Glad you had a nice stay down here, great place for some walking too! Next time you could hire a bike for a day or 2? Thank you for watching!

@@steveelkins52 thanks, these are fairly simple to follow as they're all marked tracks. I love riding at night, have a pretty decent front light which makes it like riding in the day!

@@pkelly20091 have fun! Many more trails to explore in the Forest. Although this time of year many lead to knee deep bogs 😂

Nice! Did you enjoy it?

That's cool, so you get to enjoy the New Forest but in the Australia sunshine? Best of both worlds!

@ Thanks. FulGaz has taken me from Juneau in Alaska to NZ and countless places between.

@@DavidChadderton-g7d I'll have to take a look at it. I use Zwift for my indoor stuff, sounds interesting.

@ Do. FulGaz is real riders videos from all around the world. I’m not a racer, any more, so, a tourist. I live on it. Try it free.

Thank you!

Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the feedback. I've not done a video on how I film but I will add it to my list of ideas! I mainly use a gopro, especially if it is during an event as it's robust and easy to use. I've recently got an Insta360 x4, which gets some of the shots of me riding along. Still working out how to use/edit the footage.

@ any external microphone for the GoPro or is it just the camera? If just the mic on camera do you use any wind muffler??

No just the mic on the go pro. I had looked at an external mic but I think it compromises the waterproof levels (could be wrong tho). Newer versions may have a Bluetooth external mic option like the x4. I use a foam windshield. I just buy them in batches of Ali Express. The dog normally destroys them when I forget and leave my camera on the side. On the mtb/gravel bike the wind noise isn't too bad compared to the road bike.

Lovely sport to be. Straight out onto nice trails and quiet lanes!

The suns got to make a comeback soon? Right? RIGHT!?!? I expect your fitness has improved with all that turbo work. 🦎

@ yes ftp is up a bit! I need to do a lot of intensity as I’m naturally a slow twitch. Might try it as a Birthday ride on the cx bike on the 2 nd!

Nice 👌 The 2nd Jan?

@@Boombatty that's one of life's big questions 😂 it is sort of a road bike with big tyres but each year it evolves slightly (heading more in the direction of an old school mountain bike). In the UK it's basically a bike you can ride on road, round the edges of fields or on the occasional bits of actual gravel paths we have. A do it all bike if you will. But as you saw from the video I did it on my hardtail mountain bike (which makes for a pretty decent UK gravel bike). Confused? 😂

@@carlgreenman thank you, I hope the injury heals quickly. I'm currently nursing a bout of man flu.... just want to get out and ride!

Thank you for watching them. Hopefully some people get to enjoy some nice routes!

Thanks for the feedback. The 100km one I did started at Brokenhurst train station. You could use part of that route to join onto this one. The next one I do I'll try and get it to go near one of the stations in the Forest to give that option 👍

@@CycleXplorer Thank you I look forward to seeing more of a really beautiful part of the country. Oh btw I have got your Brokenhurst route but I think I need to train up a bit more before taking it on (unles I cheat and use my e-bike)

@ wouldn't call using an e-bike cheating, what ever let's you have a good time. The 100km route is nice as it passes through or near a fair few places with cafes and pubs etc

No worries, have fun if you do it!

😂 love it

Thank you! It's a great place for some riding all year round, unlike some other areas I like to ride (eg South down chalky slip and slide). Looking forward to sunny dry conditions 🌞

I think you'll get to enjoy 9 of the finest gates the New Forest has to offer. Most are in the first half of the ride. Thanks for watching.

Cheers, Tim. Enjoy! Cheeky trip to the bike shop too.

Thanks. As you're coming from Sussex you may be able to park in the Cadnam area and then ride one of the small roads over to Minstead (where you could also probably park). Alternatively you could come off at Cadnam and go north and round to Forest Road/Stoney Cross where there is parking. Bit more of a faff to get there but easy back onto the A31 after. It's getting on and off the a31 which is the hard bit as after Cadnam it's pretty much then Burley Services where you can go turn and go back the other way. Otherwise there is plenty of parking etc down in Lyndhurst. You could then ride up to join the route. My 100km route would have a way, but it'll obviously make it longer than 50km. Enjoy!

Great video. My stomping ground and there are so many brilliant trails in the area. You can enjoy a lovely 10 mile ride or even 100 miles pushing out to the limits of the forest going out as far as Calshot and Christchurch and North as far as Fordingbridge. New sub.

@@tonyfrewin4822 thank you. I agree it's a great area to ride. I do like getting over to north Dorset too, quite lanes and some good climbs! 🏔️

@@CycleXplorer Thank you, I hadn't realised the getting on and off the A31 issue till I checked on the map, so thanks for that. Looks like Minstead is god spot with parking.

@ very lucky to be in this area.

Enjoy. There are a lot of options in the New Forest. You can make some really big loops if you add some road and push out to places like Moors Valley and Verwood Forest. Or you can do some nice shorter loops and barely see the road!

