My Adventures

North Downs Way Taster

After falling in-love with the SENDEROS, I didn't think I'd fall in love again! The RESOLUTES swept me off my feet but kept me on my bike! 🙂

Testing testing...the North Downs Way!

Why not! I have the perfect bike and tyres! We decided to do this ride as a preparation for our upcoming adventures such as 100km London to Brighton Off-road and the King Alfred's Way.

Alex had done the North Downs Way so he knew the terrain. As for me, everything was new and very challenging.

A great opportunity had been presented when Alex said "I want to show you the North Downs Way." What is the North Downs Way you may ask. According to Wikipedia (!)

The North Downs Way is a long-distance path in southern England opened in 1978. It runs from Farnham to Dover past Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, along the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Kent Downs AONB.

 

 

 

The ride was 100km but felt like it was 200! I was so knackered by the end, not so much of the distance but more of the mental and technical side of it.

There were a lot of rocky descents, often mixed in with tree roots and mud - and due to the overhanging tree cover this was also hidden by a tunnel of darkness on the approach!

I would have been completely dead if it wasn't for my adventure bike and choice of tyres. Having trust in your equipment - especially tyres and brakes - is really key to having fun on a ride.

The fatigue came from not having a lot of experience on riding challenging off-road surface such as roots and rocks together with climbing and descending.

I have been a road cyclist for awhile so I am very much spoiled when it comes to riding on a smooth country lanes. This was a good learning experience of what I needed to work on to get ready for similar terrain on other rides.

On the day I was impressed with the performance of the tyres. They gripped brilliantly, with no sliding even when climbing out of the saddle. I was relieved to have no sketchy moments when flying through dodgy descents with only partial sight on the approach! Any time I did get it wrong and hit a bump or root, the tyres seemed to cope with it. I even managed to ride some fairly deep sand which I've tried before on the Byways and had to jump off as there wasn't enough grip.

North Downs Way Taster

RADDLERS in deep mud!

I was fortunate enough to be chosen to be part of WTB family because of my passion to ride my homemade adventure bike on road and off-road. I really didn't start riding off-road until I have my adventure bike. I really enjoy and love being off the road as I get to be with nature, explore and discover new things and most of all, the challenge of riding on dirt/mud 🙂 And now that I have all the proper tyres to go with my adventure bike, I was ready for my adventures! The first one was in deep mud in Surrey!

Here's my bike all clean and ready to go 🙂

I made my way to the start by road on a nice sunny day if a little cold. The ride started at Richmond Park on the off-road path which turned out to be very muddy so that was good fun for the Raddlers! I didn't go mental as I wasn't sure how the tyres were going to react. There was one fast descent on mud and gravel but the tyres seemed to deal with it with no problem and my confidence increased. We then hit some gravely towpath for a few kilometres.

Then the fun started as we turned off the road at high speed onto what looked like hard packed dirt but turned out to be two inch deep mud! Fortunately, there were no worrying moments so I powered on. This route then went to a forest on a winding track, ending in a boggy section with mud deep enough to come over the rims. I managed to stay upright but lost momentum and had to put my foot down due hitting a large stick.

The next challenge for the tyres was a flowing descent approximately ten percent steep, with potholes, large rocks and puddles to negotiate. Dragging the brakes to stop the bike building up too much speed, I picked the 'least bad' line and hoped for the best. The good news is that I got no loss of traction either on braking or turning, which was a relief as previously on other tyres in similar situations I've had some worrying slides.

The day continued in a similar fashion with alternating servings of grass, gravel, mud and road. The tyres peformed brilliantly throughout although they did feel a little squirmy on the road due to the low pressure I was running. In the end, I finished tired but happy to have stayed upright and explored some new terrain which would have not been possible with my road bike. Thankful for my new adventure bike and amazing WTB Raddlers. I am now confident that I can pursue my new found passion for off-road adventures.

I thought you might want to see my bike after the mud fest 🙂 I had mudguards too!

BYWAY not the highway!

Welcome to my blog! This will document my adventures into the world of off-road riding with my amazing bike.

Last year, I was looking for a bike that would be capable of going to new places that weren’t the usual roads that I was getting bored of riding. Being XXS, finding a bike in my size is normally close to impossible so I was looking into options. I happened to find a frame on sale that was the only one left in the perfect size for me! It was a Kona Rove ST, 100% steel and ready for anything 😀

After buying the frame, I now had to make the rest of the bike. The frame was suited for either 700c or 650b wheels, and since I wanted different from my other (standard road) bike, I chose 650b. For various reasons, I didn’t want to go down the route of buying stock wheels so my bike mechanic and I decided to make my first wheels! 

We then decided on a 1x setup with cable disc brakes for simplicity, and since it was still going to be a bike that was used on the road we chose a 40 tooth chainring up front and an 11-42 cassette on the back. This would give an easier gear than the climbing gear on my road bike, and still enable me to go fast enough on the road.

For the tyres, we decided to venture into the world of tubeless! I wanted a tyre that wasn’t really slow rolling, but had decent grip off-road. Since we were heading into the summer and it was likely to be ridden on dry ground, I settled on the WTB Byway in 650 x 47 size. 

Now my next adventures come! Putting tyres on is never easy for me. It seems that I should have trained my fingers for hardcore work! It was quite painful to force these tyres on! The last bit has always been my giving point so my bike mechanic did it for me. The next scary moment was injecting sealant in! For that part, I asked my bike mechanic to do it for me whilst I watched him really closely and document the whole process so next time I could do it myself.

Bike built and ready to go!

After a successful week of building the bike, I went out to test it and I must say I was very happy with it. Of course! This bike was built and not bought. I helped build it from pieces and I am quite proud of myself. I have learnt a lot about bike and wheel building. The wheel building was the challenging part especially the spokes and where they should be. 

Now it was time to head out and ride! My first experience on leaving the house with the new 650 x 47 Byways was amazement that the ride was so comfortable. Being small and light, I’ve always felt like I was being beaten up riding on skinny tyres. These were riding on clouds! Best of all, I didn’t feel like I was having to work harder than on my road bike, which I’ve experienced before with bigger tyres.

The next test was to use them in the conditions I’d never dared go before on my road bike - gravel and dirt! In retrospect, I was using slightly too high pressure as I’ve since learned that these tyres perform better off road with a lower pressure, but even with a pressure more suited for road riding the tyres felt comfortable, planted and inspired confidence. Cornering on gravel where I’d normally be worried the tyres would slip, I felt there was good traction and managed to stay upright! I felt the Byways were definitely the right choice for my first ‘all road’ tyres, and they were great for riding everywhere during the summer. These are my go to tyres for most riding on the 650’s in good weather. 

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