Somerset and Devon :: Day 1 :: Bristol to the Quantocks :: Bikepacking & Wildcamping

Life seems to have dispersed my friends group across a wide area and so I try as hard as I can to visit them in all their far flung locations whenever possible.
In my current state of leisurely unemployment I often try to turn these visits into bikepacking trips and this time I was able to get a good chunk of days in the saddle around two socials.
This one started with a train to Bristol...
My route : / strava
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=== SUPPORT THE CHANNEL ===
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I'll only ever link to stuff that I have personal experience of and that I genuinely rate as quality products.
== Bollé Eco ==
Really comfy helmet.
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== Helinox Chair Zero ==
The ultimate luxury when the ground is wet and cold.
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== Big Agnes Copper Spur ==
Best tent I've ever owned. Love it, love it, love it.
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== Trangia Stove ==
Simple stove, easy to find fuel
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== Trangia Fuel Bottle ==
Sturdy, non leak storage for alcohol stove fuel
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== GoPro Chesty ==
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== Magicshine Lights ==
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== Quadlock Outfront Pro ==
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=== Music ===
Tupelo Train :: Chris Haugen
Campfire Song :: Chris Haugen
/ @chrishaugenchannel
Wishful Thinking :: Dan Lebowitz
/ animal liberation orch...
Angeline the Baker :: Nat Keefe with The Bow Ties
/ @natkeefe

[@AndrewBrown-em3ti]

What a perfect end to the week. I can’t articulate the sense of peace and calm that these always provide. They serve as perfect reminders of better things and places and I’m grateful that you share them with us all. Looking forward to the rest of the trip, have a great Spring whatever you are doing.

[@JethroJessop]

Thank you. I am very happy to be able to share these little adventures with you. Spring is very welcome and I'm looking forward to embracing it fully 😉

[@janine-theeternalwannabe]

Fully agreed. Jethro's trips are indeed a great reminder of the simple pleasures that nature and quiet country roads can offer. Thank you Jethro!

[@JethroJessop]

@@janine-theeternalwannabe I try my best. I'm glad you enjoy them :)

[@garyworthington4580]

All hail the returning Jethro as well as beautiful footage of our green and pleasant land-hurrah!

[@JethroJessop]

Sorry about the lengthy silence! It is shocking how quickly a month slips away but hopefully I'm back on the semi regular now for a little while at least 😉

[@rolandhallgren1263]

Hallo Jethro! Interesting start and guided by a good soundtrack you are sure rolling on.

[@JethroJessop]

Rolling on with some good music is what I do best 😉

[@jimbojet8728]

Doesn’t matter how long you are off YT Jethro, so long as you keep coming back! Enjoyed the vid, thank you.

[@JethroJessop]

I'll always come back. I can't believe a whole month went by so fast with not an upload to be seen! Bad planning on my part which I shall try to make up for!

[@fattony6299]

Wonderful as ever, Jethro, thank you. I wish I had known you were coming through Bridgwater! I would certainly have made time to ride along with you. Maybe next time...

[@JethroJessop]

To be honest I was pretty tired by then and might not have been the best company. I seem lovely on screen but in real life I'm awful 😉

[@welshbikepackingadventures]

Great adventure Jethro

[@JethroJessop]

It was indeed. Glad you enjoyed watching along :)

[@ianclements4268]

Great to see you back looking forward to the N.Devon stretch. How’s Alan will we see him again?

[@JethroJessop]

Alan is well but will not be making an appearance on this trip. I'm sure he'll be back on your screens soon though. We have been chatting about summer rides.

[@kimcorcoran7495]

Nifty sound track, as usual! :)

[@JethroJessop]

I try to get some new tracks in there but always seem to come back to a few old favourites

[@marktaylor1096]

Hey JJ glad to see you back on screen. Enjoy your journey

[@JethroJessop]

Glad to be back! I hope you enjoy the videos as much as I enjoyed the trip

[@Bobario1]

Good to see you back Jethro. I'm looking forward to seeing you heading up to Dunkery Beacon.

[@JethroJessop]

Good to be back, thanks for waiting 😉 I did make it up the beacon but not till day 3 in the end. Day 2 is being edited at the moment so it's coming!

