Oakham to Southampton - Two-Day Bikepacking Trip!

Two or three times a year I take the painstaking trip down to Southampton via train to stay with my best friend Aaron.

I like travelling by train, particularly off-peak on a good weather day - music, book, podcast, a slow pace plod to somewhere. However, the train down to Southampton is not my favourite - dull, disjointed and uncomfortable. It's either my old work journey (Cross-Country, LNER to London) then a trip across to Waterloo and a busy commute train down to Southampton Central, or a trip across country to Coventry, then down via Oxford, where you end up on trains with little facilities, bad visibility and often irritating people.

A mad thought popped in my head. Should I go by bike instead? It's a pretty long-way, 150+ miles as the crows fly, so obviously a longer cycle route. I pulled together a few different routes on Komoot, one starting from Leicester, one starting from Oakham, mostly avoiding any cities (Northampton, Newbury) and taking in better scenery and (hopefully) quieter roads and lanes. It worked. My gravel bike is perfectly set up for touring (steel frame, 42mm commute-style tyres) so I opted for a mixed terrain route, taking in some passable byways, away from civilisation. I opted for that, starting from Oakham. Done.

Stamford > Oakham via train. Glorious weather day. I arrived in Oakham wanting coffee, but decided 20-miles was a sufficient reward stop for a caffeine injection and that Market Harborough was about right for it. The first 5-miles out of Oakham were a brutal reminder of the difference between a normal bike and a bike packed full of gear. I got into the easy gears and reminded myself this is a long-couple of days, easing up some pretty gnarly hills I hadn't ridden before.

Great Bowden was the first stop for coffee, just shy of Market Harborough, changing on a cafe called the Bowden Stores. Very posh.

After the initial hills in the first 16-18 miles, the route flattened out, and I moved onto the NCR6, a disused steam railway line that's now a 14-mile track connecting Market Harborough and Northampton.

I'd been particularly looking forward to cycling this and it didn't disappoint, like a far better maintained Cinder Track route I'd cycled earlier in the year up near Scarborough. The tunnels (darker because of the thick layer of steam oil from years of the trains running through) were so pitch-black even my double-lumen light struggled to give me great visibility, but added to the fun and adventure. Glorious.

14-miles, over in a flash. Quick pitstop in Northampton for coffee and a cracking toastie. Over half-way. From Northampton the journey slowed and got bitty. I think route-wise I ended up on more bridleways than perhaps I needed (some private, with a ticking off from a couple of farmers), but there was a lot of beautiful scenery, and the weather had perked up and it was pleasant and warm. 

Around 5pm I finally arrived at my overnight stop in Upper Heyford. I'd signed up to use Welcome To My Garden, where other cyclists (and friends of) offer pitches in their gardens to travellers for free. A lovely bloke called Roger offered me a pitch for the night, including free electricity, and a couple of cups of coffee.

Ideally, I would've preferred to put another 10-miles on the clock to have less to cycle on Day Two, but those are the breaks, and I settled into a rather nice and spacious garden, accompanied by a puppy dog called Sky and some (noisy) chickens. I found a local supermarket, and a small pub - after a couple of pints of Meantime and some grub, I hit the hay to get ready for a long-day two.

Day Two, 90ish miles to Southampton. I set off slightly later than I wanted to, a combination of waking up late and nattering away to Roger. Fortunately the wind had died down from the day before, but my legs were stiff and I knew this would be a slower day. My aim was to get past Newbury on the map by midday.

The route started with a flat 13-miles to Oxford - perfect place for a coffee stop. Again, the morning weather was glorious. After a swift cortado I cycled through Oxford and onto the Thames Path - as an ex-Londoner, I forget how much I miss the bustle of city-life and how much there is going on. I meandered through, taking it in, enjoying the morning rowers out and the boat-dwellers waking up.

Once out of Oxford, I made my way to Abingdon. I know a couple of people from this area of the world, so nice to see where they live/grew up. I cycled through Drayton > Steveton towards East Hendred, the start point of the North Wessex Downs National Landscape. I've never cycled through the NWDNL before (it spans all the way east to Letchworth on a map) but I was intrigued and it's always good to see another AONB in the UK. My passage through the NWDNL was about 30-miles, coming out at the other side to Andover.

It was hilly! Which was to be expected. As experiences go, it was OK - I won't be rushing back. What surprised me was the lack of anything there - if you cycle in other AONB you find villages with coffee shops, restaurants, ice cream parlours. Here there is nothing. A barren (untouched) pretty-ish wasteland. In some ways, it's probably a good thing, something that tourism hasn't touched. But it's inconvenient.

After 10/15-miles I ran out of water, with the biggest climb of the two-days yet to come. The nearest shop was out of the way, and not in the right direction. Very fortunately I found a very receptive kind man who let me in his kitchen to fill up my bottles - he couldn't believe I'd cycled from Lincolnshire!

