Techniquest
Veteran Member
16/11/2021 - Tech's November Gran Fondo Ride
Welcome to a slightly different trip report for this edition, which features more cycling than trains but it still felt like it ought to be a tale shared.
So what is a Gran Fondo I hear you all ask. Until I started doing challenges on Strava, I too had never heard of such a thing. It is a 100km cycle ride in one single ride, with breaks of course being permitted. The rule is that it has to be done in one session, not multiple rides. I try to fit one in in most months, and it became tradition earlier in the year that such a ride features plenty of new coverage. I had spent quite some time planning my Gran Fondo ride for November 2021, and even on the day itself I had lots of ideas.
The only thing I knew for sure was that it would start in Newport (South Wales) as I had booked tickets and cycle spaces. Eventually, around an hour before I had to be at the station, I booked the train ticket back to Newport from Bath Spa. There had been a big Nectar points bonus offer if I booked through the special offer in the app, so instead of 22 points I would get 154 for my £11-something Advance. Granted, due to my choice of trains I would have only 6 and a bit hours to get to Bath Spa from Newport and achieve the necessary 61 miles, but I was confident.
An unexpected sight greeted me at Hereford, with filthy 66846 and 66849 on a southbound RHTT working. If you didn't know beforehand that they are Colas locomotives, you'd barely be able to tell thanks to the filth covering the livery!
Onto the 0901 from Hereford then, which had 82216 in Hope House livery on the front, and the journey to Newport was over in no time at all. Once I had identified the 67 as 67008, I was outside and on the way in no time. It was rather chilly outside, and no heating in the front MK4 had not helped! Before too long, I was on National Cycle Network Route 47 along the riverfront, and after 1.8 miles I was near enough to the Transporter Bridge to get a photo. Shortly after that, I joined Route 4 which I was due to spend a lot of time on, but I'm getting way ahead of myself there. The ride was nothing spectacular to begin with, and after a while it goes through the Newport Wetlands. Which I did not know existed, but to be honest what I saw was nothing to be excited about.
After that sector, it was onto the roads through the Gwent Levels, and eventually I was in the village of Redwick. Tiny little place, but at least I could now visualise where I was on the map. Same for a sign pointing me towards Bishton and Magor, two names I knew thanks to the railway. Oh, and I daresay you all to say Magor without doing the Sega thing and going "MAGOR!" which I could not resist!
15 miles in, after a lengthy journey along a farm road, and I had reached Severn Tunnel Junction. This was my first break point, and I was slightly ahead of target for mileage. The break was marred by the smell of weed however, and I'll not get started on that or we'll be here all day. Back I went to the junction I had missed, and the path took me to Caldicot railway station, underneath the railway the clearance is very limited (5'9") so I ducked as low as I could! This was my first observing of the town of Caldicot, it looked like a nice place and worth a look around one day.
Soon enough, once I had navigated my way through suburban Caldicot, I arrived at Caerwent which I didn't see much of, but it too looked worthy of a fuller investigation one day. After 21 miles, and a third of the way to the target mileage, I pulled over and I could see the Severn Bridge in the distance. A sign pointed me back towards the way I had come on Route 4, but for the way to Chepstow the sign was missing. I went with my by-now-famously-wrong sense of direction, and that took me to a busy road and up a lengthy steep hill towards Chepstow's outskirts.
I saw a big blue sign on the roundabout where the A466 branches off, I've no idea what road I had arrived on, this sign pointed me to Aust which it suggested was 3 and a half miles away via the Severn Bridge. Oh good, I was back on course and I would not need to tackle the rollercoaster hills of Chepstow itself. No wonder it was a good site for a castle and so on, no one with sense would try to invade such a place with those hills!
I was soon at the bridge which carries the M48 over to England, and there appears to be both north and south sides to the shared use paths over the bridge. Today at least, the north side was not open and it was down the steep ramp to go under the bridge and up the other side. This was to be the highlight of the ride, I'd been wanting to do this for far too long!