[@francisday3187]

Great video again - thank you!🙏

[@JethroJessop]

Thank you for watching 😀

[@RoadyPacking-CyclingAdventures]

You're becoming Jethro Van Duzer chatting to fellow trail hunters!! Always a well presented account, cheers.

[@JethroJessop]

Ha, I'd happily have his viewing figures! I often meet people along the way but it always felt weird to ask if they wanted to be in a video. On this trip it just sort of worked out with John on the first day and then Connor. I only realised as I was editing.... John ... Connor... Any Terminator fans pick that up?

[@johnpagan2382]

Loved watching that one Jethro, perfect timing as I sit here nursing a broken wrist

[@JethroJessop]

Ouch, hope you mend rapidly. Is that the result of doing something radical?

[@johnpagan2382]

@@JethroJessop Definitely Something Radical, hopefully cast comes off tomorrow and i can begin some riding

[@JethroJessop]

@@johnpagan2382 Fingers crossed. Get out there, get radical and do the other one next ;)

[@aAnd67]

He's back! The bicycling bard, the rambling raconteur, Sir Jethro of the 2 wheel steed😂 All the other KZbinrs seem perfunctory by comparison. Welcome back young sir, you have been missed 😂😂😂 Good to see you old boy. Great day 1 vid. 👍

[@JethroJessop]

Thank you for doing me the honour of using my official title 😉 It's good to be back. Hopefully I won't leave you hanging for so long again

[@aAnd67]

@@JethroJessop That would be good old boy, I'm not one who's known for his patience. 😂

[@tonypaddler]

It's great to see you back Jethro, I anticipate another great trip is ahead, interspersed with much literary ramblings 🚲🙂👍

[@JethroJessop]

It's great to be back! There is always an adventure ahead! A few days on the road this time, ups and downs, highs and lows, rain and shine. The usual nonsense 😉

[@tonypaddler]

@@JethroJessop it's the usual nonsense that I'm here for 😁👍

[@JethroJessop]

@@tonypaddler then I'm sure I can deliver 😉

[@tonypaddler]

@@JethroJessop of that I have no doubt! Absolutely none 😆

[@samcaws7920]

Man I love the Quantocks! Me and the missus have had at least 2 MTB trips a year (from Cardiff) for the last 20 years.

[@JethroJessop]

Its an amazing area indeed. The way it suddenly leaps up out of the flat lands is pretty shocking and you suddenly feel like you are in a different country almost!

[@DIY-DaddyO]

What a gentle trip by a gentle man. Had a mountain bike race in the Quantocks "back in the day" , one day I must return. Hope it's just a squeaky chain and not the Rolloff gone up the swanny. Cheers for now 👍

[@JethroJessop]

Racing the Quantocks must have been hard on the legs! There is a lot of up and down there. It isn't the Rohloff as far as I can see. It needs an oil change but I think I just need a new chain and related bits and bobs which I need to get soonish.

[@DIY-DaddyO]

@@JethroJessop Oh yes, that was a toughy for sure. Could you do a carbon belt or is your frame not split? Hope it's fixed and you're on your merry way soon.

[@JethroJessop]

@@DIY-DaddyO nah, the ogre isn't split. Belt drive always seemed like a lot of hassle for a minimal improvement. I know some folk swear by them but it seems like quite a plunge to take

[@PatrickTrosken-yr1hp]

Amazing landscape.😊👍 Greetings from germany

[@JethroJessop]

They were. Some even better ones ove the coming days of this trip! Greetings back from the UK, thanks for watching 😉

[@EdwinFeliu]

Jethro, keep on living the bikepacking wildcamping British dream!

[@JethroJessop]

I will try to do exactly that for as long as I can. And I'll make sure I get plenty of videos out of it too 😉

[@jimbojet8728]

When thinking of the drive train renewal Jethro, as I’ve done recently, buy it all new mate. Go for it! You will know it’s all done, no possible weak link faults? One little tip, don’t forget to do the rollers on your rear DR and strip and service the pedals too. Not a hugely difficult job, as long as you get all the parts in first. Then take your time and enjoy it. I’ve done it before, but these days, I have a good local bike techie who is very good and reasonably priced. Wallah! All sorted! Thanks again!

