It’s had a fair bit of good press lately, from the establishment of Brother Bicycles’ annual ‘Brother In The Wild’ weekenders to various friends’ reports. When Cass published his New Forest Gravel Taster route on Bikepacking.com just a few weeks back, it went straight on my ‘to ride‘ list.
What’s on this weekend?
Quite rare for this time of year, I found myself with a totally free weekend, and with a whirr of thoughts and emotions about recent riding exploits (see my WalesDURO write-up), a plan was set. Not a mega 300km slog-fest, but 50 kilometres a day of relatively flat and easy off road terrain down South with a large helping of chill time.
My stoke levels for riding were on the up, not just anticipating the trails and moors of the Forest which I’d explored on road but never off, but also for the chill out, the cafe hopping, ponies and pub evenings. All these things that I’ve been missing since trying to do mega miles.
Slow Travel
You can apply the concept of slow travel here, and just tweak it to fit bike riding I guess. Replace sights with kilometres and you’re pretty much there.
“Slow travel is not so much a particular mode of transportation as it is a mindset. Rather than attempting to squeeze as many sights or cities as possible into each trip, the slow traveler takes the time to explore each destination thoroughly and to experience the local culture.”
Independent Traveller
For me bikepacking is about so much more than tallying up distance, but about the whole experience. Tasting local delicacies, meeting local people, discovering places you never knew existed and just pausing in the moment.
As we lay for about 30 minutes under the canopy at the side of a trail whilst the air whistled out of my tyre and couldn’t care less, I knew we’d got it right.
As we giggled our way through three pints of Purbeck cider at the Royal Oak, I knew we’d got it right.
As we woke up slowly to the sound of a munching donkey outside the tarp and brewed up some coffee, I knew we’d got it right.
As we wrote off the second loop of the route to join The Woods Cyclery for their cinnamon bun Sunday shop ride, I knew we’d got it right.
And as we hauled our bikes across the boggy earth, riding with only head and shoulders peeping out above the rampaging bracken, I knew we’d got it right.
Slow travel doesn’t have to mean slow riding. I’ll certainly be back for more soon.
Thanks to Cass of Bikepacking.com for the route and Tom & Oscar at The Woods Cyclery for their friendly welcome and tips.
I know I should ask you something deep and perceptive about your backpacking ethos, but what I really want to know is how do you make good coffee on a jetfoil in the morning!
Author
Haha brilliant, ground beans and an aeropress or sometimes Turkish coffee (no filter) if you’re packing light!
This looks perfect! Have been reading your posts with glee this morning after searching for gravel stuff following a recent gravel bike purchase. One question I have, particularly when I saw the photo above going through the bracken, is whether you get a lot of problems with ticks? Since I started cycling off the tarmac I seem to pick them up very easily. Went down to Exmoor last week and have loads of bites and have had the tick remover out. Hazard of the job or is there tick repeller witchcraft I have yet to discover? Cheers – Matt
Ooh awesome! I have had a few ticks this year and it’s a really serious problem with Lymes Disease here – play really close attention to your skin after removal – more info here https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/lyme-disease/
I’d personally say, be aware but not afraid – don’t let it put you off what you do. Don’t know of any repellant I’m afraid.