This is not the way

11th September 202614th September 2026

This is not the way

I realise I have yet to write up this summer’s main tour along the Rhein with buddy Christopher, but I need to unload reflections on this weekend’s aborted KAW (King Alfred’s Way) first whilst still fresh in mind. I’ll start with the day itself, and break down my analysis after.

The morning started pretty well. The usual pre-ride nerves were there as I kitted up in the car park of Waitrose Salisbury (handily bookable for a multi-day stay). I was an hour or so behind my intended schedule, which was not ideal, but the weather looked pretty much as forecast. Occasional blue patches with some lurking dark clouds. The ground was still wet from the earlier downpours but overall it looked the promise of a mostly dry day would probably hold. After downing the last of the smoothie bought so I don’t feel guilty just using the shop loo, and scoffing a sneaky donut bought last night I was ready to roll. I was very glad that I had ignored last night’s wobble over bringing a warmer outer layer. Within a couple of pedal strokes, with my waterproof jacket still stashed on top of my saddle bag, I was sure it would not be as cold as I’d feared.

28th March 202628th March 2026

RRR, TCR, and beyond

After what seemed like two solid months of rain to kick off 2026, the clouds have finally parted and the UK has been graced with warmer and clearer weather. Of course none of the potholes have been fixed – some of them are now truly massive with the flooding. Some of the lanes which literally washed away are getting repaired, although that means they’ll be open to cars as well as bikes which is something of a double edge sword. Anyhow, with milder weather now here, the mind turns to cycling adventures once again. Albeit on a fairly modest scale for this year.

27th June 202524th January 2026

H2M – Epilogue

Why?

So many people have asked me that before, during, and after long distance rides that the responses become almost automatic: why not? because it’s there; to see if I can. I realised when pondering what to mention in summing up this particular tour that it’s perhaps the first ride where that question has an actual, specific answer. Or two answers really: because I’ve visited Munich twice by bike and experienced almost none of it; and because I could combine that with visiting buddies Christopher and Benjamin. So yeah, an actual purpose for a ride. What a novelty. Something else I realised when putting my thoughts together for this parting piece was another very different aspect to other rides. It was actually Type 1 fun. Without the pressure of event cutoffs, and with a slower than usual pace, I was enjoying it in the moment.

26th June 202524th January 2026

H2M – Day 12

Memmingen to Munich

I realised while writing that I started to consider this as the “last day” of the tour, rather than the “last full day”. A minor semantic difference, but one which does sum up how it felt. The previous days were a steady routine, pack down; travel from hotel to hotel; laundry and prep at the end of the day to get ready for the next. But this day would be missing that latter part. Whatever time I arrived, I could just dump everything and relax. The riding would be done. No more “keep everything tidy and organized“. Like I said, subtle, but different.

The receptionist last evening had offered an “early breakfast” option – although I forget now if that was 6:30 or 7:00. But whatever time was agreed, the lobby door back into the hotel was locked when I got down there. The early shift manager was running late – and when she arrived 5 or 10 minutes later looked flustered and worried. She hurriedly opened up, and set up tables for what was now a small group of guests. Honestly, I wasn’t remotely bothered about the slightly later opening, but I got why she was worried. As she rushed around, still in jeans and T shirt, I hoped none of the early starters would make any complaints about her late arrival or not yet being in staff uniform.

25th June 202524th January 2026

H2M – Day 11

Lake Constance to Memmingen

There was no getting away from the sense that the tour was coming to an end. Sure, almost half of today’s distance would be around the lake. But once I left its shoreline it was a straight, if somewhat lumpy, run across Germany towards Munich with 1 overnight stop to break up the distance. Another sign the destination was now close was how frequently I was messaging with Christoper and Benjamin on arrival times and plans beyond. Plus one more tip from Benjamin on a regional speciality to try tonight in the town I would be staying in: käspatzn. This part is always a messy jumble of feelings: happiness that a tour so long in the planning had worked out so well; sadness that a tour so long in the planning was almost over. At least I had a few days in Munich to slow down the decompression a little. First though, with absolutely no rush now, a proper hotel breakfast.

24th June 202524th January 2026

H2M – Day 10

Wehra to Lake Constance

Clean, comfortable, quiet and with a never ending breakfast buffet – pretty much the headline items you’d want in a business hotel, and also coincidentally exactly what I needed. Better still, the door from the breakfast area out to the “not quite finished” bike storage area was unlocked, so I could rig my bike and leave it in view of my table whilst went on a few laps of the assorted goodies. Eventually, I had to admit there wasn’t even room for one more coffee, and so headed outside and wound my way back to towards the small industrial estate again (remembering only at the last minute to ride past reception and hop off quickly to to drop my key).

23rd June 202523rd January 2026

H2M – Day 9

Altenheim to Wehra

Sure enough, the owner’s dad had opened up the garage and I was kitted up and rolling out quickly. Although I’d barely even got pedalling before I saw the supermarket on my left, and swung around into the car park. Leaving a bike propped outside while you grab suppliers is always a little nervy, but in this case it was quiet – there was almost no one around. Plus I could pretty much see the bike for most of the time I was shopping. Which wasn’t long. NC4K insincts kicked in and I knew exactly what I was shopping for. Minutes later I was sat outside tucking into what I hoped would be the last “home-made” breakfast of the tour. The idea of the shorter days was to enjoy proper breakfasts, but when circumstances change, you adapt.

22nd June 202523rd January 2026

H2M – Day 8

Lunéville to Altenheim

Memory is a funny thing. Writing this blog a few months later, I don’t have a lot of recollection of the events of that morning (although it must have been the usual routine anyway). But I do still remember a lurid dream which I was still in the middle of when the watch alarm pulled me out of my sleep. I was involved in some James Bond-esque chase high up on the yellow crane arms of the trash loading warehouse. Given I have no head for heights, it was something of a relief to be woken from it TBH.

21st June 202521st January 2026

H2M – Day 7

Saint-Dizier to Lunéville

The first properly early alarm call of the tour, although when it buzzed me into life at 04:15 it really didn’t feel that bad. There may have been some lingering physiological problems, but lack of sleep wasn’t one of them. Instinctively, my long distance event routine kicked in – alternating between stuffing bags, stuffing down food, and gearing up. Never just one thing at a time – that’s wasteful when you need to get going. Which I did – partly because I knew I had to take a super easy pace today, and also because there was no let-up in the forecast. Warm, hot, then hotter. A few hours of cool was the best I could hope for, and that meant mounting up early.

20th June 202518th January 2026

H2M – Day 6

Meltdown

In order to explain Day 6 I need to start at the end of Day 5, on that walk back from dinner at the brasserie. As I crossed the road by the roundabout and trudged back up the hill to the B&B I knew something was wrong. My body felt out of whack, but not in a way I could immediately identify. Initially, it was more of a vague notion of being overly fatigued for my level of exertion and also a sensation of gliding along in something of a mental fog. Something was rotten in the state of Denmark (to paraphrase the bard).