The Trafalgar Way

Bike

26 June 2021

The Trafalgar Way is a 500km audax road ride from Falmouth to London, pieced together to reflect the journey Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotiére undertook in 1805. Once his ship landed in Falmouth, he was tasked with travelling to the Admiralty House in London to bring news of the British Navy’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Admiral Lord Nelson.

Starting in the harbourside in Falmouth, there are a number of information points and three manned controls along the way. From the start, the route wiggles diagonally across the south coast, heading up to Truro, along to Dartmoor then into Exeter, on to Axminster and Bridport along the Jurassic Coast, up to Salisbury then into London via Parliament Square, finally finishing at Admiralty House, Whitehall.

There are a lot of hills in first half of the ride, and due to the number of meters ascent, it is categorised as a gold, five-pointer on the Audax Altitude Awards (AAA) scale. The time allowance is 33h20, so starting at 06.00 on Saturday to finish by 15.20 on Sunday.

I’d originally signed up for the ride in early 2020, but the event that summer was postponed until 2021, like everything else, due to the pandemic, so I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. I liked that the ride starts in Falmouth on a Saturday morning as I could head down early and hang out there for a day or two pre-ride and then also easily ride home from the finish.

I’ll be riding my trusty Condor which had recently had spruce and a decent test ride down in the southeast in a heatwave. I also rode the second half of The Trafalgar Way last year, as the return leg of a trip down to the Isle of Wight, so I was feeling prepped. I was travelling light, and my frame bag was mostly full of tip flops and a book, so not much room for extra food and water, and I carried just a few extra layers.

Falmouth - London. 500km | 6500m+ | 23/26.5 hours

I left the hotel and made my way down to the harbourside where I signed on with organisers Jim and Paul and exchanged early morning small talk with a couple of other riders as I slowly woke up properly. The sunrise was incredible, I caught a glimpse of it through my hotel window and by the time I got down to the harbourside the sun was up and the fresh coastal air was warming.

I was looking forward to being out on the road and stuck into the hills to warm up, but I’d just had a huge bowl of porridge and a tin of rice pudding, so was concerned I needed to allow enough time to let it all go down properly before any sort of effort up a hill, so I was in no real rush to get going. As more riders arrived by the waterside and the usual last-minute faff/panic was dealt with, there was the usual mix of nerves and tiredness in the air. We had a quick group photo and casually rode off just after 6am to begin what would be a pretty epic journey back to London. I was excited to get riding on empty, quiet and peaceful country roads with the other riders. The initial Cornish lanes were mostly under tree cover, out of the sun, keeping us cool as we climbed, which helped as the ascending was relentless from the off.

We moved north to Truro, slowly spreading out on the road, over the cobbled town streets at 7am and soon rolled out the other side onto further winding country lanes. I knew there was a lot of climbing to come, and that down here the hills are short and steep, so I was very conscious not to raise my heart rate unnecessarily or expend more energy than required. So, despite feeling fresh, for every uphill section I went straight into my first gear and span all the way up, conscious of the overall task at hand and which was all I could think about. The temperature rose quickly and in the patches of roadside tree shade were large swarms of mozzies that stuck to my now moist skin on my arms and face. The first hour or two I leapfrogged with Dai from Wales, who was riding fixed and is well known in the audax world and I enjoyed chatting to him about the bamboo bike he had recently made. So far the climbs had been gradual and not too steep that you couldn’t chat whilst heading up. That was easier for me than him, though!

The morning flew by and the first control soon came along at 117km in Lewdown at 11.30. I had a bite to eat and kept moving, conscious to keep going whilst my legs were feeling fresh. So far, so good, and it was reassuring to get one stamp on my brevet card. Continuing east towards Exeter, we skirted the northern border of Dartmoor National Park where the wind picked up on the more exposed areas, although the sun was at its hottest now so I couldn’t help but have a wide grin on my face, enjoying being in my own world turning the pedals. Coming into Exeter the roads opened up and the traffic lights became more frequent and the traffic increased. On the way out of the other side of the city, around 3pm, I stopped for ice cream, water, more snacks to-go and topped up my sun cream. The day had passed quickly and there was still a long way to go.

Moving on out of the south-west, I thought I would have a break in the hills for an hour or two, but no such chance. A couple of really punchy hills around Stockland followed, before I dropped down into Axminster and out the other side to run through Bridport and along the coast to the next checkpoint. This was Abbottsbury at 260km and I arrived just after 7pm, so I’d now been riding for 13 hours or so. I had a big dinner, ham egg and chips, a Coke and a Guinness. The support and atmosphere was really great at this checkpoint, we had a big terrace to ourselves, most riders crossed over here and we had food together and sat in the warm as the sun set. Jim and Paul were there along with a couple of local helpers, Pete and Hannah. After riding solo mostly and in my own head for 13 hours, it was nice to have a chat with the group here, which perked me up, ready for the night shift. I didn’t hang around too long, keen to get as far as possible in the daylight, so headed off, hoping my food would settle before a big climb around the corner up to Hardy Monument that Pete had just warned me of. With a full stomach, I span my way up enjoying the views and local wildlife. A long, quick and steep descent back down the other side into Dorchester woke me up and I was feeling positive and ready to ride into the night.

