#PARK2PARKUK

15th MAY 2021

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In many ways, this adventure was designed to be my love letter to the UK. I was so excited to explore some more of this island I call home and I hoped that through this trip, I'd inspire some of my fellow Brits to appreciate (and protect) the beautiful landscape we have on our doorstep, too.

The UK has 15 National Parks and combined, they cover 36.4% of our land area - I visited each one! In the order that I passed through them, they are: Dartmoor, Exmoor, New Forest, South Downs, Norfolk Broads, Brecon Beacons, Pembrokeshire Coast, Snowdon, Peak District, North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales, Lake District, Northumberland, Loch Lomond and then lastly, Cairngorms!

Unlike my usual adventures, I had company for this one! Enter Jessie Leong, who helped me to capture the highs & lows along the way! This adventure was designed to be mindful of any COVID-19 restrictions that might still be in place and although things had started to open up again by the time we hit the road, it was great to have an amazing mobile HQ aka a Bailey of Bristol motorhome to keep us self-sufficient. I also had plenty of nutritious Maple from Canada to help sustain my energy naturally and a range of phenomenal Weleda arnica products to soothe my weary muscles - all bases covered!

Unfortunately, for the first week I encountered really severe weather - torrential rain, thunder storms and 30-40mph winds - and we also had some unforeseen logistical kinks, which forced me to adjust my original plan of cycling between all of the National Parks, as well as through them. The original route was amended and I (reluctantly) skipped ahead some of the miles in the motorhome and prioritised visiting the National Parks. Sadly, I was so unwell by the time I reached Brecon that I had to skip cycling through Snowdon / Pembrokeshire all together - we drove to these (or, more accurately, Jessie drove and I slept a lot whilst trying to convince my body to digest food again!)

Nonetheless, in between all the curve balls, it was still a wonderful way to enjoy our National Parks. The last 3 days especially (Northumberland, Loch Lomond & Cairngorms) were some of the nicest routes I've ever had the pleasure of riding (the fact that the sunshine finally had joined the party for these probably helped, too...!)

With special thanks also to these wonderful brands for supporting the endeavour…

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  • Bamboo Clothing - what I’ll be wearing off the bike / 99% of my wardrobe in general. I’m a long standing ambassador for BAM - you can get 15% off their wonderful kit with my code: “Kennington”

  • PowerTraveller - keeping my gear charged during the long days on the road.

  • Komoot - my all time favourite route planning app. You’ll find my route breakdown on my profile.

  • QuadLock - makers on invincible phone mounts - allowing me to follow the route on my phone (/easily change up the playlist when needed).

  • Milltag - providing my gorgeous customised cycle kit.

  • Liv Cycling - the amazing bike in the bike challenge

  • Foundation Fit - one of the most important names on this list! Provided a thorough bike fit in order to maximise comfort and efficiency for the many, many miles ahead! A good bike fit really does make all the difference - 100% recommended.

    and last but definitely not least…

  • Beaus Gelato - yes, that’s right - I brought my own vegan (and outrageously tasty) ice cream with me!!

This trip simply wouldn't have been possible without all of these awesome sponsors and, after the last year especially, I couldn’t have been more excited or grateful to have been OUT out again.

The ever-wonderful map wizard Ant at ZeroSixZero also worked his magic again - check out the live tracker map here.