Blood, Sweat and Beers, an off road adventure …
A group of seven Alton Cycling Club members undertook the iconic King Alfred Way, which is an off-road loop around historic Wessex, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Alfred the Great. Five riders completed the whole loop, with two others joining for sections of the ride.
The group had varying degrees of off-road experience and rode a range of bikes from full suspension and hard tail mountain to gravel and adventure bikes.
Day 1 took 5 riders from Alton to Frensham via Alice Holt where we joined the KAW. The first major climb took us over the Devil’s Punchbowl after which we headed towards Liss, then the Hartings and eventually Queen Elizabeth Country Park where we braced ourselves for the final climb of the day up Butser Hill.
Day 2 started with a technical descent towards East Meon from where we made our way over Winchester Hill which offered a wonderful fast flowing descent towards the West Meon disused railway line. The second climb of the day took us over Beacon Hill from where we made our way to Winchester via St Catherine’s Hill. We met up with Howard in Winchester and Darren in Broughton and made our way across undulating trails in very hot weather to our accommodation in Salisbury.
Day 3 took the group past Stonehenge, over Salisbury Plain and Avebury where we stopped at the iconic Stone Circle. There was a lovely pub by the stones that was calling our name but we demonstrated commendable restraint and rode past as we still had some miles to cover and there were a few clouds gathering in the sky.
Day 4 was a glorious ride on the Ridgeway which offered fast rolling chalk trails which in the dry June weather were reasonable to ride albeit bumpy for those without suspension bikes! We stopped at an ancient burial site and enjoyed the views, fresh air and company.
Day 5 was the final day, and the original five riders made their way back to Alton via Frensham to complete the circuit. Reading’s canals offered a pleasant start to the ride and we passed through many familiar landmarks on our route but of course a very different perspective being off road. The section from Crookham to Frensham was quite tough on tired legs but some excellent trails.
We carried luggage and stayed mostly in Premier Inns which offered a daily competition to see who could eat the most breakfast! The riding was occasionally technical and steep but whenever we wanted, we got off and walked so no pressure to do anything people were uncomfortable with. We had a few mechanical issues, mostly punctures which has hopefully encouraged the luddites in the group to go tubeless! A couple of tumbles but nothing we couldn’t ride through. Two of our group had ridden the KAW before and their knowledge of the route was invaluable, pointing out interesting sights and facts about the route that we would have missed and making navigation very straightforward.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the trip and the diverse range of riding and evening attire and I hope and expect we will do more; it is a great addition to road riding and hopefully a few more club members will be encouraged to give it a go!
Thanks to Paul Watts for organising this great tour.
