BIKEPACKING the England Wales border
[Music] my next challenge starts on the Seven Bridge the Seven Bridge has been linkoln England and Wales since 1966 before that you had to take a ferry now it's my starting point for an epic bik packing challenge along the entire length of the England Wales border over the next 200 miles I'll be weaving my way through the rugged Hills remote trails and endless back roads zigzagging My Way north [Music] [Music] okay it's time to cycle the Wales England border all the way to the north but can ask for a better start the sun is shining barely a breeze perfect riding temperature yeah let's do this sunshin in blue skies and I'm starting my border challenge out on the Y Valley Greenway this route follows an Old Railway line that once carried steam trains between chepo and Monmouth running right along the England Wales border unfortunately though I'm taking on this challenge a little earlier than planned which means the long dark tium tunnel it's still closed so instead I've got to take the hilly back roads around it to get back on track after a few hilly miles I found my way back onto the Y Valley Greenway following the river y along the England side of the border before crossing over into Wales tin turn Abbey was built in 1131 and was home to the cian monks for over 400 years before being abandoned in the 1500s it was one of the most powerful monasteries in Wales until King Henry VII shut it down during the dissolution of the monasteries and the great Abbey began slowly to turn into a majestic ruin sitting on the Welsh side of the Border [Music] I'd I'd say welcome to Wales but technically I'm in England at the moment with the first climb of this adventure along the Walsh the Wales England border I don't really know what to expect too much because I've just roughly plotted a route that kind of resembles the uh Welles England border zigzagging up it so I have no idea what I know is I'm getting the uh sweat on legs spinning and the heart pumping on the start of this ride I'm actually about 20 miles but you know I'm just pedling very slowly up the lanes beautiful day the absolute perfect day for [Music] it it may have been a perfect day for it but the real challenge was just beginning the trails ahead were only getting steeper and tougher with most of what I found today being steep rocking key and for the most part completely unridable but at least every time I stopped to catch my breath I could look down on the river y winding its way through the valley below marking the England Wales [Music] border not quite as good as pizza around we had him front France but oh my God the start of this road has been absolutely brutal I lied before I'm now at about 20 mi Little Village called uh redbrook I think it is heading towards Monmouth I think I got a bit some flattish miles now as I follow the river but oh my God they were steep rough Rocky a lot of hiker bike to start this ride I'm going to enjoy this pizza [Music] go on don't give up can i get a tow, you sled dog? hello [Music] well it's currently 10 to 5 got about 50 minutes until the sun sets it's not looking great for uh finding anywhere to Camp I haven't really seen anywhere all day I have done about 45 miles so that's good I definitely overestimated my ability of being able to get to the top of that climb though because I'm still a little way off that I'm at the foot of the climb basically now so I'm going to start going to start climbing pretty soon I'm just hoping at some point along that climb I can find somewhere to Camp I pedal into a little village called Longtown just as the sun was starting to dip lower in the sky lighting up the little castle as I passed Longtown Castle is a Norman keep built to guard this Borderland centuries ago but I didn't have time to stop for too long the sun was set in behind the black mountains the very Hills I was about to start climbing. well I think I found where I'm going to Camp I've kind of had to come off Trail a bit kind of taken a slightly different version of the route now I was going to be going around that big hill on the other side and I'm going around it this side no biggie still you know a nice Trail but it does mean I think I might have to do a bit of gate hopping to get into this field for my camp tonight because uh that's the only other option and I'm not I'm not hiking up that and there's nothing down that way this is on a bit of this this field is on a bit of a slant however up there does look like there's a nice flattish bit so hopefully I can get get the tens set up there what a day I've done like 46 something miles got about 140 or to go that was a tough start today and it's going to be an even tougher start tomorrow I never like to start going uphill but we're going to have to do it but first have to jump this fence and get the tent set up before it gets dark definitely on a bit of a slant so I don't see bright and early here I might see bright and early down there hopefully it'll be fine like once I'm lay down it shouldn't be too bad but I'm going to bed with a pretty decent view the sun should where am I I think Ry is maybe over there somewhere so we might get to see it in all its Glory if the clouds go away but there's a good tough start to the uh Wales England border Challenge and it's going to be a tough start tomorrow as well but T set up got some ginsters I got some more little pizzas and uh tomorrow we're going up and around there to about 2,000 100 ft for descending down which will be nice however I'll see you bright and early in the morning because I am ready to sleep 140 odd miles to Go see you in the morning good morning and look at that Sky beautiful one benefit of actually camping not in the woods is you get all the glory of the sunrise and it is looking like it is going to be a good one sun is just rising over there last night was so calm I am still up on top of the hill just about it was definitely on a SL at to sleeping like one position the whole night but I slept pretty good and uh it was just so calm there was like no wind it wasn't cold just beautiful really and today I've woken up I don't know what's going on why is it sunny why is it nice it's normally raining I'm not going to complain it's looking like today is going