[@JethroJessop]

I need to check my chain stretch and decide what to do. I gave the whole bike and drivetrain a really good clean and realigned my back wheel (Rohloff brace bolt had slipped) and it sounds better but the chain is old. Tink I need to do my brake cables as well so there is a mammoth tinkering session on the horizon 😬

[@ferrino73]

Great video as always. As I live in Bristol I’ve just copied your route and going to recreate it. Looks like a great adventure 👍

[@JethroJessop]

It was a good one. If you check Strava you'll see the routes from the rest of this trip as well. I'll link them as those videos go live but they are all there if you are interested. The final leg from Braunton to Plymouth was especially good!

[@StansOutdoorAdventures]

Great video. Im a new subscriber after watching your new forest ones. I spend quite a bit of time down their. When I was much younger I decided to ride from my hometown in the Midlands to Plymouth. Took me 3 days but I was on a girls 3 speed racer bike 😂 I slept in fields as we had a mini heatwave. First night outskirts of Birmingham, second night on a hill overlooking the Severn estuary and Bridge and third night near Exeter. Quite an adventure!. Will make my way through your back catalogue!. Take good care on your travels 😊

[@JethroJessop]

That sounds like a pretty epic trip. Those are pretty long days, especially on a 3 speed 😉 They say, "The right bike is the bike you have" and it sounds like you proved that one true. I'm glad you are enjoying the channel, I hope you find some more to entertain you as you plough through the archives

[@StansOutdoorAdventures]

​@@JethroJessopThank you for your reply Jethro. Yes it was a long hot 3 days. It made me laugh when you said about taking irrelevant things on your Scottish trip. I filled a 35litre rucksack up with tins and a iron tin opener and the weight ground me into an already bottom bleeding seat 😅 I chucked them into a bin near Bridgewater as I remember and lived on water and bananas there on!. I took pictures along the way too. Memories!. Keep up the great videos ❤

[@JethroJessop]

@@StansOutdoorAdventures Sounds like "a learning experience". These are the memories we keep for ever though, regardless of the arse pain ;)

[@peppermintpig974]

Love it. You're getting some great views and rest stops amid the wet weather. We're just getting over the snowy weather and into the torrents of Springtime rain here in New England USA. I'm sitting here crafting soft shackles for my hammock/tarp setup while watching before I'm fully awake and on to work so this is a nice treat before I get going. Hope you get a ton more views to help subsidize your component replacements. :)

[@JethroJessop]

Thank you. I'm glad the good weather is starting to show its face for you and that there adventures on the horizon :) I'm confident that I'll blow up any second, become a KZbin sensation and the new hardware will start arriving for free in the post ;) Got a good run of videos lined up from this trip and some ideas for more now it seems to be spring so lets where this year takes me! Thanks for watching

[@peppermintpig974]

​@@JethroJessop Well you definitely deserve the views. More carved spoon clips might also be good. Don't even have to say a word, people will ask about it when they see it. :D

[@JethroJessop]

@@peppermintpig974 more carving is part of the grand plan but it's finding time to execute it that is the problem. I have several grand plans going at a time and they tend to clash 😉

[@pjvickers3125]

Yes JJ! A new video and suspected haircut?! Yey.....

[@JethroJessop]

Weirdly, I haven't cut my hair for ages but a few people have said it looked new. I think it must have just passed some kind of hair watershed and moved to a different flavour of wild 😉 There is a new cut coming though and as always that will mean me waving my clippers at it until I'm bored and call it done 😉

[@grantswheelstohills]

Sounds like a good route, aha memories of Cheddar Gorge YHA ! Going to bed early, unscrewing light bulbs, people back late in the dorm not able to turn the lights on...then moaning at me as I rose early and screwed the bulbs back in ! Yes, to be up early and out in the fresh air. Try and give us some advance warning on anything live. It would be good to watch live...atb Grant 👍

[@JethroJessop]

I will. Live streams have always been a last minute and slapdash affair but if/when I do the next one I'll try to organise it a bit better. I'll put something in the community page here and on my ko-fi page as well so keep an eye out.

