bikepacking in UK

[thelo]

Hi community,
I'm french and I'm planning a trip from the southern alps, where I live, to wales (for a family gathering). Up through the south coast and back through the midlands and take a ferry to Holland.
I travel light and sleep in a hammock (henessy).
In Europe I usually sleep into the wild or in campings , just need 2 trees.
Is that something possible in UK ?
Every space seems very privatised in England
Sorry for any mistake with my english.

Thanks for your answers and merry xmas

[Lookrider]

Cannot help too much so sorry for that
Theres also a forum called bearbonesbikepacking which is specific to bike backpacking and maybe more helpful
In England we have trespass laws but in open forests and national parks I dont think it is policed very much
Hopefully you get more help from others
For future reference there is no law of trespass in scotland and your free to roam camp anywhere
Good luck with your journey

[Traction_man]

hope you have a good trip, I'd definitely recommend this book

https://wildthingspublishing.com/bikepacking/

not just ideas on routes but also lots of 'stealth camping' pointers, the main one is seek permission first if possible, arrive late and leave early, leave no trace.

on 'wild camping' in England and Wales, this is a great read

https://www.stephen-neale.com/products/wild-camping

all the best,

Keith

[Sparky56]

Bikepacking.com has a number of UK routes that are worth checking out

E.g the old chalk way, South Downs way.

King Alfred’s way is popular, not on bikepacking.com

Wild camping tolerated if you keep low key, stay for one night, arrive late leave early etc.

Campsites. Check out pitchup.com Ukcampsites.co.uk google maps

England and wales has public footpaths and bridleways, which you have the right to use. Cycled are allowed on the bridleways. Even if you don’t want to ride on these paths often they are useful to find a quiet spot to camp. Ordnance survey maps have it all (they are like France IGN maps). There is an app you can subscribe to. The premium version has all the info and is only £20 / year. Some other mapping apps have ordnance survey but I don’t know them.

Open cycle maps shows cycle routes but not so many off road ones as In France

[nosmarbaj]

You don't say what sort of rain protection you have for your hammock - you will need something. As you go westwards the average rainfall increases, and you'd be very lucky not to get some overnight rain.
All land in England belongs to someone, but as others have said wild camping will be OK if you are sensible. The worst that could happen is the landowner could demand that you leave their property, and you must then do so; but that is very unlikely to happen if you are not causing a problem.
Do you intend to use paved roads, or keep away from them, or a mixture? Do you have a route planned? There are people from all parts of the UK here, who will give local advice if you need it.

[Sweep]

hope you have a good trip, I'd definitely recommend this book

https://wildthingspublishing.com/bikepacking/

not just ideas on routes but also lots of 'stealth camping' pointers, the main one is seek permission first if possible,

out of interest what are their top tips for managing that?

email contacts for some tax-haven conglomerate that owns said bit of stray wood?

in truth I can't see much of a problem when just looking for two trees in a patch of wood. Leave no trace of course.

For inspiration, if not practical tips, I can recommnd this book.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/540 ... sYk&rank=1

Personally I would just make sure that I didn't damage anything when entering any tree enclosure.

[thelo]

Hi everybody,

Thanks for your advices. I will check all the infos and websites recommended.

Answering the questions.
- For rain and hammock I have a Hennessy hammock with a tarp (check out Hennnessy Hammock on the web they are great).
With my bike and hammock (all green army) , we are very discret, disparear easily in the forest and leave no trace . I love the idea of beeing invisible and no traces.
- About the road types, I like unpaved road, can do paved ones as long as not much traffic. So it's mixed.
- I have planned road already for the southern part to go up to Wales, following the coast until new forest national park, then up to wales. Haven't planned yet the road back from Hereford to Harwick and take a ferry to Holland.

Thanks all

[mattsccm]

Once you get into Wales you get more open country side and camping unofficially is much easier. Where in Wales are you going? In England you just have to be very discrete.
If you are able to give us a GPS route I am sure that some one will advise further.

[GideonReade]

I guess from south coast (Newhaven?) you could use the South Downs Way and link up with half of the King Alfred Way. That gets you to Swindon or so, mostly offroad.

Enough woody hideyholes to camp in on those. A few paid campsites on KAW, too. Mind the tanks though (they drive on the left and the right).

Consider Warm Showers, too, specially for a long-haul. Ours is just off the SD way.

[thelo]

Hi,

As asked before you will below a komoot link to the british part of my trip.
https://www.komoot.fr/tour/1002493752?s ... E0&ref=wtd

It can all be modified with your advices .
I like good unpaved road but nothing like VTT singles and so, travel light , sleep in hammock, love long rides.

I am an organic fruit farmer in the french southern Alps (and a warmshower host). And every year I do a few thousand km trip. Mostly in France as we have endless wonderfull possibilities in this country, but also like to explore other countries. This summer (july) I will go to visit one of my sons who is a glass blower in Wales.
I enjoy routing and dreaming about my yearly cycling around Europe and often try to meet other farmers. Roads can change a lot depending of opportunities or weather.

