horizon wrote: ↑27 Sep 2021, 1:22pm
I'm still getting the impression (albeit from the comfort of my armchair) that the route is a significant challenge and is driven mainly by (a) a push to get cyclists off the roads at all costs and (b) the desire to get on board with latest trends.
I can assure you that it’s neither of those things. It’s far more closely aligned with a desire to reconnect people with nature and exploration/adventure and get the, to places they simply wouldn’t otherwise see. King Alfred’s way, for example, the optional approach to Stonehenge comes along an ancient byway, pretty much out of sight of the road, that is simply majestic. When (if) the tunnel gets completed the experience will be stunning, and timeless. Similarly on WKW the experience of Tinners way and some of the coastal areas are just as timeless, you’re riding a path which we have evidence of use back to Neolithic times.
Had the route been quietly touted as a technical challenge in terms not only of terrain but also route finding and logistics, then I would feel more comfortable.
There’s three issues here.
One: Recorded legal status of public rights of way (which has nothing to do with physical suitability). Detail on that is covered here:
https://www.cyclinguk.org/blog/what-are ... kernow-way (though I’ll throw in an amusing anecdote that on one of the recce rides, a landowner came out complaining about the riders using the signed tarmac Bridleway past his house, which shows just how much parochial BS is involved here that has nothing to do with legal status)
Two: Brambles/mud/nettles. Within the bounds of extremes (and I’m thinking here of one lane I know that isn’t on this route which is absolutley impenetrable six foot deep brambles and rhododendron bushes) then there is a simple answer: “that’s off-road cycling”. It changes with the seasons. There are a couple of sections that will be seriously wet and muddy and impassable after wet weather, they are marked on the maps in the guide book. We have recently tweaked the GPX on one of them to clarify the alternative, but with the odd squelch and slip it should be fine and rideable most of the year - but what I have seen from this end is a very clear reminder of just *how* separated society has become from nature - people with what appears to be little or no understanding of seasonality or weather, of how weather affects trails, of tyre choice, of nettles - but as far as I’m concerned encountering these issues is part of the joys of the countryside and is an ingrained and inherent part of rough-stuff/off-road cycling/mountain biking proper (rather than blasting round a groomed skalextric track in a forest park).
Three: challenge/technicality - let’s describe this as a continuum/spectrum, at one end you have wide tarmac paths, the other end you have Steep rocky stepped paths that most people could only accomplish with a mountain bike. Cycling is a broad church, what is ‘unridable’ to some is very much rideable to others. WKW has bits of everything, there are short stretches (the most difficult of which are optional) where you may have to get off and push, another rider might not - This is sometimes difficult to convey, but between the guidebook, specifically cross referencing to mountain bike trail centre ‘blue’ trails as a point of reference (which I think remains accurate and fair) and the videos published supporting the route I believe we have put out a lot of information discussing and informing on this, including very clearly saying that some off-road skills and experience are required… if your background is entirely road cycling then this probably isn’t the route for you - but it’s all rideable by an experienced, skilled rider, as Guykestv proves in the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTpDEYTKc3Y&3037s (which I would add really does show how durable a gravel bike can be)