I made my way through the NWDNL, getting tired, with the weather a bit miserable and my energy stores feeling low, despite the 30-odd miles or so left. I finally made it out of the NWDNL and arrived into Andover - wow. I got out quick. I crammed in all my gels, bars, did a bidon of water, and pressed on. Romsey was my marker - once I was in Romsey, I was on the home-stretch. Somewhere around here I lost my favourite jacket, which must've slipped out of a gap on the back of my bike - not pleased.!

One of the interesting things about the route, even when I was tired or getting a bit grumpy, was that it never failed to surprise me. Even in the last stretch, I hit an interesting trail that took me off the main road/traffic, which perked me up, or a really good cycling lane, which made things just that bit easier. Even when I got to Southampton I hit a mile trail through Southampton Common - completely empty and like a MTB track - fun! 

I finally made it to Southampton (great cycling infrastructure!), crawled over the Itchen Bridge to Woolston, my final destination, 93.2 miles later, and 168.8 miles over the two-days. Beer o'clock.

The key learnings:
Cut any residual weight down. Don't carry a laptop on my back ever again. Make sure there are shops for water and mark those on my map. Always carry a waterproof jacket even when its 20c+. Check your inflatable mat for leaks (yep) and don't do 90 miles in a day unless absolutely necessary. 

Delayed Post: Scarborough Shores!

The highlight for June - the Scarborough Shores gravel ride.

Sherwood Forest glorious gravel was tough for loads of reasons - my longest ride on gravel, the weather was all over the place (sweating, hailstones, super early morning start in the car) but this was tough in the opposite way - longer, steeper, and far more solo riding.

I travelled up to Scarborough by train the day before, staying at my friend Will's for the weekend, a good friend and housemate from university. Will was chaffeuring me around, so real luxury for a non-driver! Weather good, no hiccups.

After a very comfortable nights sleep, a prepared breakfast and a drive to the start, I felt pretty refreshed, despite a small niggling cold (which actually turned out to be Covid).

The ride itself - brilliant. I started out riding well within myself to get through the initial blast of the winds along the coast front, before we started climbing into Newby towards Hackness. The route itself started out a fairly half-half mix of road and off-road sections, with a very steep 15% climb after the first feed stop.

After that, we were firmly into mixed off-road terrain (near Low Dalby) towards Langdale End, and onwards towards Whitby. As I set off fairly early at the start, with many 'early' people doing the medium route (and me the long), I ended up riding solo for a lot of miles, enjoying a mixture of the woods, open plains and the moors while also wishing I could sit in a wheel from time to time to take respite from the wind. This section had a cutting headwind which made the ascent and final topping off of an 8-mile gradual climb through the moors tough (and tougher than I hoped!) but satisfying to complete and made the descent (out of the wind) like a warm hug. I hid in the draft of two friends (doing their first Glorious Gravel ride) for a while, before the route turned back towards Scarborough. The view of Robin Hood's Bay was worth the slog for sure!

From there, the route moves along the old Cinder Track (a disused railway track - Moors to Sea route on a map) which was technical in places - both through mud, concaves, dog-walkers and other cyclists.

Once back into the Scarborough New Town, we finished the route with a climb back to the beginning (up Quarry Hill). Many could've done without it - a finish on the beach would've been nice!

We settled for a beer and a hot wrap, a clean shower and then to the pub for the Champions League final. Great weekend.

A Cotswolds Classic Round Up... Next Up, Yorkshire Shores!

May has been a scorcher! It's been a long time since I rode with the fear of sunburn and the smell of suncream all around...

Most of my riding focus for May (and April, to be honest) is on club's second training ride in the Cotswolds. I've never been to the Cotswolds (especially as a non-car driver, it's difficult to get to) so I jumped at the chance of a free trip - the weather was definitely a bonus! The route, starting outside of the Cotswolds in Burton Dassett, took us to the popular town of Broadway, before coming back up through Bourton-On-The-Water. 

What a day. Beautiful views, challenging hills, good company, great coffee - cyclist's live for these days. It was not quite the rolling country I was expecting from pictures (our local Leicestershire rides are far more undulating) or one similar to the Yorkshire Dales ride we did last year, which, despite the high elevations, felt much more relaxed. It was a scorching day, adding to the difficulty, one of my longest days on the bike, definitely my steepest, and to top that off, we ticked off two of the UK's Top 100 climbs. 

What was also great about the route put together was that it left a lot of the South and West of the Cotswolds to explore for another day, so I'll definitely be back, and hopefully with even better fitness and maybe a tent, a book and a gravel bike...

High up in the Cotswolds, with lovely greens and yellows everywhere

A good group of us, some sporting our new club jerseys!