to be a beautiful day and the weather the it actually says it might be like 15° 15° I'm going to need my sun green right but it's time to pack up the tent and get on our way cuz today this morning we are going uphill got to go around all of this fun stuff and then up and then I think at the highest point is basically like on the Wales England border so uh let's go do that let's get packed up oh that sky is so beautiful really is beautiful but let's get on the bike so we can uh enjoy it while we're [Music] riding the perfect morning clear skies crisp air and the best sunrise ever it felt like the start of an incredible day but the thing about perfection is it never stays that way for long I Got a Hole right on the bead of the tire that is a right ve it's sealed it keeps unsealing please seal and just hold and also the trail not the uh beautiful morning I was hoping for the morning quickly turned into a frustrating battle boggy Trails slow progress oh my God all I've done is walk and blocked paths at one point I had to Chuck my bike over a fence only to realize I couldn't actually climb over it myself reunited okay try get out my way with it all right now me go follow the V who great idea was that this morning sucks so much I can't ride partly because the trails are just bog partly because every time I sit my ass on this bike Sumit breaks so far today the tire kind of like a very slow puncture right now stays up and then every now and again kind of just like loses some air pedals can barely clip in anymore and the Springs all just the swave thing this may be charging the Garmin and that fun stuff that's not working tried different cables not the cable this going to be a good morning honestly I'm just starting to get to the point where I no longer want to ride bikes anymore they always just break that's all they do I'm sure over the last 3 years I haven't had one ride where I've got home and I haven't had to fix a whole bunch of issues with something or the bike or cameras or something currently still climbing I think I'm still got like 800 fet maybe a th000 feet to go it's just a long hi about really kind of can't be asked [Music] [Music] with everything seemingly working against me today staying motivated was getting harder but I kept going slowly climbing over the black mountains and Crossing back into Wales [Music] turns out my detour last night had one small upside I didn't have to climb quite as high as I expected soon I was back on my planned route ready for a much anticipated descent towards hey on why the world's first book town [Music] [Music] I wasn't here for the books but I would take this chance to regroup and try and fix the multiple issues with my bike this morning [Music] now [Music] yeah that is charging if I plug the lights just in they run it's just not charging the garden it's weird just come through a place called kington I think it was and now I'm on a HTO WS Nan I think couple little climbs and uh should be there today it's just been one thing after another and quite honestly I want today to hurry up an [Music] end I pushed on towards nighton but after the morning I'd had all I wanted was the day to be over and finally make some real Pro progress I kept zigzagging along the border tackling yet more tough climbs until at last I spotted niton in the distance a huge relief after a Relentless day on the bike it wasn't quite over but progress was now being [Music] made well it's 300 p.m. so that means 3 hours of daylight left just come through night and finally made it it's been just one endless SLO to get here and I know I've got two kind of climbs coming up so I'm hoping to get over them but just the day is just so nice it's sunny it's warm but I do want to get over where do want to get over the next couple of climbs for the next at least up on top of uh of one of them at least I'm just not good today has just been one thing after another one slog I just stopped had some food and I just want to get on the road and get over these two climbs once I'm over these two climbs there's only really two two more but they kind of spaced out so hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get over them to and then it's just a nice downhill Breeze to to the end of this [Music] route leaving the Border behind for a while I'd cut across into the shop sheer Hills the wide track were dry the views over the Shropshire Hills were nothing sure of Epic but the climbs were just as brutal especially after the day I had already had [Music] [Music] slowly though I made progress across the hills heading towards the Kerry Ridgeway the ancient track that marks the England Wales Border in the distance I could see a line of trees stretching across the horizon that was the Ridgeway and IID hoped it would be my chance to find a camp spot for the night wherever I'd be sleeping in England or Wales though I had no idea [Music] [Applause] good morning good morning today last night I managed to set up camp in this woods and this road here this bit of gravel road is the well Wales England border so I am now essentially half in England and half in Wells although I do actually think according to Google Maps the road is Welsh England we get this this this bit here so technically uh I am in whales right now and I camped up just in this little bit of woods here managed to find a little spot which was perfect super quiet beautiful night and we're starting off on this uh lovely bit of gravel track I've got about 100 miles left or just under 100 miles so I'm hoping today will be the penoma day I'm going to try and just get as many miles as I can of this w b challenge done today yesterday was a grueling day I want today to be a little bit nicer so hopefully the bike will uh be nice to me and hopefully we can just uh get these miles done today should be a slightly easier day for sure but there are still a few challenges along the way but hopefully I'm really hoping I can just get to um to finish tomorrow and give myself a really easy day so if I can give myself like 30 or 40 miles tomorrow I'll be happy but we'll see we'll see what happens I'm going to pack up the tent it's very dark in my little Camp spot over there but it such a peaceful night so quiet so good right let's get packed up it's