As previously mentioned SWMBO is a major tennis fan , especially Wimbledon, or the two weeks of Wimblemas as she calls it.
I can watch a bit, but 11 am till 11 pm everyday is TOO MUCH!

So I take this time to have some me time on my bike. I've done Fishguard to Ludlow, Chester to Betws y Coed to Wayfarers to Chester... and this year I chose the Woods Rat Run (it's on some other lesser bikepacking.com website). I also use these rides to tick off BCQ points ( https://www.cyclinguk.org/british-cycle-quest ) so the adherence to the actual route is somewhat lax.

It's a circular route so Monday morning I drove to a leafy posh suburb of Salisbury as it's closest to Ludlow, and leaving the car at about 12:30 I immediately went off route..... well sort of on route but in the wrong direction for the first 7 miles, passed the racecourse, along the Old Shaftsbury Drove track, one of the very many Byways in Wiltshire.... it really is mind boggling how many there are.



This was uphill all the way but near effortless cycling. I was on the Jones Spaceframe / Truss Fork with a fork bag on each side and an Ortlieb seatpack.
I'd opted for TLS and not taken a stove, nor sleeping bag, just a liner and a cloud cover quilt with the Lunar solo. I was never from from civilization so restocking was never going to be an issue.
And embracing my inner Reg, I'd gone for the flats / sandals combo, the absolutely correct decision for 99.999% of the time (the 0.001% will become apparent forthwith...))
All choices were the right ones.
Anyway, I eventually I headed left off the Drove road as I'd reached the turn off for Broad Chalke, my first BCQ point ... this was a lovely lanes descent ...



Once collected, I followed the River Ebble down the valley down to Coombe Bisset where I dropped back on to the route proper, with 15 miles done despite only being a couple of miles south of Salisbury.
Once again I deviated from the actual route as my day was already long enough and the route did a 10 mile loop, or a half mile shortcut, which I took.
I climbed up to the marvellously named Grim's Ditch and a veritable tangle of byways, crisscrossing each other. Some where heavily abused by 4x4 ...



others less so ..



The next few miles blur into each other tbh, just lovely woodland riding with the substrate changing noticeable from chalk to sand and flint as I got further into the New Forest.
There were a couple of pushes, more out of energy conservation and the desire to use different muscle groups rather than me being a wimp and having neither the lungs nor the legs for the steep loose climb up to Telegraph Hill.
Across the road and into Claypits bottom where the route got vague and I ended up off it... and into a swamp... a subsequently a very wet and muddy foot.
Once I extricated myself from the quagmire, dragged the bike across a fallen tree that crossed Latchmore Brook and pushed up the opposite bank, I got back on track and now feeling in need of refreshment headed to the Royal Oak ... only to find it closed on a Monday...
Onwards. This was a long section of New Forest flinty track across Hampton Ridge to the Foresters Arms at Frogham. I did take photo's but tbh they don't do the scenery justice as the lens doesn't capture what the eye does.



A couple of miles of easy lanes before heading offroad again, my daughter deciding it was a good time to phone Dad and vent about work, distracted me enough to get temporarily misplaced going up the plethora of tracks up Bigsburn Hill near Ringwood. Further lovely woodland and moors riding, still totally on route to mile 43.5 where the Rat Run nears its end at Lyndhurst and whereas I wanted to collect another BCQ at the Rufus Stone so made my way further East skirting the A31, collect the point then turned south to Minstead and the Trusty Servant pub for some well earned beer and a meal.
A short ride to the odd Acres Down farm campsite where there was me and a group of DoE kids and no sign of a shower I'm certain I was told was there...
50.8 miles done and 3,465' https://ridewithgps.com/trips/197296007

Day two ---
Up and moving by a leisurely 8 am.
I wanted to visit Woods Cyclery in Lyndhurst which didn't open til 9am so a slow potter through the forest still got me there with 30 minutes to kill.
Ah a Ferrari dealership opposite. Be rude not to look..... F*C*ING HOW MUCH


OBSCENE!

Anyway, fortunately I'm not interested in cars !

9am arrives and the fab Woods Cyclery opens. Tom Woods devised the route. What a great shop for Bikepackers!! Best I've ever been in! Had a great coffee and cake for breakfast... a free sticker for those riding the route wouldn't hurt, didn't happen either ....


Back on the route and it's soon offroad and into the Forest again... then south of Brockenhurst I picked up a disused railway for a while then through the Brownhill Inclosure (their spelling not mine) and some deer

It was quite a hot day and I was glad to find a campsite on Plain Heath to refill my water bottle.




