[Closed] Cycling Severn Bridge

Aye, its the old bridge you cross. There is a cyclepath on the east side of the A466 out of cheapstow that will guide you onto the path ofver the bridge. Its pretty easy to navigate.

Which way round Bristol are you thinking of heading?

Well, I'm staying the night before in Langport, Somerset, so East of Bristol on A403 seems like the best option at the moment.

Is the path on the bridge easy to find Bristol side?

You don't need to ride through Bristol - head out to Clevedon from the A38 near Churchill and pick up the Avon Cycleway - it passes close to the bridge crossing, and the turning you need is signposted.

Having said that, if you're heading to York, it's unlikely that the bridge saves you many miles, if any at all.

Edited to add - the route I've described avoids Red Hill (just before Bristol Airport) which is a tough climb if you're on a loaded bike.

Severn or Avonmouth bridge?

I'd prefer to ride on the Welsh border then cut across to the Peak District then go anywhere near Birmingham to be honest.

Sorry, got your direction of travel the wrong way round there didn't I?

Yep, pretty easy to find cyclepath on east side of bridge from roundabout under juntion 1 with A403 of the M48.

If you're coming up the A403, its not a very pleasant bit of road, but it is direct. V industrial due to Avonmouth, but most HGV drivers are pretty good & there is plenty of room for everyone. If you go adding fiddly 'nice' countrylanes everywhere, you'll never get to York ...

Are you using the cyclepath alongside the M5 roadbridge over the Avon as well then? You know that?

Hmm not sure, only just started planning this trip really! How's the A4 for cycling on?

Avonmouth bridge is on the Avon Cycleway - you go through Clevedon, Portbury, Pill, Shirehampton, Henbury, Pilning, and then onto the bridge. Quiet lanes but still fairly direct.

Bristol ain't gonna be pleasant to cycle through is it? Might just go through Bath instead and camp in Gloucester

Well ransos's suggestion of following the avon cycleway is a good one. You would not use much A4, which is probably a good thing.

Why not? It's the country's first 'cycling city' and IME perfectly fine to cycle through, that was from living there for 3 years. The traffic's too congested to move at anywhere near quick enough to be a threat!

Big hills in and out of Bath. Going round to the west of Bristol on the avon cycleway is actually pretty pleasant. If you follow it from Shirehampton up to the severn crossing, its also very pleasant that way, compared to the A403. I have a PDF I can send you.

Bristol can be a bind to navigate if you don't know it though njee. If I was on a long distanmce route I'd probably prefer quiet lanes and countryside to built up places too.

IMHO the route through Bath would be harder - the hill from there going north is a swine and too full of traffic.

If you go over the Avonmouth bridge, along the A403 then over the Severn bridge, you will actually see very little of Bristol at all, only the suburbs and outlying villages that are wedged between the Severn estuary and the M5, so whether cycling through Bristol is pleasant or not is a moot point 😉

As others have said, if you base this bit of your route on the Avon cycle way, it's actually a fairly pleasant ride through quiet back lanes - you can make it more direct by adding the busier A/B roads if you need to make up time/get somewhere specific.

No travel info here, just a Severn Bridge story.

The building on the Welsh side of the old bridge is the Army Apprentices College. Young squaddies hitch-hiking back from weekends away would be dropped off at the services on the English side, walk across the bridge and then have to choose between a seven mile walk on the road through Chepstow town or a seven foot leap into a tree and a thirty or forty foot climb down into the college grounds. I was told that the jump and climb was quite popular.

IMO best to get a route for the whole ride - The CTC have them, pick the type you want: fast, scenic, B&B, Hostels. Then get one of their packs (downloadable I think now) and that will have all the instructions you need. You might have to join CTC if not already a member but a LEJOG route and 3rd party insurance alone are worth the cost.

When I did LEOJG 10 years ago we skirted Bristol (through downs) and crossed on the old Severn Crossing before heading up the Wye Valley. From what I remember it was a tough day, we got lost in Bristol, enjoyed cycling across the bridge and had drivetrain issues in the Wye Valley, got lost again on a 'shortcut' before straining to lift the whole tandem over a gate at Welsh Bicknor.

Enjoy it is an amazing ride and one you will remember for a very long time. You should now find it a lot more cycle friendly as there are so many more well-marked Sustrans routes than just 10 years ago.

Roddy.

Yes, on the day that it opened 😉 (think I was about 7)

The only reason I went through Bristol on my LEJOG is because I live there! The next day, we headed out to the bridge, Chepstow, Tintern, Monmouth, Hereford and stayed in Ludlow. Was a nice route apart from some very busy sections on the A49 between Hereford and Leominster. I managed to keep to B or minor roads apart from that. Best thing to do is ask for advice on the CTC forum, and get a spiral bound Philips super-scale atlas. You can plot your route with highlighter and take the individual pages with you.

Having said that, I wouldn't go that way for York. I'd probably go via Bath, cut across towards Oxford and carry on north through Nottinghamshire. Search for "east of the Pennines" LEJOG routes...

Thanks for the replies, useful info.

As for going via Bath and Oxford - probably would be shorter , but thought staying a night in the Peaks would be nice