[@oheso]

Go me, indeed!

[@JethroJessop]

Whatever you are doing, its working ;)

[@jonathanmgibson79]

A lovely window into your adventures Jethro. I enjoyed watching your portrayal of a bike packer in territory familiar to me. It was great to ride with you and chat. A rather generous cameo from yours truly passed the editors cutting board I see. Chapeau. Jon

[@JethroJessop]

It was a pleasure to ride along with you. That hill you sent me up wasn't as bad as I'd feared 😉 How was the rest of your ride?

[@jonathanmgibson79]

I'm glad. My ride ended with the flat and monotonous stuff.

[@JethroJessop]

@@jonathanmgibson79 Not always the worst way to end. Better than a mountain climb right ;)

[@biketouringnature]

Nice video!

[@JethroJessop]

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it 😃

[@platypushatstand]

Re the Rohloff go to SJS in Bridgwater

[@JethroJessop]

Yes! They were the people I got it from in the first place. They were fantastic - so helpful, knowledgable and genuinely interested in my build. I always go to them now :)

[@beardedvikingmtber]

Always enjoy a chilled vid from jethro

[@JethroJessop]

I'm always happy to provide. Glad you liked it 😀

[@Curlew-Corner]

Good to see you back on the road. Lively scenery and music.

[@JethroJessop]

Thank you. It was great to be out on another journey. I hope you enjoy the rest of the videos... Coming soon!

[@bradlyttle]

In a pub pint half full kinda attitude, you're fortunate your kith and kin are so spread out, it makes for interesting adventure possibilities. Beats local monotony. Good luck with that noisy drivetrain issue. A little troubling for sure. ATB

[@JethroJessop]

Very true. To have folk so spread out but have the time to visit them all is a real blessing. I'll try to make the most off it this year. Pretty sure the drivetrain is nothing serious, just wear and tear that needs addressing.

[@davidjohnston1374]

G'day Jeffro, been a subscriber for some time now and still enjoying your content very much. Being from the land of the Kangaroo, I've yet to experience the UK, especially by bicycle. One thing we don't have or I've yet to witness here in Australia are the hedges that line your country roads or the stone border hedge (don't quite know what to call them) in some places but the way that the roads over there are often quite narrow and lines somewhat on either side or both. I think that alone would make it interesting place to tour. I mean, the car drivers can't be half as bad as the bogans we have over here 😂🤣

[@JethroJessop]

This is something I really notice in other countries - the lack of fences, walls and hedges. It looks so strange to my eyes when you fields that just end at the road or the forest, or that have no separation between them. I'm no fan of modern fences but some of the old dry stone walls and ancient hedges are amazing and you see different styles of both depending on the region you are in. I love the style you see in the part of the world of building a wall/bank and then planting trees along the top which can be coppiced or laid. Most of them are really old and you get those incredible, gnarled trees with the roots all spilling down covered in moss and ferns. I love it. The technique of laying hedges is not something that gets done much anymore as it is quite time and labour intensive but you still see it done (my dad does it) and there is even a national championship to see who can lay the best hedge each year :)

[@DanielEarlester]

Nice video...and not a hint of animal poo in sight. I was just in Bristol cycling down from Birmingham and got the train to Barnstaple. Some big hills in Devon. On the way back my bike imploded just outside Kidderminster and I needed a new gear cable and unfortunately a rear hub for my wheel. Costly. This was my road bike I put 28c tyres on but the terrain and roads must have been too much for it.Bike touring needs more robust bikes by and large I think.

[@JethroJessop]

Ouch, I hope it didn't fail whilst being ridden at speed or anything like that?? It is definitely a good way to put a lot of stress on a bike, especially when you hit those hills and off road sections :)

[@richardbuttner1989]

Nice video! I am tempted to finally plan my own first bike-packing adventure 😊 Once time and kids allow...

[@JethroJessop]

Never too soon to start planning. Looking at maps, plotting routes, researching campsites, is all part of the fun. Suddenly you'll realise you have a full plan and sometimes that makes it easier to do the final push and actually get going!

