Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Audax => Topic started by: Martin on 18 March, 2020, 10:07:42 pm
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seems a good time to bring up;
After I borked my thumb in November 2018 I was off the bike (apart from an easy DIY 200) for about 3 months so I looked into long walks (about 20 miles a day) to keep up some sort of fitness
I've since completed 3 Long Distance Walks from my area all as one day walks for each section then getting public transport back to the start / home. They are great fun! there's also something a bit OCD about them as I can testify having taken about 5 trains and replacement buses to complete one on a Sunday last November!
Rather sedate compared to Audax but no less enjoyable and you really feel you've done something at the end of each day
https://www.ldwa.org.uk/
I see they are also verboten but IMO they are perfectly within the UK Gov guidelines as solo ventures, and you see more than from a turbo trainer!
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Nice....
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That's a very good thought. If I turn left from my front door and left again I'm on European long distance walk E2. Goes to Harwich, and hence to the Med. It has always been in my plans to do it one day - perhaps I'll take a bivvy bag and do the Harwich section this summer. Not sure about the public transport to get back though...
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So far I've completed the High Weald Landscape trail (93 miles, supposed to take 7 days but it did it in 5, although it took over a year) The Sussex Ouse Valley way (the first 2 days in Nov / Dec 2018 but left the last day to the seaside until last July) and the West Sussex Literary Trail (3 days over a month last winter).
The Wey South Path is a very interesting one it follows the old canal and much of it is still there full of water but abandoned. However the bottom half is currently under the flood plain of the Arun :-\
Anyone feeling like a walking equivalent of Mille Miglia could try the Monarchs Way (over 600 miles) I decided just to do the last 2 days!
Oh they do badges too!
(http://www.fotothing.com/photos/f6e/f6edd43e1e7eaf7e81aedd1e170448cf.jpg?ts=1584610405)
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My wife did the Capital Ring (https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Capital+Ring) with a friend of hers over the course of a few months, think they did it in 7 or 8 individual trips in the end. They were using it as training for a marathon walk.
Some amazing bits of London (and some grotty industrial estates) but they really enjoyed the sense of completion when they ticked off the last section.
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I have the LDWA book that I bought in 1981. Lists all the LDWA walks, outlines of where they go, OS maps needed and available guidebooks. It has my annotations of the ones I’ve done. Mostly in the north, Wales and Scotland.
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My parents did most of the long distance walks in the South of England, including the South West Coast path (which is now part of the England Coast Path). I quite like the idea of walking from place to place joining up footpaths, although that does create some interesting challenges when landowners haven't maintain a path (I once came across a stile built from footpath signs near Gillingham (Dorset) shortly followed by a field where the apparently small object half a mile away turned out to be a rapidly approaching bull.
High groundwater levels in Hampshire, which will be the case for the next 6 weeks, will make many such routes a challenge, although one that anyone who did the Mad March Many Rivers to Cross with the 18" deep flooded lane near the end, should be able to rise to such a challenge.
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I had been intending to walk the Ridgeway this spring, just because. But now I probably won't. The problem, for those of us in cities without cars, is getting out of the urban areas.
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My parents did most of the long distance walks in the South of England, including the South West Coast path (which is now part of the England Coast Path). I quite like the idea of walking from place to place joining up footpaths, although that does create some interesting challenges when landowners haven't maintain a path
The ones I've done have little plaques pointing the direction both ways on the footpath signs (and even big metal signs where they use sections of road) but they fall down / get replaced etc. And there are a LOT of footpaths (with many 4 or 5 way directions on eg the South Downs) so it's easy to go wrong. I could just plot them on ridewithgps (using OSM) and follow them on a Garmin but map reading (often to find you way back to the right path) is all part of the fun!
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This lady has been an inspiration :thumbsup:
http://annierak.hoofbags.me.uk/
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The Long Distance Walkers Association is just like Auk, only with boots not bikes. While we aim for PP or LEL, they aim for the annual 100 mile walk in 48 hours on the second May Bank Holiday. I've started three and finished one - to make it inside the 48 hour deadline I had to run the final 200 yards and collapsed at the finishing line. Made it with 30 seconds to go.
Oh - and there''s just as much chatter about kit as in cycling, so Auks would feel right at home.
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Several long distance walks are on going in our family. The sort of walks where you do a leg now and then.
#1 son started to walk from the source of the River Bourn in Birmingham to its eventual outflow as the Humber into the North Sea. I believe that he has got as far as Tamworth so far.
#2 son, possibly inspired by our wild camping navigation of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path some years ago, is walking the entire Welsh Coastal Path. So far he has walked from Cardiff to Tenby. He reckons that if he returns via Offa's Dyke, he'll be in his 50s when he finishes.
The three of us are also walking the length of the River Teifi from its source to Cardigan (Aberteifi)
We've only managed two legs so far. Llyn Teifi - Strata Florida and Strata Florida - Tregaron.
