For this episode of Explore one of our audio producers, Adam Bowie, takes over on the mic as he sets off to ride the King Alfred's Way in the south west of England.

The 350-kilometre circular, mostly off-road, bikepacking route features a mix of gravel tracks, woodland trails, canal towpaths and rural lanes as it takes in parts of the Ridgeway, South Downs Way, Shipwrights Way and Sussex Border Path.

The route is named after Alfred the Great, who ruled the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex in the ninth century. The route passes King Alfred's statue in Winchester, where he is buried.

This is not just a multi-day bikepacking adventure. Adam had a specific reason for undertaking the trip, because it marked an important point in an inspirational and transformative journey he'd been on over the course of more than a year as the country locked down during the pandemic.

Find out more about King Alfred's Way here.

The Cycling Podcast is supported by Supersapiens and Science in Sport.

Supersapiens is a continuous glucose monitoring system that helps you make the right fuelling choices. See supersapiens.com

For 25% off all your SiS products, go to scienceinsport.com and enter the code SISCP25 at the checkout.

This episode is also supported by Babbel. If you want to learn a new language get six months free with the purchase of a six-month subscription with the promo code CYCLING at uk.babbel.com/play

And by Beer52, who are offering ten free craft beers (that's two more than usual) for just the price of postage if you order before December 17. Go to beer52.com/cycle