I was soon very pleased with my choice, much like Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo the views are worth the effort. OK so the view over the Mouth of the River Severn isn't as grand as the skyline of Tokyo, but to be able to view the English coast, Welsh coast and the Second Severn Crossing which the M4 uses all in one place was great. I had to stop and grab a photo, which doesn't do the scene justice, but I recommend doing the walk or cycle ride just for the view. I wouldn't fancy doing the ride on a windy or wet day though, which is one reason why it has taken until now to get it done, it just hasn't been possible to fit it in before.
Shortly after, feeling very satisfied with that experience, I encountered the first of my diversions today. This took me along part of Route 41, then part of Route 410 (Avon Cycleway) I do believe before rejoining Route 41 along very quiet and rural country lanes towards Severn Beach. When I say rural, I mean it, lots of farms around and that meant lots of mud too. My poor bike, I had got it gleaming the day before this ride and now it was covered in muck already. Well I needed something to do on my day off I guess!
Back onto Route 4 eventually, and after 32 and something miles I had had enough, I needed food badly. A protein shake sure helped as did some food, a proper good 15 minutes or so with no bag on my back really helped that a lot. Soon enough, I needed to get going, and I found myself missing a turn by the looks of it. There were flood defence works along the seafront at Severn Beach, so when I could get no further I discovered just how far from Bath Spa I actually was. Yikes…
Fortunately I was soon back on Route 4, and this took me through a lot of warehousing areas. The new Travelodge looks very out of place! I was also not aware of the existence of the M49 before now, is this a relatively new motorway or am I just being naive? A bit further on, I briefly rejoined Route 410 and I found I was still not even close to Cribbs Causeway. By now, the lack of caffeine was hitting hard and the surprisingly steep climb towards Henbury really zapped me. It's fair to say I was glad of some easier going cycling, and dismounting around works for new housing was quite handy to give certain muscles a break!
A few miles on, and I was still on Route 4 and I eventually found my way through suburbia to somewhere in the Southmead area. I was getting hacked off by unclear and missing signage now, and all of a sudden it all dried up for Route 4. I went back to trusting my wayfaring senses, and followed signs for the city centre. Somewhere along the way, I pulled over and got Maps going on, spurred on to do so when I saw a 73 bus going towards Bristol Temple Meads. Which was the direction I wanted, but the bus was going the other way.
It turned out I'd managed to ride away from the centre of Bristol, but not in the right direction. Maps gave me a route and I must say right now I didn't realise how hilly Bristol is! Somewhere in the Frenchay or Fishponds area, I saw a sign reading 'Bristol and Bath Railway Path' which is what I was looking for. Oh good, at last I can get that done too. I wouldn't be doing the whole route, granted, but it could be completed another day, I'm bound to come back to Bristol one day to head towards the South West anyway.
I was soon onto the path, and I was on 50.6 miles I think at that point. More nutrition was by now needed, as was caffeine but that wasn't an option. Having fuelled up, I got going again and was soon forcing the legs to get pedalling. They weren't wanting to, and the ache in the back of the neck and in the lower back was getting tedious.
Somewhere around Staple Hill Road I do believe, there were works which started this week for 8 weeks, so there was a diversion. I made that to be 3 diversions so far on this ride, and thankfully it was well signed with those little red pedestrian signs used for roadworks. I think the route was rejoined around Signal Road, but don't quote me on that. Once back on the path, it was time to drop the hammer, to put the power down, to enter Maximum Power Mode. Time was going by far too fast, and I had a fair few miles to go yet.
I was soon at Warmley, and sadly I didn't note the location where the route to Yate had branched off as it had a triangular junction station which needed fuller investigation. Time was too short to stop for a photo there, but I did manage a quick one at Warmley. The cafe was tempting, but I just couldn't risk missing the train back to Newport. Onwards and upwards, despite the legs not liking me any more.
I soon found myself by Oldland Common on the Avon Valley Railway, which warranted a photo. I noted amongst other things a Class 07 (07010 I think) and two Class 31s which I didn't get a chance to ID. A quick photo at the south end of Bitton station, despite the body's plea for a cuppa, was grabbed before I kept up the charge for Bath Spa. I was reportedly 7 miles from Bath and I had a vision of missing the 1611 out of Bath with the need of buying another ticket.
