BIKEPACKING KING ALFREDS WAY [GONE WRONG]

today we take on the king alfreds way, a 220 mile 350km off road route starting at Winchester, but it didn’t go quite to plan

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

Watch the redo of this ride here :kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWrRo3ajipJgY5Y. 👍

[@rollingnome]

Made me giggle when you grabbed the chance to jump on the swing! Never lose your inner child! 😅

[@Bari_Khan_CEng_CMarEng]

Amazing ride and amazing scenery and English countryside, especially at 19:44 it is just gorgeous. And lovely knowledgeable cows who know all about KZbin lol

[@mattd5586]

Looking to do this ride at the end of the month . I just wanted to say if any of you are having mechanicals up on the ridge way part of this ride come see us at Hargroves Cycles in Swindon we will get you going again.

[@FSHawkPL]

That was some bad luck mate. But awesome route. Some incredible views. It will be better next time. Cheers for all the work!!

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

2nd ride and i broke 😭😭😂😂😂 going to head back in a couple days on the sonder i think

[@PACEUK22]

Your ability to keep smiling seems to be continuously tested 😂 bad luck dude and thx for uploading

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

😂 hence the name.

[@justinf1343]

Thanks for sharing this. Given the amount of rain we’ve had in May I feel you’ve saved me a whole world of pain. I think I’ll postpone until we’ve had a good few weeks of dry warm weather before I set off.

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

To be fair it was only that one section that was the problem everything else was rideable, although the amount of rain we just had over this week might have made some more parts a little boggy

[@christopherblomeley5210]

Absolutely brilliant video, thank you...

[@johnboulter6380]

Evil clouds🤣🤣keep up the good work mate

[@get_outdoors]

Good heads up on all the slop, hoping to do this in June (if dry!) on a gravel bike, hope the bike frame isn’t too worse for wear.

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

Frame is all good new rear mech and chain and a couple spokes though 🤦‍♂️ just completed this ride on the gravel bike. Video tomorrow 👍

[@paulsslightlyactivelife]

Looking to take this on at some point this year but wow, looks like it needs to be after a month of sun judging by the gloop you encountered. Hope the fixes don't cost too much.

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

To be fair it was only that one section that randomly turned into a clay pit. The rest was was fine.

[@timporter8886]

What a ball ache, all that mud in the drive train! What do you think about the Rohloff or similar low profile drive train variations?

[@davemoore843]

What an epic!! Well done. Inspired me!!

[@marccarter1350]

I live in Salisbury, so my starting point would be on my normal routes which are mostly concrete sections! My boss has ridden the more off-road sections of it. I know the ground well, slate, and chalk are everywhere. Slate is an issue I guess. I am thinking it will kill my Thorn Touring bike, destroy my road bike. I may look at some very decent trail tyers for the thorn, I can get some 36's on there. Failing that, I might just obtain a cheaper trail bike that will accommodate racks. Great video. I can see that some of the routes you came down near into Salisbury are best left alone. But then I know a lot of these routes as I walk up there. Love watching the video thou.

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

You could do it on 36s id say might be a few sections that will be a bit rough, but that's mainly in the south downs section. If you are going in the dryer months you will be fine.

[@marccarter1350]

@@KeepSmilingAdventures yeah, it will be a June to September ride.

[@rodjason9397]

I'm riding KAW in late May 2023. What is the location of the gloopy muddy section?

[@KOL630]

Ironically I think the mud would stick less on smaller tyres! 😅 We did this last year but we’re lucky in that it was mostly dry albeit one day of lashing rain on the outskirts of reading which sucked. A great route though.

[@Mark-Randlesome-Tutor-and-Muso]

Character building stuff mate 👍 I'm Poole based and will be doing the KAW this year door to door (about 350mls I think 🤔) you've reminded me to get some mechanical field repair stuff just in case..... How's the beast now?

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

Nice man, it was good what i got to do so you will have a blast. I'm just waiting on parts at the min for it then she will be back on the adventures. parts are a bit hard to get at the min, so taking a bit longer than usual. Hopefully you wont have any mechanicals .

[@franbratt1550]

Hey Josh, great to meet and ride with you! Looking forward to seeing the footage of the next leg, hope it went more to plan :D Felt terrible leaving you on Sailsbury Plain, that rain was something else (and my campsite insisted I took the warm dry log cabin 😂)...

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

Hii Fran was great to meet you too and was nice to have some company for a change, video is out tomorrow if KZbin ever finishes processing it. that's ok it did hammer it down for the next couple of hours but by the time i got to camp i had pretty much dried out and had a pretty good nights sleep. 😂 That's so nice of them how lucky i bet that was bliss. How did you get on with the rest of the trip ?

[@franbratt1550]

​@@KeepSmilingAdventures ahh good to hear! the rest of the way was epic, especially loved the ridgeway, but you were right about all the damn clay, there's no avoiding it, I'm surprised my bike survived! only two punctures in total, I call that a success haha

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

Aha I actually jumped into the field next to the clay pit so managed to avoid most of it. But to be honest it was like a river when i got to it anyway. The Ridgway is nice minus the mud field with the cows 😂. That is impressive especially with how narrow your tyres were. Well done 👏

[@franbratt1550]

ohhh yes I also went through that cow field going "please don't hurt me!" haha. If you didn't stack in on the Ridgeway several times, you're not doing doing it right ;)

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

😂 you and me both i tried negotiating with them to move. Surprisingly i managed to stay upright this trip, how many times did you fall in the end ? 😂

[@robertwalkerdine1178]

