BIKEPACKING TO WALES – ADVENTURE ACROSS THE COTSWOLDS

One last little adventure to end the year i guess it is, with a ride to wales.

The Ride – https://www.strava.com/activities/10394540455

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The gear i am currently using

The tent – https://youtu.be/n9GKHSf805E
Framebag – https://youtu.be/6LM3UJKDOEk
Seatpost bag – https://youtu.be/W1E_iWY6Ajo
Jones Handlebars – https://youtu.be/dhPBSdRros8
Gravel bike – https://youtu.be/Gnd_4LgTyrg
plus bike mtb – https://youtu.be/COTUOzLPbGk
gps device – https://youtu.be/BWeMmx62A9M
mtb shoes – https://youtu.be/OYVEnfXwT0k
All the gear from GNT – https://youtu.be/e5oKSoPoMk0
Vest bag – https://youtu.be/01nzgd-t550
Ortleib bar roll https://youtu.be/Uk9fLgS1ioo
Dynamo setup – https://youtu.be/SL7MhjB6Lp0
Questions answered – https://youtu.be/u1q9AEs9flE
Gb divide bike/gear- https://youtu.be/epcZ81wqFCo

Today my bite packing Adventure would start in the gray old boring town where I grew up B but ever the excuse for an adventure and the cotsworld just a stones for a away and needing to get to Wales I decided what better way to get there than a bike packing adventure to

Wales through the cotswalds the perfect plan about 130 mil of Muddy cotwell Trails would stand in my Way starting my journey along the familiar Trails I once cycled many many years ago the trails still as wet as I remember some things always stay the same I guess it’s been a long time since I’ve ridden this bike it feels weird it’s all creaky as well these new bottom bracket and the

Headset but we are off to Wales to uh have a little ride around the headstock 500s little sibling the headstock 200 I thought uh I’d be a bit cheeky in uh after visiting my mom I would uh have a little ride around whales just uh try to get one more

Little bite pack and adventure in before Christmas and uh what better way to do that of start riding to Wales from W stomping grounds the C WS going to spend a couple nights to get to Wales so should be good going to try and

Do around 40 50 m a day where there’s a nature reserve hopefully we’ll be able to find a nice wooded spot for uh our first night everything’s very gray as always we’re back on a good old muddy cotw Trails let’s do it I just said it was uh very muddy but

Uh yeah this one’s not muddy this one’s a little bit flooded we’ve had lots of rain and I might have to find another way around because uh I’m meant to be going this way anyone got a boat okay we’re going to have to uh adapt our route to get to whs this is

The Oxford Canal here so if I can find a way down onto it maybe I can follow that a little bit and then find a way around this nice flooded field good start right let’s take a look at the Map as I sat there figuring a new way around Nature’s handiwork it wouldn’t be long until I would find my way back onto the trails but the thing with plans is they are just that an idea of what to do but often them plans lay new obstacles

In your way and it wouldn’t be long until them very obstacles would lay in my way once more with seemingly all the trails today Flooded on the trails that’s a bit of a long detour but we are back I have a feeling this ride will probably a bit of a recuring FEMA very flooded and overgrown and stuff at least as we’re climbing out of Oxford Oxford sort of been like this

Big ditch um but yeah even uh this little stream here is very close to the top of this bridge I’ve done like 20 miles so hopefully that didn’t add too much and hopefully it’s only around another 20 25 more miles because it gets dark at about 400 p.m.

