Riding the Ditch

Fat Biking the Wansdyke

Por The Bimbler

Named after the Saxon God Wōden, the Wansdyke snakes it’s way across the Somerset and Wiltshire hills. While some segments have long since vanished others have weathered well and still clearly show its ditch and bank earthwork construction. Since discovering the Eastern Wansdyke when living in the area I’ve wanted to cycle/walk a continuous section before heading to nearby Avebury for a Midsummer adventure.

With perfect timing an offer to test out an unusual Bike came along. Fat Bikes were originally designed to be ridden on snow and sand but because of their impressive traction and light footprint they’ve become a great option for any off road situation. It was immediately obvious this would be the perfect steed for tackling Wiltshire’s undulating cross country tracks and byways so I crammed my tent, sleeping bag and other essentials into a rucksack and headed off on the scenic route to Avebury Henge riding a bike clad with massive 4 inches wide tyres!

Contrary to my expectations the bike wasn’t sluggish and moved along at a reasonable pace. Although you’re unlikely to see Bradley Wiggins racing one around the Velodrome anytime soon it didn’t seem to weigh much more than my regular bone shaker and was infinitely more fun to ride… effortlessly absorbing every bump and rut I cared to point it at.

For the whole afternoon I seemed to have Wiltshire’s finest (and highest) landscape all to myself so I cruised along happily with my internal iPod on random shuffle

after several Tea breaks and as many random deviations from the intended route I finally arrived at Avebury with a grin as fat as the bike and rested among the ancient monoliths as hundreds of revellers started gathering to celebrate the Summer Solstice.

while it was still light I headed off to set up camp in a quiet spot and after cooking supper and peddling around in the dark for a while… promptly fell asleep.

After hitting the snooze button a few times I wrestled myself out of bed and under cover of darkness, packed away my stealth camp and headed back to the henge to wait for sunrise… but as tends to happen more often than not the sun didn’t so much rise but faded in through the mist and clouds… it didn’t matter though because today’s treat was a brilliant crimson sky heralding the dawn of the longest day.

By the time the sun was fully up I headed off on the return journey which was even more leisurely and punctuated with regular tea breaks… I thought you might like to see the pocket sized brew kit I take sometimes…

I’ve had this set-up for many years and use it when I only need to boil water rather than for cooking. The gas stove folds up and nests with the gas cartridge and spoon inside the mug. It’s tough and versatile enough to use the mug over a fire and the parts are easy to source online. Titanium mugs are as light as a feather and will last a lifetime.