Cycling to Bath
Some years ago my dad and I cycled from Newbury to Pewsey, largely along the canal, to visit a friend of his. We promised ourselves that one day we would complete the stint from Pewsey to Bath and I'm proud to say that yesterday we made it.
We caught the train to Pewsey and then cycled to join the tow-path at Devizes and on to Bath. It was a fantastic ride, and the scenery - especially from Bradford Upon Avon - was simply stunning. We cycled almost 50 miles in total, including a final few miles uphill out of Bath to Tog Hill where my mum picked us up.
We were fortunate with the weather and didn't have any reliability issues either, which was good. My dad was riding the same bike he rode from London to Edinburgh when he was 17, which is very cool. I have to admit that after much deliberation I opted not to take my new Giant because I haven't mastered the toe-clips enough to deal with the constant stop-start regime that the tow-path could have demanded if it was narrow and busy. Being primarily a road-bike I also wasn't sure how well it would take the rough stuff, but on reflection it would have coped admirably. Despite the fact it didn't get used yesterday, I'm pleased to say that in the last three or so weeks I've clocked up over 160 miles on it :)
The old Falcon coped with the Bath run, even if I did get the feeling at times that it was going to fail on me before the journey was complete. It's never been the most reliable of bikes :S
Now to get on with my packing and sorting myself out for next term. I can't believe how quickly the summer has gone, but I am looking forward to being back in Oxford.
We caught the train to Pewsey and then cycled to join the tow-path at Devizes and on to Bath. It was a fantastic ride, and the scenery - especially from Bradford Upon Avon - was simply stunning. We cycled almost 50 miles in total, including a final few miles uphill out of Bath to Tog Hill where my mum picked us up.
We were fortunate with the weather and didn't have any reliability issues either, which was good. My dad was riding the same bike he rode from London to Edinburgh when he was 17, which is very cool. I have to admit that after much deliberation I opted not to take my new Giant because I haven't mastered the toe-clips enough to deal with the constant stop-start regime that the tow-path could have demanded if it was narrow and busy. Being primarily a road-bike I also wasn't sure how well it would take the rough stuff, but on reflection it would have coped admirably. Despite the fact it didn't get used yesterday, I'm pleased to say that in the last three or so weeks I've clocked up over 160 miles on it :)
The old Falcon coped with the Bath run, even if I did get the feeling at times that it was going to fail on me before the journey was complete. It's never been the most reliable of bikes :S
Now to get on with my packing and sorting myself out for next term. I can't believe how quickly the summer has gone, but I am looking forward to being back in Oxford.
Comments