You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Good Evening
Thought you guys might want to see my attempt at the Ridgeway on my gravel bike.
I wanted to do the double but didn't quite have it in me so did 99 miles in the end.
Not sure the gravel bike was the best choice it was good for most of it but i think if I was to go back and do the double I might take a hardtail.
I assume some of you on here have done the double? What the Ivanhoe end like compared to the end I did?
Any tips? I couldn't find the taps...
All the info you need is here:
There's a few taps, they're listed on the site above.
From memory, Ivinghoe end is hillier than the Avebury end. Good effort by the way!
will definitely watch your video.
i live in devizes and have wanted to do the whole ridgeway ride but never have yet.
i do plan on doing the double one day though 👍
Ah didn't see the taps on the maps what an amateur mistake that iss where I got all my route information from as well.
Bookmarking as I'm Ridgeway Curious and I only live in North Kent. Never ridden and part of it!
Will watch later and thanks for posting.
I ride the Ridgeway a lot. Bike packed the double last weekend & I live about 20 mins from the section that starts in Risborough. I’ve mainly gone it on 2 bikes both rigid (Salsa El & more recently Mason ISO). The Ivinghoe section is pretty standard tbh then a section of road nr Tring then Wendover to Cadsden is probably the most technical also the first tap is outside the pub The Plough.
The worst bit IMHO of the Ridgeway are the ruts at the end at Avebury.
Those ruts by Avebury made me think I was definitely on the wrong bike but if that is the worse bit I suppose its possible to do the double on my gravel bike.
Just not sure its the fastest way, think I am going to have to try the hard tail.
Am I right in thinking that much of the Ridgeway isn't officially rideable by bike, meaning long road sections?
No, not really scoop. A couple of sections but we're talking small sections, longest from Goring to Avebury is about 1/2 a mile.
I live about 4 miles from it so ride it loads. My preferred bike for the Ridgeway is a rigid Cannondale 29er with 2.5 tyres. A decent compromise between weight and comfort. For short blasts my Jekyll was awesome but massively overbiked. The road bikes are great when it’s baked hard but so harsh.
Good work!
I live close to the east end of the RW. On a gravel bike, I hated the bike by the end of it... Lightweight rigid 29er on big, fast tyres is better. The official route is OK but uses roads to avoid a couple of FP sections, I prefer to use other tracks or the FPs during quiet times. Means it's not the official double but it's a more enjoyable ride to me, greater sense of continuity.
nice. Used to use bits of the ridgeway to link rides in the Chilterns. Hateful haha.
I live about 4 miles from it so ride it loads. My preferred bike for the Ridgeway is a rigid Cannondale 29er with 2.5 tyres. A decent compromise between weight and comfort. For short blasts my Jekyll was awesome but massively overbiked. The road bikes are great when it’s baked hard but so harsh.
I cant imagine doing it on my road bike! I think I am going to go back with the hardtail and start at the other end before summer is over.
I’ve done the double in just under 16 hours. 29r fully rigid mtb was steed of choice. If I did it again would probably go short travel front suspension. I think mtb by far the best bike as you will have to ride a lot of ruts tired.
Have you tried s tablet per bottle of nuun or high 5 zero?
As you dint find any taps maybe your cramp is hydration related.
Try isotomic gels and maybe less caffeime as it can make you pee more, diuretic effect
Those bags on the top tube would drive me mad, each h to their own but shaking around and spilling your trail mix all over the floor
Nice little film though. I want to double it az its a step on from the sdwiad which i have completed a few times e
Have you tried s tablet per bottle of nuun or high 5 zero?
As you dint find any taps maybe your cramp is hydration related.
Try isotomic gels and maybe less caffeime as it can make you pee more, diuretic effect
Those bags on the top tube would drive me mad, each h to their own but shaking around and spilling your trail mix all over the floor
Nice little film though. I want to double it az its a step on from the sdwiad which i have completed a few times e
I started out with torq energy drink which has electrolytes in then I had the SIS electrolyte tablets when I topped up.
I must of drank 7 litres of water which I think is quite a lot although granted I did have some time where I was rationing my water until i found the tap which probably doesn't help.
However I do find no matter how hydrated I try to stay at some point I will cramp on a long day like this it is a bit frustrating as there are people out there who don't seem to have to worry about cramping at all ever.
As for the bags the food going everywhere was a bit annoying but I am generally not bothered by that sort of thing. I prefer to have my food where I can get to it easy and not have to stop as much.
