So Kevin & I decided to take a ride from Bristol to Southampton.. I routed the trip and avoided most of the main roads.. We added in Cheddar Gorge and the New Forest for fun as they were close by. The weather looked grime, a massive front coming in from the Atlantic - thanking my American friends for that!..lol.. however, the train took us through the wet weather and at Bristol the sun came out on wet roads and it was dry the whole day - we even got a sun tan - ha!
Me just outside Bristol
It wasn't long before we got to Cheddar - its a beautiful place surrounded by steep cliffs casting dark shadows on everything below.. this is a tick in UK hill climbing although I must admit I was expecting more. It starts fairly well and then keeps flattening out on occasion.. there are 2-3 steep sections but not lasting enough to tire you. The main thing in this hill is its length.. even at the top the road doesn't flatten out - it just keep on going up.. we reckon about 4 miles or so from bottom to peak? not sure on that though. You can see the elevation etc on my Gamin route details.
Going up I stopped twice to take photos and fell off my bike trying to mount again - difficult when going up a hill!.. haha (idiot),, At the top Kevin went into the back of me and fell off also!.. he got some cuts and bruises for his troubles but nothing serious. We hacked on and all seemed well.
Warminster was our slight detour - there had to be one!.. Instead of taking an early left and going alongside the A36 we went straight down the A350.. this road is hill city!... up one down it then up another! after about 7-8 big hills we were knackered and stopped to take on fluid and food.
This is where we stopped.
Once we stopped I realised our mistake and we back tracked to the B3089 to cut back eastwards across the country - this mistake cost us 5 miles extra... but the hills was the worse part.
This road was much nicer - yes it had a few hills but not like the 350. Anyway - before long we dropped down into the New Forest, it was not necessary to go this was but we thought it would be nice to ride through it.. and it was! a beautiful place indeed.. a hill to get up to it and another down and out... lots of ponies running wild too and great looking landscape.
The New Forest
Kev in the New Forest
Finally we arrived in Southampton... tired but feeling good after 106 miles of cycling.. a great day and an awesome ride.. would i do it again? Hell yes!
