Two days on the King Alfred’s Way.
Sometimes the best laid plans are those that are made at the last minute.
Having only realised mid-week that the following Monday was a bank holiday, I decided that I wanted to embark on a bigger adventure. I would have a few days free to ride, plus one to recover before I had to be back at work, and the weather was looking particularly stunning.
I’m usually one for overthinking these things, often to my own detriment, but this time I decided to just go for it. There was little point in waiting until I felt ready, because I knew that I probably never would.
The plan was to ride from Bristol to the closest point on King Alfred’s Way (https://www.cyclinguk.org/king-alfreds-way), ride the full route, and then pedal home the same way. Other than that, I didn’t have any goals or expectations. There was a freedom in that which definitely helped to make this one of my favourite ever rides.
I settled into a rhythm and rode at my natural pace, taking plenty of photos along the way, and making sure to soak in every second of my surroundings (other than the ones that required me to keep my eyes firmly on the ‘road’ ahead).
The terrain was stunning, the weather spectacular, and my legs were feeling far better than I had anticipated. When I reached the point where I had expected to stop overnight I wanted to keep riding, so I did.
By the time darkness descended I was just finishing the section through Reading, so I pedalled past the city and surrounding villages before setting up camp for the night. I had covered 225kms, and knew then that I wanted to see if I could finish it off on day two.
Not knowing what was to come on the route, I had slightly underestimated how hard this would be, but I didn’t regret my decision for a second (well, maybe a couple). Ticking off the kms over the increasingly challenging terrain, pushing through the inevitable lows that come with the highs. I had moments where I felt like I could ride forever, and others where I was going so slowly that it was easier to just get off and walk.
I rolled into Bristol having completed my longest ever single day on the bike, with the previous day being my second longest.
I felt exhausted, empowered, and proud of myself. It’s been a long time since I’ve challenged myself physically, or really ventured out of my comfort zone on the bike, and I didn’t realise how much I’d been missing that.
My overwhelming take away from the 27.5hours in the saddle is that you are always capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for, and that there’s no right or wrong way to do these things as long as it makes you happy.
I was reminded of so many things I love about this kind of riding, and it also enabled me to make some mistakes while it didn’t really matter. I have a few changes and tweaks to make to my setup and ride strategy for the next one, but overall my bike, bags and body completed the 490kms with no real dramas.
I was also reminded of my dislike for camping, but that’s one for a future blog. I’ve realised that you don’t have to enjoy the same things that others do, and you also don’t have to thrive on every aspect of something for it to be worth doing overall, but I’m currently making plans to hopefully improve this element of the experience for me!
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The Road to GBDuro with Molly Weaver