I need some advice for a stupid route I am considering at the end of August. I have about 10 days to do something epic, and I considering a mix of road and off road riding to go from North Wales to Essex. I will be in LLanberis on 26th August and plan to ride down to the start of the Trans Cambrian Way, which I'm hoping would take a day, probably on road on Schwalbe Marathons. Then I was going to allow three days for the TCW on Nobby Nics. Unless anyone can suggest a good route, I would road ride down to Winchester over two days, and then do the South Downs way over two days if thats right? At the end of that, I would either road ride back to Essex or I can always jump on the train if I am utterly broken.

Does this even seem possible?

The other route I was considering was to drop on to the Ridgeway and ride back towards London, which I figure would be a much more direct route, and I know I can then use canal towpaths back to central London

I will be using a Warbonnet Blackbird hammock and Superfly Tarp, which I can pitch as a ground ridge tent/bug bivi if need be. Aiming to find copses or woodland to hang in if possible. (How I love you Google Earth). I was going to take a Jetboil if needed but effectively live out of pubs on the route.

I have done Century road rides, and multi day bivy trips, but nothing as protracted as this. I figure the joy of Merino wool amd low personal hygiene standards would keep the clothing weight down, and I can always spin through a town leisure centre for a shower.


Any advice, or a realistic assessment would be greatly appreciated.

Do able with a fair amount of planning.

Llanberris over to Betys y coed
Ians WC2C route down to Mach
Aidans EWE route will take you down to Bristol
Bristol to Winchester somehow
SDW from Winchester to Eastbourne
Eastbourne home

Fair amount of riding though. Plot it out and see what the milage is, if you're going above 70/80k a day then something to think about.

Just go for it really. Plenty of train options to get you home if it doesnt work out

For getting across England

http://www.mbruk.co.uk/mbruk_WessexWay_details.htm

Thank you very much gents. I think the route total will be around 400 miles, and I will have about 12 days to do it in. I'll happily do road riding between routes to link them up, and I reckon i'll be able to do 70 - 80 miles in a day on Tarmac without killing myself. I should be able to bail out by train after the Trans Cambrian if I need to. In light of the distances involved, do you think it makes sense to take my slicks? Would be around a kilo, all in. I know that's extra weight, but seeing as I am 95kg or so, will that make a significant difference?

I should have a RD Frame bag, Gas tank, Jerry can, Sweet roll, large pocket and Viscacha turning up imminently, and was going to load up my ogre with my theoretical kit list and ride in the 27 miles to work to get a feel for it.

I got some Monkii V cages for my forks, which seem to work well, as I presume Salsa Anything cages won't be back anytime soon. Is there any other option you think might work?


The other question I have is about water. Being the Devilishly charming rogue that I am, I was going to aim to blag getting water bottle refills on route. I have a three litre camelbak that I was going either stash in the frame bag or strap onto the viscacha, so if I know it'll be a long day I can carry up to 5 litres. Is it worth splashing out on a Steripen? I use to sell things like Katadyn Ceramic filters and chemical treatment, but never dealt with a UV system. Are they as good as claimed?

I really wouldn't want to be carrying a spare pair of tyres, just use something fast rolling and maybe compromise on grip a little.

5l of water weighs 11lbs. In the UK there's never really any need to carry more than 1l, a few chlorine tablets or as you say maybe a Steripen.

You've an awful lot of carrying capacity (once it arrives) just make sure you don't fall into the trap of using it all

Yep. I know that lesson well from trekking. Always some goon with an 85 litre pack when 40 will do. I figured get the set and treat it as a modular system for different rides/timescales. When I used to carry puritabs, it was mainly iodine and vit C to get it to coalesce and sink. Isn't technology great?

Yes steripen is good, no not really used mine in the UK, much better filter systems for ultralight setups. But in the UK you can find taps. The issue I had with steripen was the crappy filter that fitted the nalgene, the filter just couldn't get the crap out of the water, but the water was safe to drink. I mainly used it to zap boiled drinking as the boiling point at the altitude was lower and I didn't fancy a problem, a harness and a rope

What does your sleeping gear comprise?

Like Stu says, one set of tyres on the bike is plenty (IMO).

I have a blackbird hammock which is Über comfy, and a war bonnet superbly tarp, that has doors, so it can be rigged as a traditional ridge shelter. I was going to take a single sheet of tyvek if I need to use the blackbird as a bug bivy. Sleeping bag wise I have a Mtn hardware lamina and a Marmot down bag. I also have a down under quilt for the hammock. Might spring for a lighter weight synth lamina, as both of mine go down to -7 or so.

You've got an UQ, that's the main thing. Nothing like the unpleasant first time experience of new hammock users getting "Cold Butt Syndrome".

Sounds like you've got the gear 8-)

I used to sell outdoor gear from a place that covered moutaineering trips and such like. Ukhammocks supply really good gear and their down underquilt is one of the best bits of equipment I've bought in years.

Currently looking at the routes posted.

This should be a pretty good adventure.