Why this ride
From Bristol it runs 220 km to Bristol; allow about 3 h 38 of riding. On the way it passes City of Bath, Blaenavon Industrial Landscape and back through City of Bath.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bristol afternoon · Blaenavon Industrial Landscape
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 220 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 38
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Bristol
Bristol sits at the head of the Severn estuary, which has the second-highest tidal range in the world, and its history is the history of ships. In 1497 John Cabot set sail from here in a small vessel called the Matthew and reached the coast of North America, and for centuries the merchants of the city grew rich on trade, much of it, as the city now admits, on the back of the slave trade. Isambard Kingdom Brunel left his mark: the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which crosses the Avon gorge in a single graceful span, opened in 1864 after his death, and the SS Great Britain, his great iron steamship, is now a museum in the dock where she was built.
Read the complete Bristol write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bristol is where the day begins. Next is City of Bath.
2. City of Bath
Bath is one of the few whole cities on the UNESCO list, and it earns it twice over. Underneath lie the Roman baths of Aquae Sulis, built around the only natural hot springs in Britain, where water still comes up at around forty-six degrees and the great pool, with its later colonnade above, steams in the cold. On top sits the Georgian city that eighteenth-century society built when Bath became the place to see and be seen, in honey-coloured local limestone: the Circus, the sweep of the Royal Crescent, the shops on Pulteney Bridge over the Avon and the long elegant terraces climbing the hills.
Read the complete City of Bath write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
City of Bath comes up 29 km in. Next is City of Bath.
3. City of Bath
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete City of Bath write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
57 km in you reach City of Bath.
4. City of Bath
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete City of Bath write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
City of Bath, about halfway. Next is Blaenavon Industrial Landscape.
5. Blaenavon Industrial Landscape
Blaenavon is a town on a hill that ought to be a mountain, with a shape and a story that suit the mountain. It stands high at the head of a valley in south Wales, at the edge of the Brecon Beacons, and in the late eighteenth century it became one of the great ironmaking centres of the world. The ironworks, built in 1789 and now preserved, shows how the furnaces, the casting house and the workers' cottages fitted together, and Stack Square, where the ironworkers lived, is still a place you can walk through. The whole landscape, with its quarries, tramroads, reservoirs and spoil heaps, was listed by UNESCO in 2000.
Read the complete Blaenavon Industrial Landscape write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Blaenavon Industrial Landscape sits at 114 km, about halfway. Next is back through City of Bath.
6. back through City of Bath
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete City of Bath write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through City of Bath comes up 143 km in. Next is back through City of Bath.
7. back through City of Bath
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete City of Bath write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
171 km in you reach back through City of Bath.
8. back through City of Bath
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete City of Bath write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through City of Bath, late in the day. Next is Bristol.
9. Bristol
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bristol write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 220 km.
Leg by leg
Bristol to City of Bath
Bristol → City of Bath is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
City of Bath to Blaenavon Industrial Landscape
City of Bath → Blaenavon Industrial Landscape is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Blaenavon Industrial Landscape to back through City of Bath
Blaenavon Industrial Landscape → back through City of Bath is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through City of Bath to Bristol
back through City of Bath → Bristol is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.