Cycling London to Bath along the canals – setting a new personal distance record!

I’ve been wanting to see just how far I could get in a single day for a while now, turns out pretty far!

morning so it’s about 4:30 and I’ve just set off I got this weird idea in my head like could I cycle London to Bath in one day on a mountain bike let’s find out so yeah yeah it’s about 4:30 still in Bromley going to be going across London just south of uh of uh uh a herro airport and then basically following the Kent Aon Canal all the way to Bath pretty much I put in a couple of Road slogs here and there just for some variation and to pick up supplies so yeah it’s about 210 km B all en it would be the longest ride I’ve ever done if I managed to complete it uh the previous record was 160 odd km so let’s see what happens I’ve had to uh make two or three diversions already because I forgot to take into account that most parks in London don’t open until like 7 7:30 so all the gates have been locked this one however is very open plans so I can just go through it happy days I’ve just gone through dich and a few places in lond I’m not that familiar with to be honest don’t come down this way very much so it’s been nice to see any sits King George’s Park open I’ve never been in this one before so we’re going we’re going west out of London but more more south west than I normally go see there’s a lot of new stuff which is nice I tell you what cycling through London at like 4: to around 6:00 a.m. absolutely no cars no people absolute Bliss you’ve got the whole road to yourself pretty much everywhere it’s amazing rman Park where normal things happen [Applause] [Applause] all right so it’s uh caught to wa I cycled through all of London just got onto a gravel track and uh funnily enough if you’ve watched my um London to Bristol video basically following that route except following the CL Canal much more closely so yeah KET and a canal pretty much all the way and then yeah Windsor Park I remember cycling through this place before on the Bristol route it’s quite nice the weather was a bit better then although this has given me an opportunity to test out my new rain jacket after getting uh those Rain torret on Me on the uh London to Land’s End I decided I needed a much better rain Solutions so I went to the bombproof auction and bought a uh Patagonia torrent shell and it’s pretty great it’s got pits hips so keeps you cool even when you’re cycling recommend it [Music] it’s been a while what is the time hang on okay it’s 20 10 I’ve just joined the kennet and Aon Canal at reading uh must be almost at the 100 km Mark now can’t be pretty far off still feeling pretty good actually I feel like if I just stay at this pace I could cycle forever so as long as I keep the nutrition and uh water up I should be fine and uh look at this fun times here again halfway I mean it’s it’s 210 but let’s say halfway I’m feeling good confident I like this question of if I can finish it’s just a question of when how fast I can go so let’s continue going 130 80 left doesn’t seem like that much right now but I’m sure it’ll catch up with me I’m kind of getting a bit weirded out like how easy this has felt so far I’m expecting a giant spanner in the works any minute we’ll see now there is a it’s not all Canal the way there I did plot one or two Road slogs off the canal mostly because there’s the uh can’t remember the hill name but there’s another uh chalk horse on a hill there’s a nice view from it from road so I put that in but yeah I have to see if I remember to look at it [Applause] all right we’re at 140k just had a really brutal section where it’s Bally like chunky so I’m a bit tired where all the uh all the rocks and roots and undulating terrain has chafed my bum a bit to put it lightly so it’s getting a little bit uncomfortable to sit on the saddle now can’t have it just be plain sailing can we but I’m not actually sure where I am but it’s pretty [Music] nice sky is getting angry what is it with me I mean I think I’m in Dorset I’m not sure but every time I’ve been to Dorset it’s been raining and last time Dorset is what destroyed my my London to Landen run although to be fair watching back the footage I think I could have manned up a little bit and just got on with it but hey fortitude is definitely a skill you can train I haven’t trained it enough clearly but anyway that’s another story for another day uh hopefully I don’t get incredibly wet in a minute we’ll see Hello look at this done it the hundo so I think my actro record is about 164 or something like that there’s a little bit of change involved but I can’t remember what it is so we’ll celebrate at 165 just to be sure um yeah I am I have no idea where I am came off the canal I think this is the diversion off the canal to see the uh the chalk horse on the hill but I haven’t found it yet I don’t know where it is I will record it if I find it we’ve been here before you and I but this time I have stronger willpower and stronger rain protection so let’s see how it goes hopefully it’s just passing over although to be fair the whole sky looks but there is some there is some sun over there so let’s hope we’ll see 164k so almost almost into new record territory we did it it’s a record I’m feeling good I I can finish this thing it’s just my bum is going to be very angry when I get there this chafing problem is getting worse H I need to find not to go into too many details but I need to find some boxer shorts that are good for longdistance cycling if anyone has any suggestions I’ve heard maybe Marino wool boxes are really good but they’re really expensive so I haven’t tried any yet let me know if you have cuz I don’t want my bum to feel like this all right I think we threw most of the rain as well so things are looking good just got got a power to the Finish let’s see 165 about 50k left to go that’s one Loop of my favorite temps ride so yeah that makes it easier to pallet let’s do it I think I’m going to have to zoom in quite a lot on the GoPro in post but there it is the White Horse I’ll see if I can get a photo on my phone as well cuz that’ll zoom in better but yeah I thought I’d missed it but it’s there almost 180k I’m pretty sure there’s a there’s a famous set of like multiple locks coming up soon it might be closer to Bath actually I’m not sure but it’s like a series of like 10 locks that has a name that escaping me right now and uh yeah I’ve resorted to uh talking to myself singing very silly songs just to get myself to the end like the legs are fine it’s the butt the butt is causing problems I’m not going to be able to sit down for a day or two after this I think but well what am we going to do turn around and go home yeah not a chance mate all right let’s continue I think this might be the one you know literally about 30 seconds after I just turned the camera off last time imagine you’re in a canal boat trying to get through this lot it’s got to take like hours it’s still going bloody hell this isn’t this is like a day to get up or down this oh I don’t I actually have no idea how long it takes to cycle a lock to be honest but whenever I’m cycling down these things there’s always some guy sitting in a lock for quite a while so who knows yeah I’m glad I’m going down and not up as I think you’re cycling on a on a to PA it’s all nice and uh nice and flat and then you go back onto the road and you start encountering some hills and I couldn’t bloody cycle up them I guess I’m more fatigued than I realized I I guess can Al topa are like the cheap way to get your next distance record oh well anyway enjoy some more locks I realized there hasn’t been many of them on this video so we’re getting close not bad nearly there I just coming into bath now another 5K until we finish I can’t believe it it is very uncomfortable to sit on saddle though right now painful actually so going to be dealing with that for a few days but it’s worth it go