAz?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I did the Holt to Norwich section of the Rebellion Way today and the Norwich to Thetford section a few weeks ago. Minimal slop. The 'worst' but was woods near sheringham but it wouldn't be anything to worry you if you're were riding larger tyres (I was on 28cm duranos and that was fine if a bit slow).

I haven't done the western bits yet but I'd guess the bit that includes Peddars Way is likely to be the most the place for slop (but it is includes a lot of breckland where the soil is sandy & free draining).

I've added https://www.oldchalkway.cc/ to my route collection. I've looked and I reckon it might be a bit tight for bigger adventures as we leave for Slovenia soon after.

Maybe I'll look for a day ride or a single overnighter from west London instead. That'll give us time to fix anything and pack the bikes.

Classic bike tour hyper deflation. Start out planning to ride around the world but after assessing annual leave/savings/cat sitters/accommodation decide to go for a nice loop and get home in time for tea.

Maybe check the micro adventures thread for overnighter inspiration?

I'm normally the opposite. Spot long weekend, try to jam week-long tour into it. Tour becomes angry smashfest. I still think KAW is probably fine, we still have a week to recover but if we break something there's not a lot of time to fix.

Great Gravel Escape
https://www.strava.com/routes/2871459546245490260

We could do some of @giofox routes:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32584882

Or London Olympic Overnighter
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37982028

80.2km 495m barely seems worth getting out of bed for though

No idea what you're talking about, I have definitely not ever done exactly this...?