Nice one. Hopefully it serves you well! Conditions not too bad for the winter, there are some other nice area but this time of year they tend to get a bit wet and boggy.

Hope you have fun on the gravel 🚴

And to you. That would also be a good place to start, lots of parking up there and in nicer weather an ice cream van 🚐

Thanks for the double comment too, got to be good for the algorithm 😂

Yes! Looks great

@ gravel bike or mountain bike?

Thank you. I'm sure your mojo will return with some nice weather. Maybe do an event in southern Spain for the opposite experience 🥵 solstice alleycat was quite fun tho, nice to do it with someone else too

Thank you, happy Christmas to you too!

Thank you. Happy Christmas.

Haha this is it I'm afraid 🤣

@@Laura-dv6cb thanks. It's a bit basic but works 🤣 I do also have training peaks

Ha thanks Forest Velo! Your turn next 🤣

Thank you. Yes it'll change at the end of Jan a bit and then when the weather is better and I approach an event I'll do things like a long ride Saturday and Sunday. Be able to do some longer rides after work as well when it's a nice summers evening 🤣 do you have a coach?

That was more my poor timing in thinking I had enough time to do the ramp test and a spin after 🤣 that indoor bike you used sounded like a ramp test or torture session! Power meters are good for lots of things, efforts but also managing fatigue etc. they are now much more affordable, I use some assioma pedals that I can use on different bikes

@CycleXplorer OK thanks I will check out the assioma pedals , xmas is coming 👍🙂

@@Foxtrottangoabc they had a good Black Friday deal. I imagine they will have some sort of new year sale?

O wow nice one! It will hopefully be an amazing adventure - feels a long way off at the moment and a tad scary 😳 how much riding does it give you? I think a big thing is consistency in the days you ride. Which you can then build some volume on as and when needed. You'll never replicate riding 1000km in one go tho 😂

@@CycleXplorer It's only giving me three sessions a week, each around 60-90 minutes. Any more and the red light/yellow light system starts to warn me about over training. Going to try disabling it and just listening to my body and see how it goes. At least there are a good 9 months to go until the ride!

@ have you trained much before using it? If so you probably have a feel about how you may be responding. Perhaps you could then supplement the workouts with more? Or ditch it and try a TP off the peg plan?

It could, but personally I feel okay with this as the Friday is a gym session of which legs are only part of the workout. It's not intense cardio, so I feel like a get a break between the days. If I'm building towards an event I often do something on the Friday evening. Just a spin but it keeps that constant stimulus. Which I feel reflects the type of events I am doing at the moment. After every 3ish weeks I have an easier week with extra rest days and every 8 or so I drop the gym weights right back for an easier week in there also. This is also the 'ideal' - what I aim to do but sometimes don't achieve 100% (eg last nights Christmas party...) And of course, if I'm feeling it/naff I'll take an extra day off. Because I've done it for quite a while I don't get panicked by that. It's a long term process. No harm in experimenting with things, in the keep it simple mindset, doing something is better than nothing!

I have used it in the past, but it was before they had the AI elements. I liked it, but I supplemented it with outdoor rides so probably did a little too much! I then got into Zwift racing so moved onto that platform. I like their podcast, the art seems to be selecting the right volume of training? How are you finding it, is it working?

I really like TR. I prefer interval training to long boring endurance. I mostly train indoors in winter 🥶 compete in Cyclo cross so it suits me.. And you don’t have to do a ramp test 🙌

@@CycleXplorer when I started it felt hard but as I continued the program keeps adapting and I feel better, the effort is moderate and have begin to feel stronger. I think is working, it’s an affordable option for someone without a coach and wants to have some sort of structure training plan.

@ sounds like it's doing good then? Must be hard when it's your only choice due to snow etc. have you got a fat bike?

@ not yet I don’t have space for more bikes and I have to negotiate it with my wife😅, I have Schwalbe Ice spiker pro tires on my XC bike.

Haha they are not the funnest but better than a 20 min one. The Zwift plans are okay, as in better than not doing something. But not likely to be too specific to you. I did do one and found it had a lot of intensity - but I was recovering from a leg injury...

Just a tad 🌬️

The tailwind was fun....

Cheers mate. I'm not 100% sure how I class what I do (a bit of everything) but it is summed up by trying to have some fun and get away for 'normal' life. Sounds like you've got a couple of nice events lined up for 2025. Good to have some goals to get you through winter and beyond!

Was a tad chilly in the wind but better than being indoors 😍 did you go out?

Thank you. It'll be a nice route over 2 days with lots of time for pub stops and ice cream. Just need a sunny spring now!

@CycleXplorer she is very keen on ice creams, it's only Polite to have a cold cider and wait whilst she eats it 🤣.

That's a good idea, a few at 27k would keep you going for a long time! I tend to also take a small 10k one to keep my garmin topped up and for emergencies. I would quite like to take more smaller ones but I need the larger one to be able to charge the exposure (if I don't have power access). Got any events or routes lined up for 2025?