KNOWLE to CHEPSTOW: Around Bristol, Across the Severn, and into Wales
Miles: 37.5
Average Speed:
Hours: 8 am - 5.30 pm
Up: 2191
Down: 2060
The view from our bedroom today as the sun came up
Left our wonderful lodgings early, and off around Bristol, via the least trafficked roads
It was a glorious day, sunny and warm, with a bit of a pesky headwind from time to time. The biking was not too bad, except for a couple of " walking " hills on the back lanes, so that I am a little disappointed in our total mileage for the day.
We rode along the Bath to Bristol bike and walking path, which follows the old Avon railway line. It can include a ride on a steam train, which looked fun to do, and was certainly fun to see in operation. The path is super well used, ( especially on a warm Sunday ) by bikers and walkers of all shapes, abilities and styles.
The main adventure of the day was getting over the Severn bridge. Our directions were sparse, and the signage was hopeless, but eventually we thought we had found the way,. We biked up and approached the toll booths, with no traffic around, and suddenly a very loud loudspeaker instructs us to get off and go to the side through a gate. Out comes a very officious official, who informs us that we have totally misinterpreted the signs, and have been biking on a freeway, which is very bad........ We actually agree with that!!!!!!
However, then he directed us to where the bike path is, involving massive flights of stairs, up which we had to lug the bikes and panniers, across over the footbridge over the freeway, all of which we did, only to find that it was not true... Apparently, for some reason he chose to totally mislead us, since the path was a mere hop, skip and jump from where we first encountered him...... Some people......
The actual crossing was pretty spectacular, if a little cold and windy. The bridge is very high, and almost two and a half miles long
At the other end was Chepstow Wales, where we quickly found the hospitable Beaufort Hotel, with everything we needed.
Just one comment: the bar and dining room were very busy, and we did remark on how 'male' it was, as in, where were the women????? I could still hear singing in the distance later at night from our room and the manager told me that it was 2am when they went to bed!!!!!!
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