Funny video 🤣. I'm glad it's not just me this sort of s**t happens to! Snapped the cage of my rear derailleur with similar mud scenario

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

Whats with bicycle parts being made off 🧀

[@robertwalkerdine1178]

@@KeepSmilingAdventures 🤣🤣 I know! I thought I was just unlucky, but apparently it's common according to my MTBer mates. I'm a bit cautious now with my gravel bike 🤣

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

Im going to give it a go on the gravel bike i hope it survives cant afford to break more bikes 😂 bike parts a nightmare to get hold of at the min

[@paddyotoole2058]

I’m doing the KAW in early September and I was planning to bring a spare chain with me already as I was thinking that it won’t take up much room in the bags and also doesn’t weigh much. After watching this video I may just bring two! 😂

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

i could have done with a spare chain and a new rear mech, possibly a spare bike. 😂 good luck on your ride

[@kwakkers68]

I have wondered why no manufacturers have looked into having the Mech in an upward position (at least I assume not?) Not that hard to engineer, surely?

[@carlwatkiss4252]

could you do a film with what you take (kit list) on different adventures. so I can get more of a idea for myself

[@DuncanPalmer1984]

Where did you get the pedal me cap?

[@topcat8891]

Just found your channel enjoyed the film pity the trip ended with all the mecchanicals still thats adventure for you. Took the clever girls advise and subed looking forward to following your adventures 😀 I am planning on a ridgeway / thames path adventure myself this summer 👍

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

🙌 the 🐄 will be happy 😆 the ridgeway is nice i used to cycle there quite a lot when i lived out that way. The thames path sounds a nice one. Enjoy

[@topcat8891]

@@KeepSmilingAdventures yes the upper Thames path is very nice and relaxing to ride feels 'wild' even though you are never very far from anywhere I rode it a few years back.Will start in Oxford down to Goring onto ridgeway then across to Kemble and back to Oxford. Im a MTBer at heart and have family commitments but I try to do at least one bikepacking trip a year saddly didnt go anywhere last summer 😢 so looking forward to this summer fingers crossed. Enjoy your rides Ride Hard Ride Safe

[@patbriggsmbr]

This is where internal gearing comes into play. Well done though.

[@danielnaylon9901]

Hey Josh, I'd be interested to know what cycle shoes you are using? I'm looking for a pair of clip ons that are also good for walking short distances (if I ever come across the mud / clay/ cement type of terrain that you did!)

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

i think i was using the fizeek terra ones back then kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5yXoJ18oridatE and a update video kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGWpoImQhc2bmMk But they have since fallen apart with all the tugged bikepacking this year.

[@mikebrown32]

Great video - nice to know not every ride posted on utube is a flawless success. Keeps it real as we’ve all been there! Thinking of doing this this soon, so just wondering where that section is? - just in case I can bypass it if it looks too gloopy...

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

hi mike, i will always keep it real here and show the failures as well as the successes. I actually just redone this ride i was able to sort of jump into the field next to it to avoid the same happening. The section is just as you turn off the Salisbury plain heading towards Andover road/ little village at the bottom is called chirton. You will know you are close as you can see the white horse on the side of the hill. Hope that makes sense.

[@mikebrown32]

@@KeepSmilingAdventures Yup makes perfect sense. Thanks! Keep up the great work :)

[@lag8na]

Interested to know what jacket you're wearing here. You're wearing it a lot in the dry, so I assume it's proving very breathable

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

Nah that jacket wasn't that good the weather that day wasn't that warm and was showering. The jacket i use now is the Patagonia torrent shell 3l its much better. Here is all the kit im using at the moment m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2bSfIalhdSAoZI

[@simoncooke9265]

I'm planning on doing this in a month or two after a good dry patch. I keep going round in circles on which bike to take, hardtail sonder Broken Road or the gravel bike. I had settled on the hardtail now doubting myself again!!!

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

Im going to go again on the sonder in a couple days i think so will see how that goes 😬

[@johnaldred6864]

Nice one..!

[@makistudio1592]

Nice trip, cheers

[@Moseley_Engineering]

Hard luck. All started with that clay gloop which I'll be steering well clear of

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

Aha that's a good idea, I rode it again a week later and just jumped in a field to avoid it

[@jammin023]

Nice vid, thanks. The lesson I would take from this is don't keep pedalling when your drivetrain is clogged up! To be fair I wouldn't have expected it to cause that much damage. I wonder if, had you been on a skinnier-tyred gravel bike, you might have been more likely to hike the claggy section instead of riding through it, and that would have avoided the problem... though I hope I don't have to put that theory to the test when I do this route...

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

I dunno really because it wasn't claggy until it was. And there wasn't to much else i could do really, but yeah if your bike is ever coated in clay, don't ride it, dunk it in a river or something 😂

[@acelectricalsecurity]

With the miles you do, surprised you don't take a spare chain and bottom bracket these things are easy to carry

[@FortheLoveofCycling]

Nice ride

[@ForzaMilan-di2zd]

I hope one day Ginsters sponsor u 😂

[@ForzaMilan-di2zd]

Any chance u can post that New Forest route. Looked amazing for a chill out day out ride

[@g.w.debruijn4904]

Why nog take a rohlof with belt? It eliminaties all your chain, dirt and derailleur problems. Nice rides and movies by the wat.

[@freelandmusings]

What a shame. Still a good vid! Did it last month and missing it now….

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

The poor bike, i have redone it since this though. At least twice actually 😄

[@dovershark0492]

Thanks!

[@KeepSmilingAdventures]

Thanks for the support :D

[@aaroncarbon518]

700kg 🤣🤣