The summer evening had drawn in now, and the wide B roads I was on were quiet and relaxing, it was ideal riding temperature and I was in a good place. Darkness fell an hour or so later, by which time I enjoyed the cooler air and could relax my eyes from the glare of the days’ sun. I made a final resupply stop for the day at 10.20pm at a Coop in Blandford which would see me through the night. More Haribo, Jaffa Cakes and a Lucozade would do the trick.

Setting off again into silent and pitch black roads to cross Cranbourne Chase AONB, I headed for Salisbury. My legs, neck and wrists all still felt good and my pace wasn’t slowing, which I was pleased about. Up until now I’d stayed in shorts and short sleeves but the temperature dropped quickly so I layered up. I passed fellow rider, James, who was doing the same on the roadside.

There were some very cold patches of pitch-black road, with not a single car for a number of hours, which didn’t help me keep my eyes open as it got later into the night. Several hours later I reached a school in Salisbury which was the next checkpoint, at 1am, and walked into a brightly lit room that was dazzling. I rummaged for my brevet card, refuelled with some porridge then lay down on an old school blue gym mat for an hour or so to recharge somewhat, then got back up and dressed again to face the last of the night. I’d covered 354km so far, and heading off from this checkpoint felt like I was on the home stretch, just another 150km to go…

Into the blustery dark night again for a few hours more of darkness, now with some added drizzle and increased winds. The hours went by slowly and I was keen to get over the 400km mark so that mentally I could count down the remaining kilometres down from 100. My body was feeling surprisingly good and I mostly needed mental strength and motivation now to keep my legs turning and see the end of the ride out. As the sun began coming up at 4.30am the wind calmed in some spots and I was happy to be cruising along at my own speed and with a clear head. In my sleep-deprived state, I had foolishly forgotten to fill my water bottles at the previous checkpoint so I was thirsty and needed to come across an open petrol station soon.

I found a Texaco a while later and filled up on water as the man who served me questioned what I was doing, a familiar situation to most audax riders. This second morning was nowhere near as stunning as yesterday, and it was muggy and still drizzly. Still, no proper rain though, thankfully! Just light spitting which was actually quite refreshing on my face, albeit mixing the sweat, suncream, food and drink on my face and beard.

I was now rolling through towns on the A30, which was silent on a Sunday morning through from 5am to 8am when the traffic eventually started to pick up. I was getting towards touching distance of London now and wanted to push through but psychologically felt the need to stop to fuel up for the mental challenge of navigating London’s roads and the influx of cars on little sleep. I pulled into a McDonald’s and had a big breakfast, exactly what I was looking for.

Coming into inner London was busy, as ever, but once through the outskirts areas of Hounslow and Chiswick the roads cleared up a little as I moved into Central and navigated Kensington, Hyde Park and finally St James Park, on roads that I was relieved to be familiar with. I pulled up at Admiralty House at 11.30am pleased and grateful to have made the long journey back with no issues with myself or my bike.

Paul and Jim were waiting and we had a good 30 minute or so catch up, before I headed off for home, luckily just a 25 minute ride away, on roads I knew well. My total elapsed time for the ride was 26.5 hours, so I had a lot of time in hand, although I wasn’t aiming for a particular time. I could have stopped less if I really wanted to push for the under 24 hours mark, but even a short sleep/rest is important for me to enjoy the experience and be present throughout. I did want to get into London early, though, to avoid traffic on the roads later in the morning.

This ride is a strong endurance challenge, with lots of climbing in the first half to get through. I liked the fact the ride started early in the morning, meaning you only have to ride through one night. Many long audax rides like this start at 9 or 10 pm, forcing you to ride through two nights, which is less enjoyable for me. There are plenty of resupply points along the way though, so you don’t need to carry much. You definitely need to be comfortable riding on busy A roads, though! As the ride progresses you move onto increasingly busy roads, some of which cars are moving very quickly on. All nine of us who started successfully finished the ride, many with no sleep at all.

The photos show quiet country roads in the southwest with not many people or cars around which I enjoyed, but be warned the road is only either up or down! From kilometre 0 through to around kilometre 260 there wasn’t much more than a few kilometres of flat road.

If you head down to Falmouth be sure to check out Beacon Coffee, Lauter Bottleshop and Verdant Seafood Bar for all your caffeine, booze and food needs.

Climbing out of Cornwall

Cornish lanes

Onwards and upwards into Devon

Skirting Dartmoor

Wide, empty roads

Tight lanes

Along the coast

Sundown

View from Hardy Monument

Sunset

The Trafalgar Way plaque

Arrivvée

Paul Rainbow’s photos

Sunrise

Starting line

Afternoon views

Hardy Monument

Sunset

Finished!

Finish line with medal

Other media

After this trip, I submitted my story of the ride to Arrivé magazine, the Audax UK quarterly members magazine. It was edited and published in issue 156, shown below.