DIY to Bath and beyond

Ride Details

• Date Ridden - Friday 15 December 2023
• Event Type - DIY (Mandatory)
• Points Distance - 200

Ride Stats

• Distance - 201.6 km
• Time - 9h31m40s
• Elapsed time - 10h53m23s
• Avg Speed - 21.2 km/h
• Elevation - 1687 metres
• Bike - Sabbath September AR-1

Ride Notes

Early start at 5:50am as I was awake anyway. The loop around and climb to Shipham was uneventful on quiet early morning roads. From there I winched my way up over Longbottom Lane towards Priddy and the back roads to Leigh on Mendip and Mells.

The cycle path to Radstock was largely empty, with only a few runners and even fewer dog walkers. From there another cycle path and the top road to the first planned stop at the Rider Centre cafe in Wellow. Their Italian Porchetta breakfast roll was lovely - but on the large (and expensive!) side.

More cycle path (a muddy track at this time of year) to Midford, the Two Tunnels Greenway and the Bristol and Bath cycleway brought me to the level crossing near Westerleigh - where I promptly tumbled while negotiating the gates and track still clipped in on my left foot. Stupid Boy! No damage done to me but now have a scratched left brake lever (ARGH!).

The run around the top of Bristol was uneventful (and a little boring) but then at the bottom of Stoke Hill RWGPS had decided to route around for some reason resulting in uneccesary faffing. I was flagging by the time I got to Long Ashton so stopped for another coffee in The Old Library. The final 50km was abit of a trial although the skies cleared for my run along the Toll Road, and I got a lovely sunset view as I descended onto WsM seafront.

Main road home was, luckily, an easy spin.