‘Bikepacking’ is a recent, American coinage, but off-road bike trekking has an illustrious history in the UK. Pioneers like the Rough Stuff Fellowship have blazed a (muddy) trail along byways and bridleways since the ’50s.
King Alfred’s Way brings this heritage up-to-date as a 220-mile bikepacking route – the same great tracks that rough-stuffers have been riding for decades, joined together in an appealing, tourist-friendly circuit for the gravel bike generation. Two of the trails en route, the Ridgeway and the South Downs Way, follow ancient drovers’ routes. Sights along the way include Stonehenge and Avebury, historic Winchester, and the wild expanses of Salisbury Plain. It’s an ingenious and intriguing mix of ancient and modern.
The route sprang from an ambition by Cycling UK (formerly the Cyclists’ Touring Club) to create a wholly off-road route from Land’s End to John O’Groats. Route-finding challenges in the south-west and the Midlands mean that remains a long-term aspiration, but this southern loop is rideable right now.
It’s not signposted, but with a route file loaded onto your bike-mounted GPS, navigation is pretty straightforward. Above all, this is an exceptionally well designed route, challenging enough to always be interesting, but firmly within ‘tour’ rather than ‘endurance’ territory.
Three to five days would be typical. There are those that blast around in less time, but this is too enjoyable a route to hurry. It depends on the weather, too – you’ll have an easier time of it in dry conditions.
This isn’t a gruelling challenge of the order of the Pennine Bridleway or Cycling UK’s own Great North Trail, but in terms of terrain, technical riding, and navigation, it’s a step above a typical Sustrans route. It makes a good introduction to off-road touring, but we wouldn’t suggest it as a first-time bike holiday.
Gravel/adventure bikes and MTBs are ideal for this route. In reasonable weather, you could do it on a sturdy cyclocross-type bike like a Croix de Fer, or on a sturdier hybrid. You don’t need suspension, but big, forgiving tyres will help. Bikepacking bags are de rigeur, but panniers are fine too, as long as you check the rack nuts every so often to stop them working loose on the bumpy ground.
The southern and eastern parts of the route are never far from civilisation.
After Stonehenge, however, the route passes the expanses of Salisbury Plain and then the long, remote Ridgeway; there isn’t a shop or pub directly on the route for 40 miles. It’s not exactly the wilderness – a two-mile detour will always take you to a nearby village. But if you want to minimise your miles, make sure you have plenty of water. (There are a couple of welcome water taps on the Ridgeway.)
Received wisdom is that you should cycle the route clockwise, so that the wind’s at your back on the exposed Ridgeway. That’s the direction our step-by-step guide follows. Truth be told, there’s not much in it, and unless it’s blowing a gale then an anti-clockwise tour will be just as pleasant.
Not as King Alfred’s Way. A few sections follow existing signposted routes, such as the Ridgeway, the South Downs Way, and the Imber Range Path. These signs can be helpful, particularly in the last-named. But generally you’ll find navigation easiest if you load a route file onto your GPS unit or (suitably cased) smartphone.
Cycling UK publish an excellent spiral-bound guidebook complete with Ordnance Survey maps and detailed commentary. You can order it direct from their website. It’s sold out a few times already, so make sure you order it in good time for your ride.
Several cyclists who’ve ridden the route have filmed their adventures and uploaded them to YouTube. We’d suggest starting with the videos by Guy Kesteven, who wrote the guidebook.
Cycling UK suggest a possible detour to go directly via Stonehenge. The road crossing involved is difficult – we cover the options in our step-by-step guide.
If you have to ask… no, it isn’t. Sure, there are those who will happily blast through a 220-mile trail in the mud and the rain. If that’s you, you wouldn’t be asking the question.
For the rest of us, this is a route best done in reasonably dry conditions, particularly if you’re riding anything other than a pure MTB. In spring, the KAW Facebook group is full of tales of people who’ve attempted it and bailed out due to mud. Be warned.
In theory some tracks (particularly the chalky sections of the Ridgeway) could be a bit jarring in really dry weather. In practice we don’t think this is a big issue, unless it’s a truly droughty summer – just let your tyres down a bit.
King Alfred’s Way uses parts of the Ridgeway and South Downs Way, two National Trails where cycling is permitted. For a longer off-road adventure you could continue along these.
Needless to say, it also crosses a number of National Cycle Network routes, including a couple heading south to the coast. The Shipwrights’ Way, NCN 22, is perhaps the best of these.
The cachet of saying “I’ve ridden King Alfred’s Way” is not to be sniffed at, and there’s a certain camaraderie in meeting other riders on the route and swapping experiences. That said, there are a few short-cuts you can take if you have limited time. In particular, you could follow the Shipwrights’ Way between Petersfield and Farnham, which cuts out some fiddly bridleways while keeping up the off-road mileage.
The eastern half of the route passes a bunch of railway stations, from Reading to Petersfield and Winchester. There are fewer on the western side, but Salisbury, Pewsey, and Swindon are all nearby. These frequent stopping points are particularly handy if you don’t have the time to tackle the route in one go.
It’s a circular route so you can start anywhere. Winchester is the official start place, but Reading will be the easiest for many people, with frequent trains from London, the Midlands, Wales and the West.
Made in the Cotswolds. Published by Éditions Système D Ltd.
Log in with your cycle.travel account:
| Password |
Or simply use your account on:
Ride reports & comments
Ridden this route? Write a ride report and share your experience…