Clarendon Way

Last weekend of February I did my first self supported multi day walk. Ok it was just 2 days, but that is still multi day, although a short multi day.

The Clarendon Way is a long distance route between Winchester and Salisbury. It is about 42km long so you can actually do it in 1 day, and some people do: Clarendon Marathon

Our plan was to do it in 2 days, with a bit of tweaking of the route so it would work better for us:

It was a weird weekend to do it, storm Jorge was about and forecast had changed from sunny to strong winds, showers and hail. But the decision was made, there was no turning back. Catch a train to Winchester and out we were making our way to Broughton.

The route took us through Hampshire with the highlights of the day being Farley Mount and Kings Somborne, all the rest was "just" the lovely undulating, and currently quite muddy, countryside. We did get hailed on, but only once, otherwise, windy and sunny, just right!

There are not many places to re-supply, so either do it in Winchester or at one of the 2 shops in  Kings Somborne. Pubs in Kings Somborne, Oughton (a little off the route) and Broughton (where we finished for the day).

The second day was from Broughton to Salisbury. We had the breakfast we had brought at our accommodation (a lovely studio apartment found on Airbnb) and started straight up.

That seemed to be the motto for the day, it felt lumpier than day 1, or was I just more tired?
Today's highlight for me was Clarendon Palace ruins and the view of the Salisbury cathedral pinnacle at the end of the walk. 

Supply options, we went by pubs in Winterslow and Pitton, but the shop at Pitton seems to be closed on a Sunday, did not see any other on route, but I think we deviated from the official route around Winterslow... Plenty of options in Salisbury!

Final thoughts:
- we've been having a very wet winter. The fields and paths are muddy. We opted to take our wellies and they were great as we kept our feet dry and were not afraid to walk straight through many of the puddles and muddy sections. They are not great for long hours on your feet and walking on hard surfaces (read roads).
- carrying a big bag is taxing on your body. We had a break about mid way both days, our backs and hips appreciated it. At the end of the day when going for dinner on Saturday (with no bag) I felt you could fly!
- the route signage is mostly ok, but we did loose our way in a few places, taking a map or gps route is a good idea
- it's great to be outside, so more to come!

Here we go
Jorge

Update

New endeavours!

This year I've gone into walking. I do love the outdoors and it's no longer all about the bike. It's all about the outside! And no, it won't be about going for trail running or ultra marathons. It about getting out, seeing the countryside and go back to work on Monday.

So I did have a good CX season at the Wessex CX League on my first year Vet40 racing with VCVenta, I do miss the friends I have made at WDMBC and Central CX League but moved on and must say moving to Hampshire has opened the door the look out the window attitude (also aided by some changes in work in the meantime).

So 2020 will bring lots more walking, quite a bit of cycling (nothing new there) and eventually a lot of mud (it is the UK!)

Here we go!
Jorge