If you are more or less on this road and feel offering me a shower , I might arrive in your garden !

Thanks to everybody and happy cycling year !

Greg
(sorry for my clumsy english)

[GideonReade]

Well, you will pass 8km from our WarmShowers house. The diversion is mostly level gravel. But, it is probably too close to your start, unless your ferry is late. And, in July we plan to be away ourselves.

(Local info, when you are on the South Downs Way, and after crossing the A24, where the small road turns into track, there is free water at a tap by the side)

Have a nice ride.

[slowster]

1. The first part of your route appears to be the South Downs Way (SDW).

- check that you have got an accurate gpx for the route. I think it is very easy to make a mistake and go off course.
- it is a physically demanding route. Instead of staying on a ridge throughout, much of the route involves fairly steep ascents and descents. Much of the trail surface is chalk, which is likely to be slippery when wet, and there is a high risk of falling off your bike on the chalk surface descents if you do not ride with care.
- it is a route best suited to an MTB/VTT.

2. Probably the best source of information online about cycling the SDW is the Singletrackworld forum. If you search that forum, you should be able to find quite a few threads about forum member's SDW rides, and providing answers to questions about the route. You will probably find a link to a gpx in the threads, or if not join the forum and post a thread requesting one. This (long running) thread is the most recent, and includes photographs giving some idea of the terrain (but not the toughest hills and descents):

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topi ... o-the-a31/

As in the thread above, most people ride the SDW from west to east, so you will be doing it in reverse to most people's accounts of their ride. Many people ride the route in one long day, but the poster in the thread above took longer and bivi'd.

3. I think you will need a ground mat and bivi bag (or bivi bag and tarp, or even an ultra-light tent) in addition to (or instead of) your hammock. I think you would find it difficult in some places to find a suitable spot with trees to use your hammock. If you ask on Singletrackworld they should be able to confirm whether a hammock is practical, but the photographs in the thread above make me think not.

4. There are several places along the SDW where there are potable water taps. It is likely to be essential to know where every one of them is, and to refill your bottles at each one, because it may be some distance to the next tap. Again, you could ask for advice on this point on Singletrackworld. It might be that the taps are marked on a gpx. The locations of taps are also shown on this map:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/South-Downs-XT ... 851374779/

See also https://southdownsway.org

5. The SDW links up with the King Alfred's Way (KAW). I would not bother with your planned detour south of Winchester, and would instead carry on from the SDW on the KAW until you reach the Salisbury Plain. The KAW was developed by Cycling UK a couple of years ago using existing off-road rights of way. It is quite popular, partly because it is so new and has caught the attention of many off-road cyclists. Details here:

https://www.cyclinguk.org/route/king-al ... -gpx-route

If you search this forum you will find a number of threads about the KAW. I suggest you see this thread (especially videos in the post to which I have linked, and there are a couple of other videos later in the thread):

viewtopic.php?p=1524620#p1524620

See also viewtopic.php?t=145613

6. As mentioned above, https://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk is likely to be a good source of information, and I would recommend joining the forum and asking for advice on your planned route (and whether a hammock is likely to be practical). They can probably give you good advice on your whole route.

[Sparky56]

Hello - I’ve had a look at your route (I downloaded the GPX file from Komoot, it;s in green on the map below).

It appears that you’re following a variety of cycle routes on open street map. This is a good idea but you must be warned that the cycle routes in UK are often on busier roads than you might find in France. Sometimes it’s not clear why they are designated cycle routes, other times they are great. Also I find that car drivers are much less tolerant of cyclists than in france - two reasons to avoid roads!

You could do much of the route you’re planning (e.g. Newhaven to the Severn Bridge) by linking the South Downs Way (Purple on the map below, GPX available widely on internet), with King Alfred’s way (Yellow on the map below, gpx available widely on internet) plus a route along the canals From Devizes to Bristol (blue on the map below - I can email you the gpx). This would give you more chance of reasonable off road riding suitable for a gravel bike.

Your route through Bristol to the Severn Bridge looks reasonable — I’ve walked / cycled this myself — going over the Severn Bridge is great fun.

Then in Wales - the route in grey is something I created as part of a UK bike trip I’m doing this year (it’s a variation on the GB divide route) — this takes in the “49” bike route which has more off road than your route in this area.., & then to Cardiff on off road cycle tracks. I can send you the gpx if you like.

The ride up to Hay on Wye will be nice - I”ve walked over the hills there and it’s super.

I’m not familiar with the rest of your route so can’t comment — I’d look and see if there are any canal paths though (which can be narrow and bumpy but flat)

Hope this helps

[Sparky56]

Ps this map is useful - gives you the official national cycle network. Those routes marked in Orange are car free.

https://explore.osmaps.com/?overlays=os ... sCategory=

[axel_knutt]

If you approach Bath from Trowbridge or Bradfod on Avon, there's a very attractive canal towpath which will take you traffic-free right into the city centre.