Bikepacking King Alfred's Way Backwards : Day 1 of 4 : Reading to Marlborough
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- Опубликовано: 20 окт 2024
- I finally got round to riding the King Alfred's Way - a trail that loops within a few minutes of my house and yet one I've never cycled.
Alan came and joined me for this one which was a nice change to my usual solo trips.
As to why we did it backwards, I really can't remember. There was a reason once but it is lost in the mists of time now.
==Our Previous (Wet) Ridgeway Ride==
• Mud, Wind and Rain on ...
==Related Gear Reviews==
My bike (Surly Ogre) - • Bikepacking Rig - My ...
My tent (Big Agnes Copper Spur) - • Big Agnes Copper Spur ...
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Sweet rides chaps.. love it🤘🚲🤘
Cheers bro. Need to try and get over your way for a ride soon
Hey Jethro, just watched day one of this past adventure of yours. And once the kettle boils and I've a nice cuppa; I'll watch the rest.
Looks a pleasant ride; devoid of massively steep climbs and similar decents; just wonderful meandering and undulating hills. Nothing too taxing; for a "pastyless pursuit."
Take care buddy!
There will be pasties. Maybe not on day one, but there will always be pasties ;)
Ace man ,your bike is well suited to it .
It did feel like the right bike for the job.
Hit some mud on the last day that had the chronicles spinning but other than that I was blasting along (inasmuch as I ever blast anywhere)
Nice to see you among ancient sites up on your heels touring on wheels. Good music too!
It was nice to be out there. Always refreshing to spend some time out on the trail
Great to watch.....:)
Glad you enjoyed. Cheers for watching 🙂
what a nice little channel RUclips has recommended me. I love a new channel I can dig through the back catalogue
Welcome! I'm really glad you are liking the channel so far.
I'll put my hand up to some of my historic content being a little sketchy (probably some of my future content too if I'm entirely honest) but I very much appreciate the support and hope you'll stick around for whatever comes next.
I'm hoping to get at least one more multi day ride in this summer and whatever other video ideas might come to me.
Thanks for watching. Keep me posted on any that catch your eye. All feedback is appreciated.
Looks like great fun,!
It was indeed. 50miles a day is about my limit in that landscape though and I sort of wish we'd done it over 5 days instead.
No regrets though, it was a great ride and the weather stayed good. What more can fellow ask for?
Happy riding fella, to you and Alan
Thank you kindly. It was a bloody good ride!
Ah, i was looking forward to it. King Alfred's way is on my bucket list since quite a while. Nice video/vibes as usual and may i say that the voice/music sound balance is very good indeed ;) I especially like the fact that there's subtitles as well.
Subtitles? That must be RUclips being clever, nothing to do with me I'm afraid.
Glad the audio balance is better, I did do a fair bit of tweaking but I was still worried I'd get the usual feedback about booming music. Hopefully I've got the hang of it now 😉
It's definitely a ride worth doing, especially the Ridgeway and Salisbury plain sections.
Bravo old chap
Thank you kindly 🙂
Fab, love Waylands Smithy and glad to see the little red chap on the handle bars. I think he should have his arms folded but i guess he gets overexcited and feels the need to wave them about...
It is a great spot. Always nice to commune with the stones a bit.
Redman is gonna live up front from now on I think. He does sometimes start with his arms folded but the vibration always gets him waving
Thunder snow....typical uk summer weather 🤣🤷♂️
Exactly my thoughts. Especially as it never actually materialised in the end 😉
Ah, another adventure begins! Excellent, been waiting for this.
I take it this video employs the new microphone? Sound is much improved. As I’ve remarked on previous videos, your productions get a little better with each and every episode. Keep up the good work, and thanks for taking us along for the ride.
Same mic, I just spent more time playing with the levels. Glad it came out well though.
I've added a GoPro to the kit list so there are now shots of some of the bits that I couldn't ride one handed.
I'm editing day 2 at the moment, hope I can keep up the standard ;)
These neolithic graves! I can tell you a story that my father told me years ago.
In Drente, a province in the north eastern part of the Netherlands, there was this professor. Professor van Griffen. He had a nickname among the local farmers.
The hunebed bouwer! (The neolithic graves builder).
He turned any heap of stones into a "hunebed".
Don't know about your 5.5 k year old grave, but who knows, maybe you in England had a "professor van Griffen " too?
Nice video as always 👍.
I can vouch from personal experience that Wayland's smithy is at least 30 years old because I went there as a kid.
Beyond that it could have been thrown up in the 50s for all I know 😉
Great sound levels, steady camera work, ever onwards! Oh and lets hear a bit more from that chap Alan.
Nice to have some positive feedback on the sound levels for a change.
I did tell Alan that he is what the viewers want but he is a man a few words.
Excellent ! I saw your progress on Strava on the KAW. Looks like some long but rewarding days. Thanks for bringing this to RUclips. If I do this route, I shall get a Pasty for the Lord Wantage Monument Section :-) !!!
They were big days for a couple of slow trundlers like us. But good days.
After the PBW fiasco I had wondered if I had lost my legs a bit but these days were nowhere near as hard as that.
The trail pasty has become a bit of a tradition for Alan and I. It was a blow that we forgot on this occasion but we soldiered on. If you find yourself there one day, sacrifice a bit of crust for us :)
Great series.