[@Martin-oy8zf]

Tak!

[@JethroJessop]

Tack så mycket! Nu kan jag köpa lite fika på min nästa aventyre! I know, that's Swedish not Danish, but its the best I have :)

[@martinlp1018]

@@JethroJessop Swedish is good enough for me. I thank you. After another busy day, I just drift away watching your videos over another cup of coffee. I just share your pace and passion. Thank you, Jethro! Keep it up!

[@JethroJessop]

@@martinlp1018 I'm really pleased that you find them so watchable. I will do my best to keep them coming as regularly as I am able. Thanks again

[@Bunsoft]

Cheers Jethro! Lovely relaxing antidote to a stressful day failing to deploy software.. I'm sure you've been there! Cheddar Gorge looks more built up and busy than even ~15 years ago. Stunning scenery but looks to be at that tipping point for me where it feels almost claustrophobic. I'm getting worse with busy places.. Looking forward to the next instalments!

[@JethroJessop]

Yeah, it was too much really and felt more like a theme park than a natural wonder. Really beautiful but I wouldn't go out of my way to visit again I doubt. Hope the deployment went smoothly. I have a love/hate relationship with all that stuff, since I stopped being a full time coder. I'm working on quite a cool web app for myself at the moment and really enjoying getting into some back end stuff and other new bits and bobs. Also remembering how frustrating it can al be though ;)

[@joeobrien9648]

Plans afoot to make Cheddar Gorge traffic free one day per month...Open to peeps who would like to have walk ,have mobility issues or just chill and free wheel on our two wheeled friend..Will be on my bucket list

[@JethroJessop]

That would be great. It is a fantastic piece of landscape and to be able to see it with no cars would be amazing as it did feel like riding through the worlds most epic car park ;) It's a pity they can't get rid of the road entirely. I'd like to see it with only a really good, wide, well surfaced hiking/biking trail and maybe a monorail or cable car for the less able bodied. Any eccentric billionaires out there who want to take this on??

[@patdunne3277]

Hey Jethro great to see you out on another adventure ( had to laugh at your disdain for Flat and monotonous that's just how i like it these days😀) looking forward to the next instalment 👍

[@JethroJessop]

I don't mind flat either to be fair but there has to be something to look at with it ;) Most of this one was actually really lovely, there was just a few miles towards the end when I was tired and there was little to distract me from the fact. The final climb was actually quite welcome when it came.

[@olr1home]

Hailing from the North West of England, I have no use for the word 'Splendid' or the word 'chap' until one of your videos turns up. 🙂

[@JethroJessop]

Kind words indeed 😀 I hope this series will maintain my splendid status 😉

[@Alan_s_Channel]

A splendid ride. And even more splendid weather! What was the issue with the bike in the end?

[@JethroJessop]

It was a cracker. Pretty sure its just it is just general wear and tear. The Rohloff alignment bolt had slipped so the wheel was off axis, the Rohloff also needs an oil change. The chain is on its last legs as well. And I need new brake cables. Aaaaand I broke my glasses so this was an expensive trip in the end.

[@Alan_s_Channel]

@@JethroJessop Wowzer! Tbf you do a LOT of mileage under heavy load and over some rough terrain. Good that the Rohloff only needs oil change too

[@julianhawker7672]

"Flat and monotonous" surely not the Somerset levels.............. 😉

[@JethroJessop]

They are in Somerset and they pretty much level. Maybe monotonous is unkind but I did enjoy climbing those hills at the end of the day!

[@IS-xk3iq]

Where's home and what's the latest on Sweden job prospects and your Swedish love interest?

[@JethroJessop]

Home is still technically the UK but I'm in Sweden 50% of the time which is as much as I'm allowed post-brexit. I have a request for a residency visa in the system but that could take a while still so I'm basically drifting. Not ideal, but could be worse. Hopefully I'll be able to make some videos in Sweden as there is some interesting rides there but my time always seems to fly by doing other things. As time has a tendency to do.

[@StarEssences]

Been eating better quality food that has 'cleaner' ingredients. :)

[@JethroJessop]

Always trying, not always succeeding