King Alfred’s Way in 2 Days (2021)

King Alfred’s Way in two days gave us a challenge without too much risk of an epic. There was no riding late into the evening, and we had enough time to enjoy the views and stop a few times for water bottle refills, ice-creams and treats. Many have ridden the route quicker, including in well under 24 hours, and are much better qualified to give advice on how to move efficiently. We figured we needed two things to succeed: to have dry conditions and to minimise stops and keep up momentum. We agreed to avoid stopping for photos and to take enough food so that we didn’t have to rely on cafes for fuelling. In spite of all this we still found that about 12-15% of our elapsed time was spent not moving.

Martin and I had ridden the King Alfred’s way anti-clockwise over three days in 2020 (link here) so this time we wanted to go in the more common clockwise direction. Last year we camped but this time we wanted to avoid the morning faff that delays our departure after camping, so we decided to stay in a pub or hotel. Some good planning from Martin found us some bike friendly accommodation at the Green Dragon in Market Lavington, just over half way around the loop from our starting point in Tilford.

Day 1

The weather on Day 1 was perfect. We left Martin’s car parked by the cricket pitch in Tilford, and were on the move by 6.40am. We didn’t ride hard but just by keeping moving we made good progress. By the time we reached the South Downs Way above South Harting we were starting to think that it would be nice to have a coffee at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park. This we reached after descending the red mountain-biking trail (a fun diversion) but once we got there it didn’t seem worth the delay. This proved to be the pattern for the rest of the day. We’d dream about coffee but at every point where we could have had one we decided to keep up momentum and press on.

We had our first proper stop, Coke and ice cream from a corner shop, after we passed through Winchester at 1.30pm and about 100km into the ride. Then we stopped after the crossing the beautiful River Avon for another supermarket refuel in Amesbury. A final push over Salisbury Plain took us to the point where we dropped down to Market Lavington which we reached almost exactly 12 hours after starting.

We had our only mechanical on Thursley Common when Martin’s chain jammed between the cassette and wheel. Luckily he managed to wiggle/yank it out.

One advantage of riding the South Downs Way from east to west is that you get a view of the sea after QEP, which I’ve never noticed coming in the opposite direction.

The SDW section of the King Alfred’s Way is probably a bit easier east to west meaning the KAW clockwise is probably a slightly better direction to ride it in.

About to descend into Winchester. The KAW takes an alternative and more scenic route into Winchester than the SDW.

The supermarket feed in Amesbury.

Salisbury Plain in the evening light.

Day 2

We woke on Sunday to find that instead of the sun we had been expecting there was a fine damp mist. By a strange coincidence we got moving at 6.40am again, after breakfast of Rice Crispies and a cheese sandwich that the pub landlady had made for us. As we climbed back onto Salisbury Plain the wet mist became light drizzle. Luckily it wasn’t that cold but it did elicit a couple of, “This is grim”, comments. We had spells of drizzle all the way to the end of the Ridgeway at Streatley which sadly meant there were none of the normal sweeping views towards the Cotswolds.

After we reached the Ridgeway an interesting thing happened. Martin occasionally suffers from an arrhythmia where his heart gets stuck in a state where it is beating very quickly. He said the medical condition that causes this is atrial fibrillation. This happened to him at just after we passed Barbury Castle on the Marlborough Downs, about 40 minutes after leaving Avebury. Strangely one of the only other times that I have ridden with Martin and he has suffered from this was when we riding the King Alfred’s Way last year. It happened in almost exactly the same place, give or take a kilometre, although we were going in the opposite direction. Last year he lay down for a few minutes and his heart rate stabilised.

This time round, because we were heading downhill, we decided to keep rolling. At the bottom of the hill Martin’s heartrate was still 170-180bpm. Martin was happy to keep going just to keep ticking off the miles so I pushed/pulled him up the hills and we didn’t lose that much time. However, in spite of trying to not push hard on the pedals his heart rate was still way up there an hour later – not long after I had asked Martin at what point we should get worried – so we decided it would make sense to have a proper sit down. We did this at Foxhill and had a 25 minute break where we ate up various random bits of remaining food like cheese and biscuits. About midway through our rest Martin’s heart rate dropped from around 150bpm to below 100bpm and he was fine thereafter. It seems a coincidence that it happened in the same place on both occasions. Perhaps there is a secret military research facility under the Ridgeway that is pumping out lethal rays? More seriously, Martin has not noticed any direct link between any specific factors and the onset of the arrhythmia, other than exercise itself.

The rest of the day was less eventful. Martin had suggested a full buffet breakfast at the Swan Hotel in Streatley and the thought of it helped motivate us, but unfortunately we reached Streatley long after breakfast time and pushed on for Reading without even stopping for a coffee. As we crossed Reading we were hoping to come across a McDonalds or, failing that a Pret a Manager, but in the end had to settle on a feed at a service station a few miles beyond in Three Mile Cross. The rest of the trail was on quiet roads and gravel. Although less off-road than other sections I enjoyed it and it was nice to travelling at good pace. We decided to ride 5 minute turns on the front which kept our egos in check and the pace fast but steady. Soon we were descending into Farnham and on the final stretch to Tilford which we reach just before 6pm.

A game of cricket was in progress on the village green; it was a quintessentially English scene. Martin’s car stood alone amongst a line of ‘no parking’ cones. Luckily no-one had hit a ball for six and put it through his car windscreen! We finished the day with a beer in the adjacent pub, the Barley Mow. A fitting end to a very pleasant weekend adventure.

Putting on the rain gear shortly after regaining the route on Salisbury Plain.

Our stop in Foxhill outside The Burj restaurant. I’ll have to go and eat there one day.

Budgens in Three Mile Cross.

After a damp and cloudy morning the weather brightened up nicely.

Tilford Village Green and the end of our ride.

The Stats

Based on my Garmin…

Day 1: 175km, 12.00 hours elapsed time, 10.27 riding time, 2470m ascent. 12.5% stopped time.

Day 2: 164km, 11.13 elapsed time, 9.28 riding time, 1688m ascent, 15% stopped time.

Martin’s Wahoo gave a distance of 10km more each day (185km and 175km) which is a lot closer to the distance based on the official length of the route plus our diversions to/from Tilford and Market Lavington. Such levels of inaccuracy with my Garmin does make me wonder why I bother about differences of a few seconds on Strava segments! And on top of that, my Garmin lost its connection with my power meter (a Rotor DM Inpower) in Winchester. It ‘found’ it again the following morning with a new and completely different sensor ID which it has retained since then. It makes no sense.

Ride date: 5th and 6th June 2021.