Active Travel Adventures podcast I Inspiring Multi-Day Adventure Trips Around the World · Kit Parks

8 Day Cycling Adventure from London to Wales : Go West with Steve Silk

November 6, 2025·48 min·3 clips

The finish includes the Dufferin Arms, a pub with only one beer, Bass, and no bar in sight.

1. Active Travel Adventures podcast talks with Steve Silk about Go West, his eight-day cycling route from London to Fishguard. 2. Kit Parks hosts the conversation, and Steve Silk is introduced as the author of Go West and The Great North Road. 3. The episode asks how a non-hardcore rider can plan and complete an independent long-distance bike tour across England and Wales. 4. Steve Silk says he is 58 years old, was not sporty as a child, and cycled because he needed transport. 5. He describes a summer as a cycle messenger in San Francisco as the moment he "really got the bug." 6. He says he later built from 20-mile and 30-mile rides to 40 to 50 miles a day for consecutive days. 7. Steve contrasts his earlier 11-day London-to-Edinburgh ride on the Great North Road with this later London-to-Wales route. 8. He chose the A40 corridor because research suggested the scenery, landscape, and variety would stay interesting every day. 9. The route finishes at Fishguard, a small ferry port where ferries go to the Republic of Ireland. 10. He passes through the Cotswolds, where he says the limestone buildings look "honey-coloured" and many villages remain quiet. 11. He notes that the route avoids the busiest tourist honeypots, which gave him peace and quiet in places many visitors miss. 12. In Wales, the terrain changes sharply, with steep climbs such as one in 12, one in 10, and one in eight. 13. He says the final day between Carmarthen and Fishguard was "very challenging indeed." 14. He explains that slow travel by bike lets him read a town’s geography from its buildings, church spires, and road layout. 15. He describes stopping easily for chats and says he feels like "a better human being" on a bike than in a car. 16. He uses research and whim together, including "retro research" after passing a village chapel or other landmark. 17. The interview style is practical, conversational, and full of route detail, history, and specific travel advice. 18. The tone stays encouraging and reflective, with Kit Parks pushing for usable tips and Steve answering directly. 19. People planning a UK bike tour or slow-travel trip will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting pure sports performance talk or race strategy may skip it.

As heard by us

A ride story that stays practical, from the first mile to the Welsh hills.

Steve Silk's ride from London to the Welsh coast gives this episode its shape, and the best moments come when the travel story keeps sliding back into usable advice.

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Why you'd press play

You want an adventure ride that still tells you how to actually do it.

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