So I resolved to thrash away as fast as I could, and once I saw a sign telling me I was 4 miles away I got a bit of a second wind of enthusiasm. I soon saw the mainline and a pair of Turbos heading west saw me get a bit hyper and exclaimed my joy! Every mile was getting challenging now, but eventually I came away from the path briefly before joining the path alongside the river.
Oh look, a diversion! Four diversions in one ride is unheard of for me, but I was soon around that and pedalling away into the centre of Bath Spa. The glorious architecture soon welcomed me to the area, and after a brief trek away from the centre I was soon parked up outside Bath Spa railway station, 65 and something miles done. The Gran Fondo was mine, as was the 400km challenge on Strava for November 2021. I only had the 30 hour challenge to complete and I would be done with the month's challenges much quicker than expected!
After locking up the bike, following my arrival at 1544 so approximately 5 hours and 50 minutes after leaving Newport, I picked up my ticket to Newport and initially I was going to the cafe across the road for my long-awaited cuppa. I figured I'd go to Sainsburys for urgently needed supplies first though, and when I discovered their hot drinks machine was being rebranded I could not resist a large Yorkshire Tea for £1.25 in an orange Sainsburys takeaway cup!
With various supplies also sourced, much of which made it all the way back to Hereford as it turned out, I was soon on 158749 and 158769 to Bristol Parkway. Oh wow that seat was so comfortable, I had not sat down on anything other than my saddle since around 0940, and I'm sure most if not all of you can imagine how much a long ride can leave one a bit uncomfortable after a while! That cuppa was incredibly welcome, as were two small pieces of malt loaf, a hazelnut Nomo chocolate bar and a vegan ham roll. That felt a lot better, I can tell you!
Before too long I was at Bristol Parkway, and the wait there for 800314 was over in no time. By Newport, with the aid of some Nightcore, I had got quite a bit of the trip report done. To my amazement, I not only got the bike up onto the IET hook without issue but also down from it too! Over to platform 4, and 67010 was soon in to take me back to Hereford. I spent the entire journey to Hereford with music on and typing the trip report up. By the time I alighted, I was looking forward to a lazy meal, and I was committed to a visit to the local chippy. A portion of chips would make me feel better in no time, as would something decadent...The ice cream put me into a food coma, and I collapsed into a deep sleep before 2030.
Welcome to a slightly different trip report for this edition, which features more cycling than trains but it still felt like it ought to be a tale shared.
So what is a Gran Fondo I hear you all ask. Until I started doing challenges on Strava, I too had never heard of such a thing. It is a 100km cycle ride in one single ride, with breaks of course being permitted. The rule is that it has to be done in one session, not multiple rides. I try to fit one in in most months, and it became tradition earlier in the year that such a ride features plenty of new coverage. I had spent quite some time planning my Gran Fondo ride for November 2021, and even on the day itself I had lots of ideas.
The only thing I knew for sure was that it would start in Newport (South Wales) as I had booked tickets and cycle spaces. Eventually, around an hour before I had to be at the station, I booked the train ticket back to Newport from Bath Spa. There had been a big Nectar points bonus offer if I booked through the special offer in the app, so instead of 22 points I would get 154 for my £11-something Advance. Granted, due to my choice of trains I would have only 6 and a bit hours to get to Bath Spa from Newport and achieve the necessary 61 miles, but I was confident.
An unexpected sight greeted me at Hereford, with filthy 66846 and 66849 on a southbound RHTT working. If you didn't know beforehand that they are Colas locomotives, you'd barely be able to tell thanks to the filth covering the livery!
Onto the 0901 from Hereford then, which had 82216 in Hope House livery on the front, and the journey to Newport was over in no time at all. Once I had identified the 67 as 67008, I was outside and on the way in no time. It was rather chilly outside, and no heating in the front MK4 had not helped! Before too long, I was on National Cycle Network Route 47 along the riverfront, and after 1.8 miles I was near enough to the Transporter Bridge to get a photo. Shortly after that, I joined Route 4 which I was due to spend a lot of time on, but I'm getting way ahead of myself there. The ride was nothing spectacular to begin with, and after a while it goes through the Newport Wetlands. Which I did not know existed, but to be honest what I saw was nothing to be excited about.