Since the Cotswolds ride I've been giving more love to my Standert and doing some mixed-terrain rides at a slower pace. The next challenge ride (#3 of the year) is the Yorkshire Shores ride up in Scarborough, again with Glorious Gravel. I've opted for the medium route, 84k at just over 1000m of climbing - it'll be similar to the Sherwood Ride, but I aim to relax and enjoy it more - it'll most likely be a hot day! I'm still considering doing the long-version and relaxing more, but will make the call on the day.

Outside of the Scarborough ride, i've also planned a couple of multi-day bikepacking trips, but all dependent on work, money and how much freedom i've got. Happier days.

April: Week One Check In

April is the deep breath before the plunge (to quote Gandalf), a slightly odd balancing act, a lot of umm'ing and err'ing on my part with my eye on events in May and June.

After booking a non-cycling related camping two-nighter (for my partners birthday) I've dusted the tent off and started rifling through my bikepacking gear, salivating at the thought of a few wild-camps this month, with my eye on a few spots in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. 

Positively - I'm in good shape. April week one started as a tempo/threshold week, out on fast club and solo rides, which should probably be the flavour of the month - I probably do need to top up the endurance base with some extra gears, with one eye on the Cotswolds and possibly Norway in June. Those are going to be tough days, and the extra push now will likely pay off.

But - I'm tired. Mentally I'm fatigued with my career/future, and the thought of some slow cycling, phone-off, book and a spot in the woods/river would probably do me the world of good. I've got a weekend away at the Grand National with Dad this weekend, which will be a welcome (if not expensive) break from in-sanity. Decisions, decisions.

January and February, gone.

January and February gone, poof. 

It has been a busy couple of months. Post second week of January I finished a 3-month work contract and decided to have a week off the bike to go on a quick trip to Belgium, visiting Brussels, Bruges and Ghent - lots of walking, quite a few tipples and, of course, snow. 

Back in the UK and in between contracts (and thinking more work was imminent), I panic booked a mid-week trip to the Lincolnshire Wolds. I get a bit giddy building these mini tours and decided, as a Lincolnite, I'd go to the Wolds. Definitely not as popular (or probably as scenic) as other AOB's, but it's close to home and I was curious. As it's still cold and i'm not brave and/or mad enough to wild camp in January, I found some good lodgings at a pub, The Black Horse Inn, in Donington on Bain, about 12 miles from Market Rasen. Good accomodation, excellent food.

My trusty steed for the journey, a Temple Adventure Disc 2 - 105, set up with tool pouch and Restrap large conebag 

TBHI served as my base for a few days. Day One (the trip there + a 30/40 mile cycle around) proved a tough day on the bike! I took my steel Temple Adventure with a cone bag and a 12L backpack, definitely feeling the hills around - and they say Lincolnshire is flat! After a couple of punctures and niggling problems with seating tubes in a tubeless ready wheelset, decided to route through to Louth on Day Two (quick bike shop stop!) and head out to Mablethorpe after for some flat coastal rides, before heading back into a 20mph block headwind back to Donington. Phew. Both quite tough days. Day Three an easy day back to the station for the trip home. 

Lovely smooth sailing along the beach front at Mablethorpe 

The steepest, craggiest hill descent - took a month off my discs I think!

Like all small couplets of days out on the bike, what you prepare and what happens do not always tend to marry up - but that's cycling! I'm not the most mechanical of bicycle owners, so all experience is good experience. 

Post Belgium and Wolds is the main event - new bike day.

'Stan' - the new steed from Berlin

In love with my new steed, a Standert Erdgeschosse, in a flecked British-racing green / raw steel. It's a steel frame with carbon forks, a much racier geometry than my all-rounder Temple. It's like a glove in the (downgraded) saddle, with a simple Wing Win on the back. Chomped a few hundred miles on it so far. Decided to take the plunge and go tubeless - what a revelation. Still slightly worried about riding it on lower pressures, so the PSI is high and i'm bumping around off-round, but will get used to it eventually.

Needless to say, this is a dream bike of mine. I saw a load of Standert rigs at Rouleur, and while this one wasn't there in-person, I knew when I saw it online (and on sale!) I absolutely needed it to take the gravel riding seriously and to enjoy it tucked in and at speed. 

In the spirit of the new bike and gravel, i'm currently getting fit and ready for my first gravel event at Sherwood Forest with Glorious Gravel on the 23rd March. I've chosen the long-route to push myself (80km+) but hoping it'll be relatively dry and 'good' gravel. It'll be my longest stint off-road, but at an amble i'm sure i'll get round.

Beyond Sherwood, I'm also booked in for a long ride around the North York Moors, in-and-around Scarborough. The Glorious Gravel events seem a great first try of the overall scene, which I've seen and heard a lot of good things about. Here's to more miles!