Re:
The temperature has finally dropped and I had a Saturday afternoon free, so off the the Mendips I went. Not a long ride, just a couple of hours but it was nice to get out and about.
From home I took the usual back lanes to get over to Burrington Combe, this is a much more enjoyable climb that Cheddar Gorge... when I say 'enjoyable' there is more actual climbing, less traffic and you are less hemmed in by trees, rocks and such. It is not as good looking though.
My ride was my 853 Rourke 'summer bike'.
Once I got to the top of the combe I took the usual 1st right towards Charterhouse but as I did not fancy Cheddar with all its visitors and OAP's driving at 15 MPH I took a new route and turned right again just before the Roman lead mines, this is a really nice road with a few extra climbs on it.
Top of the Mendips.
I carried on this road for a while heading for Shipham and was delivered the surprise of finding myself at Tynings Farm, by one of the nastiest b'stard MTB climbs on the Mendips.
Near Tynings Farm, some of my favourite Mendip trails to the right, Wales in the distance.
From Tynings farm it was downhill all the way to Shipham and then a left turn up a bit of a lung buster heading towards Cheddar, the reward being a fast downhill all the way to the garage. Right and right again had me heading towards Axbridge which I rode through to avoid the dreadful main road which I inevitably had to join the other side of the town (with the inevitable close pass van) and quick hop onto the A38 and a slog up the last bit of Shute Shelf and then left towards Winscombe past King's Wood, again a bit of a climb and another whizzy downhill, this one with plenty of twist, turns, pot holes and cars.
From Winscombe I turned left up the long climb to Banwell where a complete knob jockey in a white van just HAD to overtake me on the run downhill into the village. This always pisses me off because the road is narrow so as soon as they have overtaken the car / van HAS to jam their brakes on and this always hold ME up. In other words, they would be better off staying behind me as I am faster than them. This guy had a point to prove as I had sprinted to accelerate downhill and he had had to perform a very dodgy overtake (all caught on camera).... anyway, right out of Banwell onto Riverside, from there to Loxton and from there to the A370 where I caught up with a few other riders. Talking to the chap leading the ride, who was wearing a jersey nearly as bright as mine, he, and possibly the whole group, were in W-s-M for the weekend down from the Peak District, they were just at the end of a 50 miler which had covered many of the roads I had just been on, except they'd been to ride Cheddar Gorge, I bashed on when he slowed for the rest of the group to catch up... I hope the curry he was looking forward to lived up to expectations.
After that it was just a couple of climbs, first past the crematorium, next past the Nut Tree pub and finally up my road to home. 35 miles, 2,000 ft of climbing in a little over two and a quarter hours.
It was nice to get out and stretch my legs. Fingers crossed for dry weather over the bank holiday weekend.
The temperature has finally dropped and I had a Saturday afternoon free, so off the the Mendips I went. Not a long ride, just a couple of hours but it was nice to get out and about.
From home I took the usual back lanes to get over to Burrington Combe, this is a much more enjoyable climb that Cheddar Gorge... when I say 'enjoyable' there is more actual climbing, less traffic and you are less hemmed in by trees, rocks and such. It is not as good looking though.
My ride was my 853 Rourke 'summer bike'.
Once I got to the top of the combe I took the usual 1st right towards Charterhouse but as I did not fancy Cheddar with all its visitors and OAP's driving at 15 MPH I took a new route and turned right again just before the Roman lead mines, this is a really nice road with a few extra climbs on it.
Top of the Mendips.
I carried on this road for a while heading for Shipham and was delivered the surprise of finding myself at Tynings Farm, by one of the nastiest b'stard MTB climbs on the Mendips.
Near Tynings Farm, some of my favourite Mendip trails to the right, Wales in the distance.
From Tynings farm it was downhill all the way to Shipham and then a left turn up a bit of a lung buster heading towards Cheddar, the reward being a fast downhill all the way to the garage. Right and right again had me heading towards Axbridge which I rode through to avoid the dreadful main road which I inevitably had to join the other side of the town (with the inevitable close pass van) and quick hop onto the A38 and a slog up the last bit of Shute Shelf and then left towards Winscombe past King's Wood, again a bit of a climb and another whizzy downhill, this one with plenty of twist, turns, pot holes and cars.
From Winscombe I turned left up the long climb to Banwell where a complete knob jockey in a white van just HAD to overtake me on the run downhill into the village. This always pisses me off because the road is narrow so as soon as they have overtaken the car / van HAS to jam their brakes on and this always hold ME up. In other words, they would be better off staying behind me as I am faster than them. This guy had a point to prove as I had sprinted to accelerate downhill and he had had to perform a very dodgy overtake (all caught on camera).... anyway, right out of Banwell onto Riverside, from there to Loxton and from there to the A370 where I caught up with a few other riders. Talking to the chap leading the ride, who was wearing a jersey nearly as bright as mine, he, and possibly the whole group, were in W-s-M for the weekend down from the Peak District, they were just at the end of a 50 miler which had covered many of the roads I had just been on, except they'd been to ride Cheddar Gorge, I bashed on when he slowed for the rest of the group to catch up... I hope the curry he was looking forward to lived up to expectations.
After that it was just a couple of climbs, first past the crematorium, next past the Nut Tree pub and finally up my road to home. 35 miles, 2,000 ft of climbing in a little over two and a quarter hours.
It was nice to get out and stretch my legs. Fingers crossed for dry weather over the bank holiday weekend.