Just a quick thread to say good job Brizzle on making cycling in the city so easy and accessible 😀

Never ridden around Bristol before but on seeing the rain lashing down at the weekend I decided to ride the hour it takes to get there, play around Ashton Court for 3 hours then ride the hour home again.

I was really surprised at the network of bike paths and safe cycling routes around the city and was surprised just how easy it was to cross Bristol and get up to Ashton Court without really knowing where I was going and without having to dodge any traffic. Excellent, wide shared use paths away from the road and excellent sign posting of the cycle network. Really a great job that I guess a lot of citys should take notes from. Certainly a massive improvement over citys I’ve been to/ lived in in the past. Whoever has pushed to get the cycle network up and running needs a good pat on the back.

Ashton Court itself was a pleasant surprise too. I didn’t go expecting a lot as some people seem to grumble here on STW but I think given the location they have done an excellent job on making fun, weather proof trails. I guess the credit for that goes to these guys. Again, super easy to find your way around and a good flow throughout the bits I rode on Ashton Court, Leigh Woods and 50 Acre Wood. I didn’t come across anything intimidating but it was refreshing to ride wooded singletrack and beautifully linked up berms after riding big hills and fast open descents for so long. There really is a lot of fun stuff crammed in a small space! Not sure if I’d go in the dry as I could literally hear the shouts of “Staaava!” emanating from the MAMILS wobbling all over the place and pushing through trying to get home before the real rain hit. I can imagine it might be a different story at peak time in the dry when I guess it all gets a bit crowded. 50 Acre Wood was struggling a touch in the wet but still good fun and I’ll pop down to dig and readdress the karma of sloshing through on the next dig day 😀

I’ve no doubt there’s a ton of riding around Bristol and next time I’ll make sure I explore further afield, but first impressions on cycling through the city and getting a fun ride in around Ashton Court in the pouring rain without having to put any real thought in to route planning was it really quite good 😀 Well done everyone who has put the hard work in there!

P.S. How do you make the rocks and roots so grippy? Was bloomin’ lovely to not have to worry so much about washing out every two seconds like the natural stuff nearer to home. Even the bigger slabs of rock were as grippy in the downpour as I’d expect them to be in the dry! 😀

Cheers Dan. I organise the infrequent trail days in 50 Acre and it’s really cool to hear someone say unprompted how much they enjoy riding there.

In terms of grippiness, I think you must’ve hit the sweet spot before everything got slimy and muddy – grip isn’t normally the first thing people associate with the trails!

We don’t have a lot to do with the stuff in Ashton Court these days, and the development was all done by these guys (mostly staff from the Forestry Commission) http://www.1sw.org.uk/experience/trail-hubs/ashton-court-leigh-woods/ and the building by Architrail and Clixby’s.

There are a few more local routes here, if you haven’t seen them already: http://bristoltrailsgroup.com/route-guide/

What a lovely, glowing report! We are very lucky in Bristol, what with the network of bike friendly routes into the wood and all the work put in by some really committed volunteers and professionals over the years.

I was amused to read your comments about grip in the wet – you must have some ace tyres/skills as the one thing the local limestone tends to do is polish up and get ‘interesting’ in the wet.

I hope you come back in the dry – you’ll find it’s still ace in the dry and your fears about overcrowding unfounded. One of the joys about any spell of dry weather is the extent to which the wider network of natural trails become rideable.

Well, Ashton Court was grippier than Leigh Wood and Leigh Wood was grippier than 50 Acre Wood… but all were grippier than the trails closer to home which I have to properly mince down 😀 Tyres were 2.1 Rocket Rons which I’ve been hating for local riding. No idea! Maybe I just got lucky because I certainly don’t have skills 😀

There are a few more local routes here, if you haven’t seen them already

Thanks for the link. I didn’t give these routes a go for my first outing in Bristol in the pouring rain as I wasn’t sure how well the more natural stuff would hold up. I can’t wait to explore if we have another nice drier spell 😀 Are the routes in the link at least passable after a ton of rain? I don’t mind if it is slow going, slippy and a touch miserable to long as it is physically rideable.

My biggest fears of Bristol were getting followed home but hats of to anyone who rode an hour in the monsoon I got caught up in… still sleep with the bike under the bed though 😐

The natural stuff out North Somerset way was good fun last night, not exactly pristine but far from impassable.

Bike crime is definitely an issue in Bristol but the “follow home” thefts seem to have dropped off. You can always thwart the thieves by going to a pub after riding, and staying there with your bike until they get bored.

I went for the “ride home taking in as many big hills and off road trails as possible for over and hour” technique which I hope acts as a deterrent… the pub stop does sound easier though! 😀

The route maps above had gotten me thinking about a ride along the lines of catching the train to Weston Super Mare and then riding home through the trails around Bristol… if there is rideable stuff between the bottom of the route through Brockley Wood and King’s Wood. Maybe take in some stuff that must exist just North of Cheddar too… should make a good day out 😀

-it is an excellent place to ride; good to hear you enjoyed it.

Regarding peak times, I’d avoid it on sunny weekend afternoons in summer time, as that’s when the families come out. It’d good to see (and get) the kids out, and people trying to negotiate the trails at race speed aren’t going to do it, and only end up upsetting people. Even on weekends though, mornings and evenings work fine.

I ride AC most days on my way home. It’s easy to knock it but having visited Birmingham recently it brings home just how good we have it in Bristol….

It’s easy to knock it but having visited Birmingham recently it brings home just how good we have it in Bristol….

This is exactly the sentiment I wanted to get across with this thread. Having not visited Bristol or Ashton Court before I had the impression it would be boring and rubbish from some of the comments I’ve seen from people in the past but I found it to be exactly the opposite. I’m not sure I could ride there 10 hours a week every week of the year but it is an absolutely fantastic place for a no fuss fun blast. Brizzle locals had a great resource on their doorstep and should be over the moon with the hard work a lot of people have clearly put in to the trails 😀

I’m sure there must be lots of other pockets of trails around the country that people put lots of time and effort in to only for people to constantly knock it without realising how good they have it!

After 5 years here still not bored of getting a few laps in a couple of nights a week after work… and still finding/being shown new trails that (as long as it’s been reasonably dry) are a tonne of fun to ride.

Agreed drove down from Aberdeen for a weekend and took the tandem to blast around town all weekend which was a pleasure. Great cycle city.

I went to Ashton Court and Leigh Woods yesterday morning (for the first time in about 20 years) for a look around for something fun nearer to home than Wales/FOD/Triscombe and although I was probably a bit over biked (Alpine 160) I had a good blast around and did a bit of exploring. Didn’t get out to 50 Acre Wood as didn’t know it existed but will try it next time.

Liking the fact it’s only 20 mins from work so might be able to pop in b4 and after work now it’s getting lighter.

Tom KP

I was probably a bit over biked (Alpine 160) I had a good blast around and did a bit of exploring.

I was actually thinking the same about being over biked and am thinking a rigid singlespeed could be a blast. The only hard bit is getting up there in the first place but after that I think riding a big BMX around the place would be a ton of fun 😀

I’ve ridden the trails on a rigid singlespeed and a CX bike. It’s fast, but it’s quite unforgiving compared to riding on dirt – all the little jumps and drops add up!