I popped out in Christchurch where I sat for a while just enjoying the very pleasant view, talking to 91 year old Arthur about cycling ...

I was now approaching the worst part of the route. If ridden out of season I guess it'd be lovely , but in July bicycles aren't allowed along the seafront at Bournemouth, this necessitates a sub par diversion through the entire conurbation that makes up Christchurch, Bournemouth & Poole. Frankly it's rubbish. There must be a summer alternative that strikes inland earlier ....
Heh ho, I made it to the vaguely exciting chain Ferry at Sandbanks ...



£1 for a cyclist is a bargain.
Off the other side and back offroad up Black Down and I had my 0.001% incident .... a brief but painful toe to rock interface that probably wouldn't have occurred had I not been wearing sandals....I'll save you the photo, no-one wants to see my toes.
Off route now and a fast decent into Swanage. It's hilly isn't it BCQ at Durlston Head collected then back into town and back up the brutal hill again to the bizarre California Farm campite ... I use that term loosely.
I was the only resident.
Again, there were no showers.
One has to do what one can.
Needs must.

One to wash with, one to rinse. Cold water. It's quite invigorating. Butt naked in the corner of a field with just a small travel towel to dry myself with .... and the woman who runs the 'site' rocks up 2 minutes earlier and I would have been tipping the bucket of water over myself !!! Oh how we laughed !
Anyway once dried and the £10 paid, I walked the coast path back into town in search of food and beer. Food and beer are not Swanage's strong points. First pub had literally zero ales on. 2nd had one which I sampled, but the choice was poor and the Cheeky Girls blaring out of the speakers meant a 2nd was not on the cards.
A bit of googling pointed me in the direction of the Black Swan which saved the day. After excellent food ( I'm vegetarian so choice is always limited) a few beers and a quick visit to the local Co-op to restock my food supplies and it was a slow walk back up the brutal hill again for a poor nights sleep.


48.4 miles and 3181' https://ridewithgps.com/trips/197522765

Day three - the short day.
Setting off from California Farm I quickly jumped on the Priest's Way to Worth Matravers, where it briefly started raining, so I put the waterproof on ( and found the little orange flag (SWMBO said it looked 'kin dumb so I ditched it the next day)) then onto Kingston where the rain stopped and rejoined the proper route.
There's the cracking climb up to Swyre Head (where the waterproof came back off) with its steep drop down to the sea



and then a lovely section along the cliff top to quite a technical descent. It doesn't look much but after the corner it steepens up (down actually) and gets much rougher and I bet treacherous in the wet!



I was heading up the ridge at the back of this photo.
Live firing was occurring so the route was closed for a short section and a lanes detour ensued, then off for a walk up the steep bridleway up the Purbeck Hills to the accompaniment of gunfire !
It was then along the top of the ridge passed Grange Arch



There's a reasonable descent along Ridgeway Hill but I couldn't help but think more could have been made of the loss of height rather than just following a switchback lane, there's a great looking foot path visible on the Stonehill Nature Reserve that I'm sure would be more fun...
Anyway it was shortly offroad again for a sweet bit of singletrack to Norden Farm, where I refilled my water. It's into the flatlands then all the way to Wareham 5 miles hence.
A stop for a bite to eat, there's a modest Sainsbury's ... and onwards, after negotiating the unusual pedestrian level crossing at the station, into what turned out to be a superb 6 mile section in Wareham Forest. I BET there's a whole heap of wicked singletrack in there, if you knew where to look and how to link it together...







There's then a short section on a pretty fast road but it's only half a mile or so and slightly down hill so it's over quickly. Ahhhh looking at the proper route, it wouldn't do this fast section, you'd be riding through Nettle Alley ... I'd rather take my chances on the road ! Following the route up to and through Great Coll Wood I once more deviated as I was after the BCQ at Milton Abbas.
What felt like a long climb, though in reality it was only a couple of miles and 400', I got into Milton Abbas and the pub .... wasn't serving food. ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH Beer was £5.50 a pint too. I had one and having opted for a comfortable bed in a B&B WITH A SHOWER, I managed to get a rather good pizza (Pizza King) delivered from Blandford Forum !



38.8 miles but 3240' https://ridewithgps.com/trips/197910194

Day four -
After another excellent shower and a brilliant breakfast it was off and continuing the previous climb for another nearly 4 miles up to the vantage point on the Wessex Ridgeway.



