Summary

When

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Sat 14th January 2023
07:00 - 20:30

Where

Warmley Station
Bristol And Bath Railway Path
Warmley, BS30 5JB

Who

Organiser: Will Pomeroy

What

Series: Great Western Randonnées

Brief

Day and night, fast and slow! Beautiful valleys including the Chalke with the odd hill thrown in; plus Cheddar Gorge, maybe in the dark with its looming walls. Stunning views en route, you may just see The Needles…

Event Info

Cost:
£0.00

CLOSED

Type:

Eligible:

Award Distance:

Total Distance:
209 km

Speeds:
15-30 kph

Duration:
13h30

AAA: 0.00

Climb:
2450m

Facilities

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Overview

Description

Heading out from Warmley Station along the Bristol to Bath Railway Path and through the 2Tunnels under Combe Down you will make your way into Wiltshire and cruise down the amazing virtually traffic free Wylye Valley, which the still operational GWR Wessex Main Line follows to the historic town of Wilton with its Italianate Church. Hopping over to the Chalke Valley, named after a small tributary to the River Ebble emerging at Broad Chalke, you head towards Shaftesbury after a couple of climbs; the first onto Charlton Down on a section of old Roman road between Bath and Badbury Rings, here you may see on the horizon The Needles if a clear day. Descend the infamous Zig-Zag Hill to Shaftesbury. Using predominantly B roads from now you head to Wells, here the road named Strawberry Way follows what was once the old Strawberry Line named after the local produce. Level riding through Somerset to Cheddar and its mighty Gorge, most likely in the dark with its looming rock faces, you ascend The Mendips to the Chew Valley and the arrivée at The Holybush Inn, Bridgeyate.

Reviews

What others think.

Lovely Controls

14th January 2025

Glad to have had the various controls which helped me get through the route. First audax done!

Usman

Cracking route

15th January 2024

Great start at Warmley, with breakfast available if you want it. Nice amble to Bath and detour to miss the tunnels. Some challenging hills thrown in. Cheddar at 100m. Dry weather, but cold some floods to contend with, but overall another great WP and ACB event.

Gideon

Filthy weather, lovely route

27th January 2023

Second audax, absolutely loved it. Disgusting weather made it even more worthwhile. A really lovely route, including the seemingly brutal climbs right at the end 🙂

Shomi

Type 2 Fun

24th January 2023

Cracking route, was pretty close to scratching on a few occasions as the weather was pretty grim, but managed to get round eventually. Nice bit of night riding up cheddar gorge near the end

Tom

Chalke & Cheese… wet & wild!

20th January 2023

January Audax, it started wet, very wet! But it didn’t dampen the spirits of the hardy riders waiting to begin there little Pootle into the waiting challenges.

The first few kms’s along the cycleway to Bath set the tone, a lot of standing water, a lot of standing water! As the cycleway gave way to the roads, the standing water became rivers, flowing down the roads. By the first control, wet was fully the order so far of the day, a quick bacon cob & coffee and then off again… the rain subsided, eventually, but it was replaced by an 80km section of headwind, some would describe as “character building”, it was, it certainly was, but that said it was strangely enjoyable.

My first trip to Cheddar Gorge was a pleasant experience helped by the change of wind direction, almost a tailwind! Having crested the Gorge, the final 30 odd kilometres, provided the odd lumpy surprise, but this was compensated by further tailwinds.

All in all, with far from perfect weather, it was a perfect day for a January ride.

Wayne

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