Now very long night ahead but uh hopefully I can find somewhere decent and dryish not supposed to rain next few days but you know England right let’s go get some wet feet onwards into the CWS today was such a gray Bleak day the trail was water logged the day is barely

Getting light all the colors of nature that are normally surrounded me seem to be gone just sucked away just greyness seemed to surround me Today Well everything is very very slow going right now just super super wet lots of Boggy Trails lots of uh very hard work to get through I’ve done about 30 mil but it’s actually still like 20 mi until that Woods that I was hoping to Camp into and it’s uh about half three

Probably got about half an hour until the uh sun set so hopefully I can find somewhere before then cuz I don’t think I’m going to make it before it gets dark but everywhere right now is just super super wet and boggy so there’s not much good ground to camp on but

Hopefully in the next 15 minutes 20 minutes I can find somewhere it does look like on the map there’s another little wooded section coming up so hopefully I can uh find somewhere in there but who where’s the V track when you need It Good morning world well good morning good morning that was an absolutely beautiful night super peaceful found this beautiful wooded area managed to uh get my tent in just there sheltered from any wind there was a little bit of rain in the night but just a scattering of showers nothing

Major and it was just generally really quiet until the uh pheasants or whatever they are started screeching at me but this morning uh we have about 80 or so miles to go I was hoping to get over the bridge into Wales today I’m not sure that’s going to be possible considering

How slow it was yesterday but we’ll see I’m uh currently by a place called great rington also Tainton kind of in the middle of them too going to be uh so uh yeah should be a good day it’s looking very gray let’s go to Wales ryy like R already Cleats After what was an incredibly dark and peaceful night in the tent it felt good to get on the bike first thing this morning drizzly rain filled the air this morning though making my way through the endless bumpy Fields through the cotswalds it was slow going hard work to

Keep pedling on through these muddy fields Ah it’s been such a slow morning today done about 15 miles I think I’m at around the highest point or sort of I’m going to stay on this point for a little while up and down a bit but in about maybe 20 mi he’ll be starting to head

Down out of the cotw so that will be nice but today it’s been quite grueling and quite uh quite Grim there’s like this very gentle breeze but it’s carrying a lot of that Misty Rain it’s making my face very cold and I forgot my buff so uh yeah cold face

I’m uh just in night this nice Woodland where I did actually plan on camping yesterday plan on getting to here yesterday obviously I didn’t and uh kind of lucky I didn’t because everything around here is just uh super super wet and where I camp last night actually

Worked out really well so I’m going to chill out for here for a bit have some apricots and uh just uh enjoy nature for a little bit it’s looking like the sun is starting to uh want to share its face so hopefully that’ll happen

I need to uh clear this rear me all that Gunk because it’s affecting the old gear changing so I’ll do that in a minute but for now I’m just going to sit and enjoy being in nature just as I sat enjoying the woodlands enjoying the nature that surrounded me thinking to myself that

Any minute I might see the sun the wind must have changed Direction though and this thick fog would fill the air and any hope of seeing that big yellow ball of fire had vanished so back to pedaling into the gray Countryside it would Be With a little bit of Hope and a little bit of luck though moments later just as quick as I had been surrounded in the sea of mist I would be treated to the true beauty of the cotw world’s Colors yeah the sun is finally finally shining today it’s currently about half 2 Sunset is at 4: it’s just been super super slow going I really need to find either a stream or a shop cuz I am out of water and uh I can’t haven’t found anywhere

Everything’s wet but also muddy but that sun it’s bloody beautiful now I was hoping to get into whales today uh so I had a nice easy day tomorrow but it doesn’t look like I’m going to quite get that far um I am getting to the point

Where it’s going to be nice and downhill soon so if I can find somewhere around as it starts descending we can have a nice descending day tomorrow in to Newport the sun is so good I’ve woken up today of a bit of a cold though so that

Thing you kind of need to be able to do while cycling that thing called uh breathing it’s not so easy today I’m just going to sit here and enjoy this sun for a little bit hopefully it’ll last let even in maybe dry some of the trails out because they they’re

Muddy and uh onwards to go and find somewhere to Camp there’s only like 8 hours I think or something of actual daylight at the moment short short days I think I’ve done like 35 miles or something so Slow Well came of course and uh dropped into T just in time um for the rain to start but the sun is just set so I need to go find some to Camp so just heading back up to the trail now in about 10 Mi I think it is there is a

Woods which could be good there is one slightly before so we’ll see I got hiccups but refueled rehydrated picked up a few supplies definitely didn’t get as far as I would have liked to today it’s just been one long SLO this is going to be the easy part of the ride

