King Alfred's Way

[Petrichorwheels]

I did the kaw and cantii way in July during the start of the hot dry spell..
I did it on a hardtail fully loaded and camped on the way..
I found one of the best things about this route was the ease at finding places to camp..
It took me four and a half days to get round.. and I think I commented at the time , possibly on another forum that there are a good few parts that would imo be very difficult on a loaded bike in the wet .. terrain and navigation were much more of a challenge than the cantii way..
Anyways its pretty well been covered in all the posts on this thread so I'll just put some pictures up of my rig and nights stopovers..
I did it clockwise starting from just outside Winchester..
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1st night
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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Just remember if you choose to sleep in the woods it's not the bears you need to be worrying about.. its the pigeons 😂😂
But its all washed and clean again now ready for the next one..

Andy..

many thanks for pics - inspiring - not exactly hidden on that second night. Got really tired and just though "bugger it"?

 

[Twizit]

KAW completed. Took three and a half days

Very tough, much tougher than expected as weare not regular offroaders. We caught good weather so it was dry but not baking hot.

I would say that the marketing of this as a gravel bonanza is a misnomer, it is far better suited to a hard tail MTB. I would guess 90% of KAWers we saw rode gravel bikes. There are significant stretches unsuited to these and I suspect unrideable in wet conditions

Interesting. Managed day one of KAW (Farnham to Winchester) last year with a mate. Both on reasonably loaded gravel bikes. Certainly some tough sections but nothing undoable on a gravel bike - but I take the point that fatter tyres on a hardtail MTB (and front susp) would make it easier and more comfortable in sections.

I say managed day one as we have unfinished business with KAW, given the near end of day one ended with him and a broken collarbone. Nothing to do with bike choice - unseen gulley washed out through path around a corner that he didn't avoid in time. We will be back and I have a new set up to try.... gravel bike but with 650b wheels and 2.1inch tyres - should help to soften some of the roughness out! (last time was on 38mm 700c tyres).