After getting a little stressed at loonie-versity this week I got out on the bike with the full agreement of my mentor after mentioning the half century challenge. I had plotted a route on one of the loonie-versity computers yesterday to get in as many of the green spaces and cycle paths as I could.
But first I had to repair the flat rear tyre on my road bike and fit the new SwissStop GHP II blocks to the rear. About an hour later I was ready to throw a leg over the bike and headed out the door.
The first part of the ride was the ugliest, heading for the Mall at Cribbs Causeway. Pretty soon though I was in the lovely green space of Blaise Castle Estate although my road bike was definitely unsuitable to ride up to the folly, but I did pass the old house which is now a museum.
After passing the house I had a nice long descent ahead on a path through trees, passing many ponds along the brook. The path was very busy with dog walkers but was also very muddy and I got a huge mud buildup under the crud mudguards. After exiting the park there was a punishing little hill with a hairpin. I knew from here on in I would be climbing quite a bit as I headed for Clifton Downs. The route I had plotted took me on a shared cycle path running behind some Bristol Loonie-versity halls of residence, this path was so steep there were steps at the side for the pedestrians. I don't mind admitting I stopped for a breather before the steepest bit, but halfway up the steepest bit I ran out of go and had to stop. There was no way I was going to be able to clip in and get going again, so I had to do the walk of shame, at least till the slope reduced a bit.
At the top it opened out into the lovely green space that is the downs. It was a touch windy up here that made it difficult to pedal, but I got a lovely but wintery view of my next destination, the suspension bridge.
I never get tired of cycling over this gorgeous landmark. Shortly on the far side of the bridge I was into the Ashton Court park (the venue of the Bristol Balloon Fiesta) and near my first rest break. It was at this point I got a bit butter fingered and managed to save the ride instead of just pausing it
, so after the cafe stop I had to start a new ride on my Garmin. Had a lovely sausage and egg bap and a hot cup of tea before heading back out.
There is a great descent from the cafe at Ashton Court, but to prevent cyclists just letting rip and releasing the brakes they have put speed humps in. It's fair enough though as there are a lot of pedestrians in the park. On the descent I got a lovely view of the deer that call the park their home.
As I exited the park I passed a satellite campus of my own loonie-versity, UWE. From here I joined festival way heading for the harbour side. At the harbourside I saw this little loco standing outside the M Shed Museum. I couldn't help feeling that someone had squished it a bit.
From here I headed through Queens Square, a nice little green space where there are often small events held in the summer. At this time of year there are just lots of people exercising, running laps around the square. I headed for Castle Park, forgetting that The Welsh Back is surfaced with pave so got a bit jolted around. From Castle Park, I headed for the start of the Bristol to Bath Railway Path, and got my head down for around 5 miles of traffic free cycling heading for my next cafe stop at Warmley. It was great cycling through the tunnel again as it had been closed for so long I had avoided it.
At my coffee stop I decided I needed a defintie energy top up so had one of their last pieces of cake and a KitKat. I also sneaked a little stiffener into my Americano
.
Heading back along the railway path for a mile or so, I joined the ring road cycle path for the final leg. It's traffic free but the road is a mere 10m away and it is a busy dual carriageway so it can hardly be called peaceful. By now my legs were feeling it so it was now in a get myself home mode. I still had the nasty sneaky hill by the Hilton to come. It can hardly be called a long hill, or even s steep hill, but it is one of those hills that gets steeper as you ride along and you don't notice you're climbing till almost the top of the hill. From here I cycled past my loonie-versitys main campus and headed for the series of parks that are dotted around the "stokes" and I was nearly home.
Popped into Tesco just a half mile from home as my fiance is going out tonight and I needed a meal for one which will not require a lot of effort haha! Then home, lock the bike away and almost straight into a bath where I soaked away for an hour in candle light and had a compilation of tunes from musicals playing on the bluetooth speaker, heaven!
In total 34 miles with 1677ft of climbing. The strava is here:
part 1 &
part 2.
Hugs
Archeress x
An excellent morning out on the bike.