Jonnybike, try riding a touch easier from the off. Staying well inside your comfort zone can mean you never get close to cramping. The net effect of being able to ride for longer outweighs the loss of speed.
Great video! You’ve inspired me to try the Avebury to Goring double on my gravel bike.
funnily enough Nova i may do the opposite in a couple of weeks, Goring to Avebury then back 🙂
Good work! I did the double last summer, it's a cracking ride (post here). Short travel XC full sus bike for me, I think that's the perfect tool for ultra distance riding. Fair play for doing it on a gravel bike, I think I'd find that too jarring. Ivinghoe end felt tougher / hillier for me, but that may have been because I did that bit last!
I'll be doing mine on a G-160 🙂
Luckily I've ridden it as a single quite a few times so it won't come as a shock to me as such.
I find with cramp that as soon as I feel the first signs appear then I get off and walk for a bit. Once back on the bike I'll ease up a bit if possible. Once I've had a bad bout of cramp then that's it and I'll be fine for days afterwards.
I'm finding that as I get older I'll cramp much more easily - I'll cramp when lying in bed or whenever.
Ivinghoe end has more foot paths so plenty of gates to deal with and has more punchy climbs and generally a bit tougher going, from Steatly west is all bridleway and mostly easy going steady climbs and descents, a few nasty rutty sections and the last mile to the end at Overton Hill is hell of a rigid bike! There are only two taps on this half of the Ridgeway, the one furthest west doesn't always work... so good to make sure you can carry enough water to last the miles if you're going out and back if you don't want to detour. Pre pandemic there was usually an ice cream van at Barbury Castle, a well earned treat.
I rode Ivinghoe to Overton a few years ago on a XC hardtail, was a good day out, like a mini SDW - not quite so much elevation gain and not quite so grand views. I've done the double of the southern end of the Ridgeway a few times - Streatly - Overton - Streatly, couple of times on a gravel grinder (with Lauf fork and Redshift seatpost) which I found much more comfortable overall than a MTB. It's a great challenge and achievement... leading nicely on to the SDW... and perhaps a SDW double.
How to quote onhere to beyond me, lets see if this works...
Have you tried s tablet per bottle of nuun or high 5 zero?
As you dint find any taps maybe your cramp is hydration related.
Try isotomic gels and maybe less caffeime as it can make you pee more, diuretic effect
Those bags on the top tube would drive me mad, each h to their own but shaking around and spilling your trail mix all over the floor
Nice little film though. I want to double it az its a step on from the sdwiad which i have completed a few times eI started out with torq energy drink which has electrolytes in then I had the SIS electrolyte tablets when I topped up.
I must of drank 7 litres of water which I think is quite a lot although granted I did have some time where I was rationing my water until i found the tap which probably doesn’t help.
However I do find no matter how hydrated I try to stay at some point I will cramp on a long day like this it is a bit frustrating as there are people out there who don’t seem to have to worry about cramping at all ever.
As for the bags the food going everywhere was a bit annoying but I am generally not bothered by that sort of thing. I prefer to have my food where I can get to it easy and not have to stop as much.
My gravel bike setup is 3 x 750ml bottles, two with OTE energy drink, one with plain water as it's nice to have a fresh drink once in a while & to wash down food. I take any combo of: ham and cheese rolls/prosciutto and soft cheese rolls (if I can be bothered to go to tesco to specially buy that just for riding food)/BLT sandwiches - flap jacks, couple of emergency caffeine gels (not had to use for ages). Eat and drink enough and no cramps for me, everyone is different though. Real food over all the time over gels, etc.
I have a frame bag (not full frame) and top tube bag. I pre-bag all my energy drink powder portions, no faffing measuring out at taps, tip in, add water, go. Couple of flap jacks in the toptube bag for quick grab food on the go (and phone for photos). for a longer harder ride (100 milers/SDW/etc) I'll have a seat bag too in which I'll have mostly clothes (if riding in to the late evening) and tools/spare tubes, etc, then the frame bag will be nearly full with food.
Setup for 100 miles on the Ridgeway south last year:
I used to live in Faringdon and loves the Ridgeway.
Was thinking about doing the 2 day double with a camp over Avebury end.
That pic looks like the ‘gates’ section nr Barbury Castle ?
weeksy
Subscriber
No, not really scoop. A couple of sections but we’re talking small sections, longest from Goring to Avebury is about 1/2 a mile.
Right, cheers matey!👍
Shout when you're doing it mate, I'm up for a good chunk of it.
^^ This is still on the "maybe" list for this summer weeksy, still got to tick of the sdw in a day.... he says hugely optimistically.lol