not blue skies and sunny this morning it's a bit cloudy but it's not raining I'll take that let's get packed up [Music] [Music] [Music] it was a calm peaceful morning as I set off along the Kerry Ridgeway once more after getting through yesterday and having a good night's sleep in the woods I was feeling a little more optimistic it was a much colder day with a chill in the air and the views were slightly obscured by a light Haze I'd made it over most of the hardest terrain though things were finally looking up even if at times it was just as quick to get off and walk up them very climbs [Music] [Music] wellow this morning's going much better than yesterday morning I won't say anything because everything will go wrong if I say it but it's going smooth ly at least and uh I'm over the first bump that means I got a nice downhill and flat flowy to the next uh next climb which will be like the final bump in this adventure across the Welsh English border tell you what this morning it's only 9:00 or just qu 9 it's not as warm as it was yesterday it's uh not going to reach them double figures like yesterday did and it's uh going to be around 6 or 7° but there's a bit of a headwind so it feels even colder I'm going to start descending had a little bit of Misty Rain earlier as I uh obviously crossed back into whes that that started can't come to wh without a little bit of rain can you now the descend this morning was pretty damn cold but before long I arrived in a place called four crosses just in time for the sun to start shining and to start warming me up perfect timing for breakfast along the Montgomery [Music] Canal it's always hard to get moving again after enjoying the peaceful slow life feel of a canal and I wasn't the only one making the most of it this morning [Music] of course it wouldn't take long to leave the canal toe paaths and find my way back onto the muddy trails and stumble onto my first minor little issue of the day I really can't be bothered go up and around Road closed due to unstable retaining [Music] while don't fall don't fall don't fall I think we're safe guys I think we're safe and uh we're over all the hills now so practically it's all kind of downhill now it's just happy days and it's s to get a bit warmer as well nice 52 miles to go probably going to try and do another oh no there's another fence here probably going to try and do another 25 miles or so I know it's seems open I think we're good oh yeah we made it through hardly Road clo was it all right time to do a bit of descending and then on to some flat M everything's just so steep though even this [Music] luckily for me the rest of the day would be smooth sailing with the miles taking by without too much drama most of the day was spent on Dusty back roads making for easy riding especially now that things were mostly flat eventually I'd find myself back on the canal settling into some easy miles as the evening rolled in [Music] oh wow some muddy feet coming along the canal which is beautiful it's a beautiful way to finish the day I've got about 37 miles left to go I'm going to try and get that 7 miles out it's currently 400 p.m. so got a couple of hours left is all good oh God it's not the most smoothest Canal path but it is flattish basically coming around like rexam and then I'll be going up towards Chester but I am on the lookout for somewhere to Camp hopefully I can do this 7 miles though because that means I would have done like I don't know like 70 70 mil or something today has mostly been on the road so it's been fast going oh another obstacle but all going well tonight and tomorrow morning we will complete the Border challenge tomorrow morning is maybe lunchtime I'm going to try and leave myself 30 miles to do tomorrow so uh let's go and find some way to [Music] Camp with the almost in sight the excitement was building I followed the canal knowing I had just one more night in the tent before this journey would come to an end before that though I had one last stretch through Fen and wixel Moss's National nature reserve the third largest area of lowland raised peep Boog in the UK [Music] so I have got 32 miles to go but I'm a bit reluctant to go any further because I've got about an hour until until sunsets I'm in like probably the last real like off-road section of this route and it looks like there could be some good camping spots over there I mean there is a couple however it is still a bit early and this is kind of like a place where I feel like a lot of dog walkers will come out um I can hear a few dogs in the distance I'm just kind of hanging around but I've only got 32 miles to go I've done about 70 I think today so pretty good going but yeah I'm just going to have to like wait around it's I am going to find somewhere over here or there only problem is with this place is it's a big wide expanse of nature but it is like a wetland like a marsh so everything is obviously wet because it's a wetland Josh idiot so yeah um but it looks like there's a few spots over there where I'm going to set up the tent and then get up right and early in the morning and smash 32 miles out to get to the end of this epic challenge it's uh ended up yesterday first two days were brutal but today was really good actually easy miles lots of road miles and finishing on some like really nice endless gravel and through the nature nice but it's time to Doss around wait for the sun to set and then set up the tent one more day big bab you're nearly there hold on hold on please please hold on [Music] [Music] just 30 miles left after days of tough riding the end was fin finally in sight I was up early and with the bitterly cold morning I was in the mood to just get moving nothing was going to slow me down I pedal hard reaching Chester just as everyone else was heading to work but while they were stuck in the morning rush I was flying along the Chester Millennium Greenway and before long I could see it the end of the England Wales border end of the road and that was it after days of riding climbing and zigzagging my way along the border I'd finally made it sitting right on the England whales border I took a moment to take it all in one last pause before the journey was really over [Music] [Applause] [Music]
2025-03-31 21:43