After that sector, it was onto the roads through the Gwent Levels, and eventually I was in the village of Redwick. Tiny little place, but at least I could now visualise where I was on the map. Same for a sign pointing me towards Bishton and Magor, two names I knew thanks to the railway. Oh, and I daresay you all to say Magor without doing the Sega thing and going "MAGOR!" which I could not resist!
15 miles in, after a lengthy journey along a farm road, and I had reached Severn Tunnel Junction. This was my first break point, and I was slightly ahead of target for mileage. The break was marred by the smell of weed however, and I'll not get started on that or we'll be here all day. Back I went to the junction I had missed, and the path took me to Caldicot railway station, underneath the railway the clearance is very limited (5'9") so I ducked as low as I could! This was my first observing of the town of Caldicot, it looked like a nice place and worth a look around one day.
Soon enough, once I had navigated my way through suburban Caldicot, I arrived at Caerwent which I didn't see much of, but it too looked worthy of a fuller investigation one day. After 21 miles, and a third of the way to the target mileage, I pulled over and I could see the Severn Bridge in the distance. A sign pointed me back towards the way I had come on Route 4, but for the way to Chepstow the sign was missing. I went with my by-now-famously-wrong sense of direction, and that took me to a busy road and up a lengthy steep hill towards Chepstow's outskirts.
I saw a big blue sign on the roundabout where the A466 branches off, I've no idea what road I had arrived on, this sign pointed me to Aust which it suggested was 3 and a half miles away via the Severn Bridge. Oh good, I was back on course and I would not need to tackle the rollercoaster hills of Chepstow itself. No wonder it was a good site for a castle and so on, no one with sense would try to invade such a place with those hills!
I was soon at the bridge which carries the M48 over to England, and there appears to be both north and south sides to the shared use paths over the bridge. Today at least, the north side was not open and it was down the steep ramp to go under the bridge and up the other side. This was to be the highlight of the ride, I'd been wanting to do this for far too long!
I was soon very pleased with my choice, much like Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo the views are worth the effort. OK so the view over the Mouth of the River Severn isn't as grand as the skyline of Tokyo, but to be able to view the English coast, Welsh coast and the Second Severn Crossing which the M4 uses all in one place was great. I had to stop and grab a photo, which doesn't do the scene justice, but I recommend doing the walk or cycle ride just for the view. I wouldn't fancy doing the ride on a windy or wet day though, which is one reason why it has taken until now to get it done, it just hasn't been possible to fit it in before.
Shortly after, feeling very satisfied with that experience, I encountered the first of my diversions today. This took me along part of Route 41, then part of Route 410 (Avon Cycleway) I do believe before rejoining Route 41 along very quiet and rural country lanes towards Severn Beach. When I say rural, I mean it, lots of farms around and that meant lots of mud too. My poor bike, I had got it gleaming the day before this ride and now it was covered in muck already. Well I needed something to do on my day off I guess!
Back onto Route 4 eventually, and after 32 and something miles I had had enough, I needed food badly. A protein shake sure helped as did some food, a proper good 15 minutes or so with no bag on my back really helped that a lot. Soon enough, I needed to get going, and I found myself missing a turn by the looks of it. There were flood defence works along the seafront at Severn Beach, so when I could get no further I discovered just how far from Bath Spa I actually was. Yikes…
Fortunately I was soon back on Route 4, and this took me through a lot of warehousing areas. The new Travelodge looks very out of place! I was also not aware of the existence of the M49 before now, is this a relatively new motorway or am I just being naive? A bit further on, I briefly rejoined Route 410 and I found I was still not even close to Cribbs Causeway. By now, the lack of caffeine was hitting hard and the surprisingly steep climb towards Henbury really zapped me. It's fair to say I was glad of some easier going cycling, and dismounting around works for new housing was quite handy to give certain muscles a break!
A few miles on, and I was still on Route 4 and I eventually found my way through suburbia to somewhere in the Southmead area. I was getting hacked off by unclear and missing signage now, and all of a sudden it all dried up for Route 4. I went back to trusting my wayfaring senses, and followed signs for the city centre. Somewhere along the way, I pulled over and got Maps going on, spurred on to do so when I saw a 73 bus going towards Bristol Temple Meads. Which was the direction I wanted, but the bus was going the other way.