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The Wey South Path is a very interesting one it follows the old canal and much of it is still there full of water but abandoned. However the bottom half is currently under the flood plain of the Arun :-\
They Wey and Arun Canal is actively undergoing restoration - or at least was until the events of the last few months. Portions of it are usable and you can (could) book boat trips etc.
https://weyarun.org.uk/
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Mrs Trekker and I started with the Sandlings walk which is on our doorstep here in Suffolk. We have since completed the Ridgeway, which took two years but the Easter before last I developed Plantar fasciitis and couldn't finish it so we went back the east after and completed it, with better insoles in my boots.
We did a large chunk of the Cambrian way aiming to get from Cardiff to Llandovery last summer carrying our camping gear which was challenging. We were defeated by the weather in the second week so diverted to Brecon before taking a bus back to Swansea (my uni town) via a night camping at Dan-Yr-Ogof caves and spent a couple of days there instead.
Walking and long distance walking is great fun, we seem to do that more often than cycle touring these days. I've always wanted to trek in Nepal so the more experience we gain the better. Hopefully we can get to Austria for a fortnight next year but we'll see how the world is.
More locally we are going for a nice walk from our front door in Suffolk this weekend to get out.
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The Wey South Path is a very interesting one it follows the old canal and much of it is still there full of water but abandoned. However the bottom half is currently under the flood plain of the Arun :-\
They Wey and Arun Canal is actively undergoing restoration - or at least was until the events of the last few months. Portions of it are usable and you can (could) book boat trips etc.
https://weyarun.org.uk/
Yes I walked past the open section in January. They are a bit stimied re extending much further as I think they need to build a tunnel at the North end in order to avoid a section that's someone's garden. And I think they can't get under the A272 without building locks down and up so as to avoid a hump back bridge like they did at Loxwood
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Apologies for continuing somewhat off the original topic - the Northern section will definitely need a re-route / re-alignment, they have the very early stages of plans in place as to what they can do. It's a lovely part of the world, and glad it's something you enjoyed walking - I'd commend it to everyone as a route worth exploring.
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One for the canal enthusiasts...
And I think they can't get under the A272 without building locks down and up so as to avoid a hump back bridge like they did at Loxwood
We cycled part of the Forth and Clyde canal towpath (Bowling to central Glasgow) last year and there is an interesting solution here to a main road at canal level
http://clydeside-images.blogspot.com/2010/12/forth-clyde-canal-dalmuir-drop-lock.html
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Apologies for continuing somewhat off the original topic - the Northern section will definitely need a re-route / re-alignment, they have the very early stages of plans in place as to what they can do. It's a lovely part of the world, and glad it's something you enjoyed walking - I'd commend it to everyone as a route worth exploring.
No problem with drifting :) That section did seem to have had an awful lot of locks which a tunnel could avoid; not sure if you've done the Canal du Midi in France but it had a flight of locks (9 IIRC) near Beziers which was only open one way in the morning and the other in the afternoon so they can just tip the water down (complete with boats) then fill it up to bring them up the other way.
In typical French style they replaced it with a conveyor belt! It was under construction in 1988 when I was there, looks like it didn't work
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fonserannes_Locks
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The Long Distance Walkers Association is just like Auk, only with boots not bikes. While we aim for PP or LEL, they aim for the annual 100 mile walk in 48 hours on the second May Bank Holiday. I've started three and finished one - to make it inside the 48 hour deadline I had to run the final 200 yards and collapsed at the finishing line. Made it with 30 seconds to go.
Oh - and there''s just as much chatter about kit as in cycling, so Auks would feel right at home.
Yes, it's definitely the nearest thing to Audax in ANY other sport :thumbsup:
I know from the Facebook group that there is some overlap in the membership too!
(our long-serving validators, for two. Plus me+Paul(manotea) joined for a season to do attempt the Dorset Doddle. )
Show of hands?
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even this looks familiar!
http://www.walkingforum.co.uk/
(I joined because someone was asking about Madeira)
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We did chunks of the Cleveland Way, when we lived there. Here I think Hadrian's Wall and the Pennine Way are closest- but both are a bit too linear to do much of from home
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Member since 1972.
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The Long Distance Walkers Association is just like Auk, only with boots not bikes. While we aim for PP or LEL, they aim for the annual 100 mile walk in 48 hours on the second May Bank Holiday. I've started three and finished one - to make it inside the 48 hour deadline I had to run the final 200 yards and collapsed at the finishing line. Made it with 30 seconds to go.
Oh - and there''s just as much chatter about kit as in cycling, so Auks would feel right at home.
+1. I had a brief acquaintance with them in the late 70's. Our local walking club leaders were all LDWA members.
We set a date in the middle of winter to do the Yorkshire 3 Peaks. Come the day it was snowing at home but we still set off , aiming to start at Ribblehead. We abandoned the car in the snow somewhere near the station and set off walking.
Navigation was a nightmare with few visible landmarks.
We reckoned that we had stumbled over the entrance to Gaping Gill on our travels and when we finally worked out where we were ,it was nearer Austwick than Horton in Rib. Needless to say we only managed Ingleborough before abandoning.
Similar adventure on Lakeland 3000's when it rained for 12 hours solid -another DNF.