I was still deviating as I wanted the BCQ in Sturminster Newton, so it was heading north for a while. I stopped for a lovely coffee and cake (Josh's Coffee iirc)



before dropping on to the disused railway for three miles to get me back to the route. I was supposed to go up and over Hambleton Hill but tbh I wasn't feeling a 45 minute push, followed by a 5 minute descent, so I skirted round the bottom and was soon back on track. The next section, Smugglers Lane, was pretty good and about 2 miles long then a short road section before going up Handcocks Bottom .... EXCUSE ME !!! It's the name of the rather good singletrack section that definitely would be better the other way ... OI ! Stop IT !
A good descent down Hanging Coppice before a long climb up Stony Bottom and Halfpenny Lane to Ashmore and decision time.
My legs were not feeling their best and the next bit was a drop down the Wessex Ridgeway to Tollard Royal then a brutal looking climb back up.... or a much more gentle climb higher than I was to the Cranbourne Droves Way and get back on route at Monk's Down, which is what I did. This is an easy 3 miles on flat Byway before turning off and losing a fair bit of height down around Monk's Hole



I was just up there! Monks Hole is the tree filled circle on the left, the descent skirts to the right of it..

and on to West end where the track goes back up again, the track isn't ace there's probably better. I was now back on the Drove road I came up on Monday ... with about an 8 mile flat /descent back passed the Salisbury Racecourse and the car.
43.8 miles 3182' https://ridewithgps.com/trips/198249309

Not only was that an excellent and interesting report but the speed at which you produced it puts my efforts to shame.

Thank you… I have a startlingly good memory for routes, and with a combination of photos, OS maps and satellite imagery and following the route log on ride with GPS , its amazing just how clearly I recall it…

I see your Bikemonger quote, on my walk back California Farm on the 2nd day, I walked passed the old Bikemonger Shop…. Is it still a thing? Looked a bit sorry for itself. I know Charlie sold up but you’d think you’d keep it as a fairly well known brand.

Yep - that was not boring at all! Some top route info, cafes, anecdotes, happenings, etc. Compliments on taking the trouble to write it up.

There really is some nice riding around there isn't there, all those chalky tracks.

Separate buckets for washing and rinsing? Luxury!

Handcocks Bottom.... Monk's Hole.... I really must get down there sometime...

RIP wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2024 4:33 pm Yep - that was not boring at all! Some top route info, cafes, anecdotes, happenings, etc. Compliments on taking the trouble to write it up.

There really is some nice riding around there isn't there, all those chalky tracks.

Separate buckets for washing and rinsing? Luxury!

Handcocks Bottom.... Monk's Hole.... I really must get down there sometime...

And the buckets were pretty new
It really is a superb area for bikepacking. There’s loads of places to wild camp if you’re that way inclined… Swyre Head would be vaguely exciting.
I’m contemplating King Alfred’s Way for next Wimblemas, just concerned it’d be a lot of the same…. Looks a great route though. It’d be down to the weather.

godivatrailrider wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2024 4:22 pm I see your Bikemonger quote, on my walk back California Farm on the 2nd day, I walked passed the old Bikemonger Shop…. Is it still a thing? Looked a bit sorry for itself. I know Charlie sold up but you’d think you’d keep it as a fairly well known brand.

He sold the business, I think the guys who run it now are up in North Yorkshire somewhere now.

Charlie sold up and moved up north, Hebden Bridge I think. The business was bought and moved to Rippon.

The lads that run it are really sound so it's a good continuation of the business, the personal touch Charlie was famous for. They're always really helpful.

As for the KAW, when I rode it with Mike a few years back we did lots of off road diversions to cut out some of the tarmac. I'll see if I can get the gpx if you're interested.

sean_iow wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2024 8:16 pm As for the KAW, when I rode it with Mike a few years back we did lots of off road diversions to cut out some of the tarmac. I'll see if I can get the gpx if you're interested.

Oh that'd be a big help !... I'd alter it anyway to take in any close BCQ if they're not too stupid. Would appreciate that.

Fab, I enjoyed all of that. Further motivation to get my (less cool) diamond frame / truss fork Jones out and do a proper trip instead of riding to the woods and back!

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2024 10:29 pm Fab, I enjoyed all of that. Further motivation to get my (less cool) diamond frame / truss fork Jones out and do a proper trip instead of riding to the woods and back!

They're too good to sit in a shed .... though I also have a black space frame / truss fork combo that's only ever been singlespeed. I was going to spend money on it to gear it up to use it more, nice wheels, nice brakes etc but then saw the green one for about the same money it'd cost to do the other one up and thought sod it ! and it's the LWB Plus so slightly different (and more suited to bikepacking) than the SWB.