It turned out I'd managed to ride away from the centre of Bristol, but not in the right direction. Maps gave me a route and I must say right now I didn't realise how hilly Bristol is! Somewhere in the Frenchay or Fishponds area, I saw a sign reading 'Bristol and Bath Railway Path' which is what I was looking for. Oh good, at last I can get that done too. I wouldn't be doing the whole route, granted, but it could be completed another day, I'm bound to come back to Bristol one day to head towards the South West anyway.
I was soon onto the path, and I was on 50.6 miles I think at that point. More nutrition was by now needed, as was caffeine but that wasn't an option. Having fuelled up, I got going again and was soon forcing the legs to get pedalling. They weren't wanting to, and the ache in the back of the neck and in the lower back was getting tedious.
Somewhere around Staple Hill Road I do believe, there were works which started this week for 8 weeks, so there was a diversion. I made that to be 3 diversions so far on this ride, and thankfully it was well signed with those little red pedestrian signs used for roadworks. I think the route was rejoined around Signal Road, but don't quote me on that. Once back on the path, it was time to drop the hammer, to put the power down, to enter Maximum Power Mode. Time was going by far too fast, and I had a fair few miles to go yet.
I was soon at Warmley, and sadly I didn't note the location where the route to Yate had branched off as it had a triangular junction station which needed fuller investigation. Time was too short to stop for a photo there, but I did manage a quick one at Warmley. The cafe was tempting, but I just couldn't risk missing the train back to Newport. Onwards and upwards, despite the legs not liking me any more.
I soon found myself by Oldland Common on the Avon Valley Railway, which warranted a photo. I noted amongst other things a Class 07 (07010 I think) and two Class 31s which I didn't get a chance to ID. A quick photo at the south end of Bitton station, despite the body's plea for a cuppa, was grabbed before I kept up the charge for Bath Spa. I was reportedly 7 miles from Bath and I had a vision of missing the 1611 out of Bath with the need of buying another ticket.
So I resolved to thrash away as fast as I could, and once I saw a sign telling me I was 4 miles away I got a bit of a second wind of enthusiasm. I soon saw the mainline and a pair of Turbos heading west saw me get a bit hyper and exclaimed my joy! Every mile was getting challenging now, but eventually I came away from the path briefly before joining the path alongside the river.
Oh look, a diversion! Four diversions in one ride is unheard of for me, but I was soon around that and pedalling away into the centre of Bath Spa. The glorious architecture soon welcomed me to the area, and after a brief trek away from the centre I was soon parked up outside Bath Spa railway station, 65 and something miles done. The Gran Fondo was mine, as was the 400km challenge on Strava for November 2021. I only had the 30 hour challenge to complete and I would be done with the month's challenges much quicker than expected!
After locking up the bike, following my arrival at 1544 so approximately 5 hours and 50 minutes after leaving Newport, I picked up my ticket to Newport and initially I was going to the cafe across the road for my long-awaited cuppa. I figured I'd go to Sainsburys for urgently needed supplies first though, and when I discovered their hot drinks machine was being rebranded I could not resist a large Yorkshire Tea for £1.25 in an orange Sainsburys takeaway cup!
With various supplies also sourced, much of which made it all the way back to Hereford as it turned out, I was soon on 158749 and 158769 to Bristol Parkway. Oh wow that seat was so comfortable, I had not sat down on anything other than my saddle since around 0940, and I'm sure most if not all of you can imagine how much a long ride can leave one a bit uncomfortable after a while! That cuppa was incredibly welcome, as were two small pieces of malt loaf, a hazelnut Nomo chocolate bar and a vegan ham roll. That felt a lot better, I can tell you!
Before too long I was at Bristol Parkway, and the wait there for 800314 was over in no time. By Newport, with the aid of some Nightcore, I had got quite a bit of the trip report done. To my amazement, I not only got the bike up onto the IET hook without issue but also down from it too! Over to platform 4, and 67010 was soon in to take me back to Hereford. I spent the entire journey to Hereford with music on and typing the trip report up. By the time I alighted, I was looking forward to a lazy meal, and I was committed to a visit to the local chippy. A portion of chips would make me feel better in no time, as would something decadent...The ice cream put me into a food coma, and I collapsed into a deep sleep before 2030.