On the plus side ,I have wonderful memories of the Lyke Wake, Teesdale Marathon and the NYMROD (North York Moors Route of the Dales)
Absolute nutters with hindsight.
Kit? I recall them talking about the new wonder that was Goretex.
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We had a nice 18km socially distancing walk over the South Downs today; a chilly wind but perfect blue skies lots of lambs and saw the IOW. The peace was only interrupted when we went close to the few main A roads and the incessant noise from bikers attempting to acquire a pine overcoat; I think there was an accident which required an ambulance it was gone by the time we got to the road.
There were 100s out enjoying the day but not too many in one place not in large groups and all passed each other politely and widely
I was thinking give it a few weeks and both me walking and bikers riding will also be banned (although I don't have any problem with small groups riding sensibly which many were) I see they are complaining about too many people in Snowdonia
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I grew up near the Ridgeway, and walked it a couple of times, in a bit under 32 hours with my mate Jon once. I also did the western half as a neolithic walk to get to Glastonbury festival.
When we lived in West London i did much of the Thames path as day walks with rail access.
I've walked and run on the south downs a bit, but never systematically.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
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Kit? I recall them talking about the new wonder that was Goretex.
Yeh, I did the Like Wake in my school shoss (don't think I had anything else bar some plimsolls, wellies and football boots, jeans and a cagoule circa 1978 or so.
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I've done very little of the South Downs Way on foot but the whole thing on bike in a day (bloody hard, did my first 600 the week before this was harder)
Trying to explore all the others locally at the moment; the Mid Sussex Link looks good although that's likely to be a bivi weekend in the summer
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Kit? I recall them talking about the new wonder that was Goretex.
Goretex, been around 44 years this year. How time flies...
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There's a new right-of-way over the hill we can see from the front windows. So we had a good, hilly, solitary, 13k circular walk from the front door on Saturday.
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This post has got me thinking about walking/ jogging again. In 1986 I walked the South Downs Way , then 80 miles, from Petersfield to Eastbourne, in 24 hours,
On Saturday I was part of a small group doing a sponsored walk of 24 miles (socially-distanced, of course) along the Thames to Richmond, around Richmond Park, and back to Tolworth. Sadly lots of groups of friends walking and cycling not socially distancing... First long walk for many years, and legs stiff and stairs are still difficult to negotiate today!
I will buy probably proper walking and also jogging trainers once the crisis has passed.
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Belatedly checking in to YACF! I’ve walked the LDWA Hundred 7 times over the years, but none of them were anything like as hard to me as my only 600k Audax (3 coasts, completed in 39:55 about 15 years ago).
Mind you, I count myself as a walker who sometimes cycles. Doing either is tough at the moment, but the sun is shining so life could be worse - keep safe everyone.
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with no AUK rides and enforced NHS leave (Crap on Carers) I've been busy this year. Completed the West Sussex Border Path and done various other local ones. All C-19 legit
Everyone else and his dog(s) seem to have had the same idea; in the undrainable Wealden clay I need some of those walking boots cum wellies :-\ some of the narrow paths between high fences are still up to 12" underwater
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Our mountaineering club walked the Hertfordshire Way in under 48 hours elapsed (the time limit we set). It’s about 170 miles and we did it as a relay of teams of two. This is quite a few years back, more than a decade ago. Walking through fields of wheat at night with the summer heat still rising from the ground. Did it a couple of years in a row then the chairman changed and it wasn’t organised again.
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Our mountaineering club walked the Hertfordshire Way
A mountaineering club in Hertfordshire? That's like having a bobsleigh team based in Jamaica ... oh wait a sec ...
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Our mountaineering club walked the Hertfordshire Way
A mountaineering club in Hertfordshire? That's like having a bobsleigh team based in Jamaica ... oh wait a sec ...
Well you see. If you lived in the mountains you wouldn’t need a club. You’d just pop out your back door. Where as if you don’t live right by the mountains then having a club or organise trips to them works very well.
We have had some good climbing trips to the Alps, Dolomites, Himalayas, Yosemite, Morocco, Norway and numerous other places over the years. Plus of course trips throughout the UK and Ireland including the annual new year winter climbing trip to Scotland.
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Audax, i.e. the REAL thing via UAF have group walks @ 6kph with the same structure as a cycling brevet. The awards parallel cycling with bronze, silver and gold eagles for completing a combination of distances from 25km to 100km. There is even a 100km walk that includes Ventaux.
Within UAF there is much kudos for completing a Aigle d'or cycling and Aigle d'or marche.
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A mountaineering club in Hertfordshire? That's like having a bobsleigh team based in Jamaica ... oh wait a sec ...
We have had some good climbing trips to the Alps, Dolomites, Himalayas, Yosemite, Morocco, Norway and numerous other places over the years. Plus of course trips throughout the UK and Ireland including the annual new year winter climbing trip to Scotland.
The Tunbridge Wells Mountaineering Club was graced by my membership for several years. When others took the mickey I'd point out that yes, it was true there weren't many mountains in Tunbridge Wells, and that's why only one person from the town had ever climbed K2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Tullis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Tullis). That generally shut 'em up.