That as a good read, thanks for the write-up. Sounds like you weren't so lucky with pub stops and camp sites, but weather looked pretty good!

Think you're right that a nicer alternative to the seafront needs to be done. One that immediately comes to mind is looping through the forest back to Ringwood and following the Castleman Trailway all the way to Poole, and then following the eastern edge of Poole harbour to get to the chain ferry. It's flat and fairly circuitous, but nicer than fighting traffic, and it's well signposted/maintained. Still goes through a lot of urban area. It's such a big conurbation that there's not many options really and you get close to the northern part of the loop itself if you try and miss it entirely! https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/docume ... c5023ac10a

Shame your timing didn't take you to the Square and Compass in Worth Matravers, it's a wonderful pub with excellent beer and cider, and fantastic views. Not much use for food though, they usually only do a meat or veg pasty as an option. Can understand why you didn't do Hambledon Hill, it's a bit of an island lump so you know it's an up and down for the sake of it, although the views at the top are great. But yes, it's a push all the way too.

I think like all of the curated routes, there'll be some sections nearby that are better, but there'll always be bits where you go up a good downhill and on a 4x4 wrecked byway instead of a smoother one. I think the rat run route should have used more of the older Dorset gravel dash route, which takes a more interesting route than the nettle alley one. KAW looks a great route, and the bits I know are nice riding and good for bikepacking.

EDIT - spaceframe looks ace by the way, have lusted for one for a long time, still tempted!

faustus wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 9:43 am That as a good read, thanks for the write-up. Sounds like you weren't so lucky with pub stops and camp sites, but weather looked pretty good!

Think you're right that a nicer alternative to the seafront needs to be done. One that immediately comes to mind is looping through the forest back to Ringwood and following the Castleman Trailway all the way to Poole, and then following the eastern edge of Poole harbour to get to the chain ferry. It's flat and fairly circuitous, but nicer than fighting traffic, and it's well signposted/maintained. Still goes through a lot of urban area. It's such a big conurbation that there's not many options really and you get close to the northern part of the loop itself if you try and miss it entirely! https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/docume ... c5023ac10a

Shame your timing didn't take you to the Square and Compass in Worth Matravers, it's a wonderful pub with excellent beer and cider, and fantastic views. Not much use for food though, they usually only do a meat or veg pasty as an option. Can understand why you didn't do Hambledon Hill, it's a bit of an island lump so you know it's an up and down for the sake of it, although the views at the top are great. But yes, it's a push all the way too.

I think like all of the curated routes, there'll be some sections nearby that are better, but there'll always be bits where you go up a good downhill and on a 4x4 wrecked byway instead of a smoother one. I think the rat run route should have used more of the older Dorset gravel dash route, which takes a more interesting route than the nettle alley one. KAW looks a great route, and the bits I know are nice riding and good for bikepacking.

EDIT - spaceframe looks ace by the way, have lusted for one for a long time, still tempted!

Thank you for that feed back ! I wouldn't rule out doing it again another time, but sticking more to the route in some places and varying it in others.
I think I rode through the carpark of the Square & Compass... at about 08:30 ... that's a bit early for a beer, even for me ! Obvs it was closed...
There's a section on the old Soton & Dorchester Railway that seems to continue quite a way toward Ringwood.. the Kingston Great Common section looks rideable , then it seems to fizzle out a bit passed Bagnum, then reappear after Barrack Lane to Ringwood where it joins the Castleman Trailway ... shame they can't link the Bagnum bit as it'd genuinely run for miles !!
I'm sure there must be much better singletrack through the New Forest despite the WRR sticking to the fireroads. Same in Wareham Forest, there's the Sika trail though that looks like fireroads to me... there MUST be off piste stuff that should be added to the route. Ditto as mentioned coming off Purbeck Hills.
But essentially it's a good route.
And thanks re the Jones comment, it's just superbly capable and comfortable.

Thanks for the great write-up. I may give this a go at some point.

There is some single track in Wareham Forest but its mainly in the Northern side called Gore Heath. Unfortunately during lockdown FE destroyed a lot of it in a ludicrous attempt to stop people going outdoors, and it has only partially regenerated. What is left generally gets trashed by eMTB's in the winter when normally aspirated cycles left it alone to recover.

I can normally get a 20 mile route in Wareham Forest without duplication but its certainly no New Forest. I live about 200 metres from one of the entrances and am very grateful for that.