Just get into whales oh well let’s go find Camp Oh good morning I still can’t breathe good morning last night luckily I managed to find somewhere to Camp unluckily I got it already I went to uh stick my temp pegs in the ground and it was like Rock Solid so I could only get a couple of them in oh well I’ve got

About 50 miles until we get to Newport the good news is after about 10 miles of a few little ups and downs we’ll be leaving the CWS uh the muddy cotswalds and we should be on our way downhill over to the bridge and it’s pretty much all flat pretty

Much all the way to Newport so although we’ve got 50 miles we should hopefully be able to actually complete that today I mean I say I’m hoping like the last two days have just been like I did 35 miles the first day about 40 miles yesterday it’s just been a long old slot

Last night was really really nice slept really really well and uh I obviously still can’t breathe but yeah whatever right I get packed up and we are going to finally fingers crossed going to get to descend I really I really can’t wait to just be descending and be riding on ridable

Trails I might stop off at a place called I think it was Wick war or something maybe grab some breakfast or something there or some juice or something something to EAS is cold some oranges maybe let’s go downhill let’s find my way out of this

Woods now it was dark when I uh I got in here last night I think it was this way it says the trip was this way I think it was this way freedom and there is the trail the muddy Trail waking up today I had a good feeling a feeling of knowing that today I would indeed make it to Wales the last few days had been slow had been a SLO but today I was high in spirits optimistic of the day ahead even if today would

Continue to have its own sets of challenges I didn’t mind I knew I was get into Wales today and that’s all that mattered in my mind and when I finally saw saw that bridge finally seeing whales the muddy Trails felt totally worth It ah to see this bridge oh my God today just as the whole of this trip be very boggy very slow going very muddy so so to finally arrived at the Seven Bridge seeing Wales we’re nearly there it’s all pretty much downhill then flat as I head along well

The flats towards Newport should be nice there’s not much wind which is even better ah today this whole trip it’s been one muddy long SLO right let’s go and enjoy some nice flat land if there is something we need it’s a leap of Fai step away from the comfort zone and

Be a little afid to take a look around you how far can you see how far do you think you can run standing on your knees it’s a beautiful world out there just don’t pass on the Dare if you have a will and a moment to spare it’s a beautiful world out there

It’s a beautiful world out there It can be a bit frightening something you don’t know you need a little enlightening it’ll make you grow it’s a beautiful world out there just don’t pass on the de if you have the will and a moment to spare it’s a beautiful world out there it’s a beautiful world out there

Oh it’s a beautiful world out there and just don’t pass on the de if you have the will and a moment to spare it’s a beautiful world out there it’s a beautiful world out there oh if you have the will and the moment ofare it’s a beautiful world out there it’s a Beautiful right so I’m not actually going to get all the way to Newport today I’m basically like maybe like 3 miles away I’m probably like 3 miles away or something right now but it’s like it was it’s about half 3 Sun’s starting to set now and I think

It’s just better to wait cuz then tomorrow I can have a nice easy finished and then on to my next route um so I’m like maybe like three or four miles away from the center of Newport I found this uh little section here right by this

Pond and uh I think it’s going to be a great little spot it doesn’t seem to be many people around seems pretty quiet although I say it seems pretty quiet I do have a uh a wind turbine just there so that might be a little bit noisy but

It’s not too bad so yeah should be a nice peaceful night for a final little night before we get to Newport but yeah super this should be this is like an awesome Camp spot to end this trip on and uh all I got to do is wake up early and roll into

Newport I’m going to spend a a little bit of time trying to clean this bike a bit or get most of the uh clogged up parts Unclogged As peace peaceful as my Camp spot was last night I didn’t sleep at all not a wink every time I laid down I would struggle to breathe so the long night became even longer packing up early with just a few miles left to cycle to arrive at Newport plans change and

Unfortunately this would be where my adventure would end as I would quite like the ability to breathe while taking on a Welsh bip packing Adventure so I would slowly roll into to the gray morning arriving into Newport just as everyone was starting their day I would be finishing M