You would lurve the all the Neolithic sites on the Orkney Islands like the Dwarfie Stane on Hoy.
Julian Cope's book on UK standing stones and ancient monuments is a good read.
I love a good monolith 😉
I went up to Orkney on the bike in 2014 and I visited the Ring of Brodgar. All before I was doing the videos sadly.
I'd love to get up there again and to Scotland in general. It's such a lovely part of the world
@@JethroJessop got married at Brodgar...stories to be told...
@@Ey_up Wow, that is quite a venue! Stories indeed, I can imagine.
@@JethroJessop The least of which is struggling to pedal down hill in the legendary Orcadian winds!
Keep up with your charming banter?! 😁
@@Ey_up I remember the winds. I was only there for a few days and the weather was completely different every day. I loved it though I got so sick on the ferry I thought I was going to die 🤢
I am not a good sailor 😉
One of the many places I would love to visit again one day.
Two cool dudes going on a bike tour. Looked like the weather was favouring you if not fully shining on you which might have been all for the good, as you didn't get burned and frazzled in 30+C temps and run out of water. Maybe the forecast was thunder and snow? You never heard nor saw any anyway. Looking forward to part 2.
The weather turned out pretty spot on to be honest. A scattering of rain on the last day that barely got going before it cleared up.
It was a really nice ride. Didn't feel as wild and exotic as some just because the landscape is all quite familiar being so close to home but some great riding nonetheless.
I sort of wish we'd done it over 5 days and given ourselves time for some pub lunches and detours though.
03:25 According to another YTer ‘Wiltshire Man’ (he has some good cycling content worth checking out, he’s also done the King Alfred Way as well): The Wantage monument was built on top of an existing ancient burial ground, so not very tactfully done, to put it mildly.
Interesting ride.
It wouldn't surprise me. There are a lot of ancient sites up there and that is the kind of spot you would put a chieftain or similar.
An ancient mound or a standing stone would have been a lot more interesting than lord Wantage so it's a pity he butted in like that
Still can’t get over the fact there were no showers!
I know. Weird. Never seen the like of it before
Very enjoyable, i must do that route some time when I finally travel that far south. I have to ask, what was the opening music.
Glad you enjoyed it. It's a great route. Dunno if I'd travel far just to ride it but definitely worth it if you are in this part of the world.
All my music is just stuff found in the RUclips royalty free library. That first tune is called Waltz In Low Light by Nat Keefe & Hot Buttered Rum. I just googled the name and they are actually a genuine band it turns out. Go check 'em out :)
nice video! where in reading should i start going to winchester in this route?
We did it backwards and set off following the river out west from Caversham. If you can get to Reading station then it is just a few minutes down the river path to pick up the official route We were following the RWGPS route here ridewithgps.com/routes/31848622
@@JethroJessop thanks a lot. all the best
@@iannayageraldo6420 you too
Great video, as always, and the audio sounded really good. What were you using?
Cheers. Same old setup as usual but I manually boosted all the talking audio and dropped the music levels.
Dunno if it's my new phone or the replacement mic I bought but the signal seems to be a lot lower than in the past.
Research is needed
"Come and touch an old stone Alan" classic! Jethro, I'm trying out bikepacking vlogging, how do you get your 'ride and talk' bits so smooth? Do you have a separate mic? Mine just picks up a load of noise!! Any help appreciated! Mark
I have a Pixel 5 on selfie stick. It has pretty decent image stabilisation so that covers the images.
The mic I use is a Rode smartlav+. It's a lapel mic really so I wind the cable round the selfie stick and clip it to the end nearest my mouth. With the little fluffy wind cover it picks up pretty well.
Just watched your first vids (and subbed). The second trip looks a lot more fun than the second. I really wish I was a tarp/bivvy person but after flirting with it a bit I realise I'll always prefer a tent
@@JethroJessop Thanks so much for this Jethro.... yeah my cheapy Lead Edge has a lapel mic thing too, for some reason I didn't pack it on my last trip........ I'll definitely try it on my next camp and be chatting away soon enough :-)
Thanks so much for subbing, i'm chuffed now! Still early days :-) I used a tent for my first few camps last year but kept wanting to try a tarp/bivvy, bought one a few months ago and loved it so far......... I do miss the zip sound at 3am for nature's calls though!! I do think if I ever get to Scotland I might have to get a little tent for mozzy protection...... see you on the road
@@RoadyPacking-CyclingAdventures hell yes! I've camped in Scotland and Sweden and without a tent you would be eaten alive!
I see the appeal of a tarp and when the weather is good and bugs are minimal its glorious but the rest of the time I like my little secure bubble.
Definitely try the mic, especially when the camera is mounted to the bike.
Looking forward to some more vids 😉
Relieving himself in a hedge 🤔
When you gotta go, you gotta go
A camp site with no showers…. Hope it was cheap mate
It wasn't really. It was a very strange set-up. Really lovely site, little shop, pizzas being cooked in site. A big area too and lots of tent pitches but only 2 washing up sinks and no showers.
@@JethroJessop …and a giant moth terrorising folk in the bogs
@@Alan_s_Channel many, many giant months
@@JethroJessop You only need a flannel and a bowl of water. Save water!!!
@@loujessop8557 I just didn't use anything in the end. Brush the actual lumps off and put up with it.
I've gone far longer without a shower in the past and it didn't kill me 😉