It is here. No PBP qualifiers or LEL prep this year so a gratuitous series of BR AAA events to benefit from the extra time. (Almost) All ridden by myself in the past, some established, and honed to provide the best appreciation of hills across the South West and beyond, all with GWR links.
Sat 7th March - Wells, Mells & Broader! 200 -
www.gwraudax.co.uk/wmb200Sat 25th April - Bill's Easton Connection 300 -
www.gwraudax.co.uk/bec300Sat 9th May - Exe Barnstaple Branch 400 -
www.gwraudax.co.uk/ebb400Sat 9th May - Down & Black 200 -
www.gwraudax.co.uk/db200Sat 30th May - Devilishly Elegant 600 -
www.gwraudax.co.uk/de600Sat 11th July - A Bluestone's Throw 400 -
www.gwraudax.co.uk/bst400Fri 28th Aug - The Giant's Tooth 500 -
www.gwraudax.co.uk/gt500Sat 19th Sept - Chalke & hAAArd Cheese 200 -
www.gwraudax.co.uk/caaac200Interactive maps for each event in the links which also then link back to AUK registration.
Also shorter distances available on each day all with AAA points for a mini challenge. Full list of current GWR events here:
www.gwraudax.co.uk/calendar-eventsKicking it off is the third running of
Wells, Mells & Broader! 200 with 2.75AAA. Not only does it use the wonderful traffic free Colliers Way, a former railway, for a lovely descent into Radstock but also controls at Yeovil Railway Centre in the old transfer shed where freight was moved from broad to standard gauge rolling stock. 83 finishers in 2019.
Next up is the second outing of
Bill's Easton Connection 300 with 5.00AAA. Making a beeline from Easton, Bristol to the coast and Easton, Isle of Portland, terminus of a GWR branchline and on to its Lighthouse at The Bill; use a couple of railway paths in the process, Weymouth was a GWR dock with steamers serving the Channel Islands. Then zig west along the Jurassic Coast before zagging back across the Dorset Hills with views of Cerne Abbas Giant. The final stretch challenges you to Shaftesbury's infamous Gold Hill before passing through Longleat Estate, using the 2Tunnels Greenway into Bath and one final push to get you back to the Arrivee. 58 finishers in 2019.
Then we have the
Exe Barnstaple Branch 400 with 6.75AAA. Straight out of Bristol over its domineering Dundry Hill and into The Mendips to descend Cheddar Gorge. Cross The Levels and gently climb The Quantocks to plunge down to control at Bishop's Lydeard Station. Scale Exmoor passing below Dunkery Beacon. Then the fun begins along the North Devon Coastline; Porlock Toll, the brute out of Lynmouth, Valley of the Rocks to the western tip of Exmoor - this is the most arduous section gaining a massive amount of climb in a relatively short distance. From Ilfracombe use the old Barnstaple Branchline gently climbing The Slade Valley before rounding the headland at Croyde, pick up the old railway line again at Bruton into Barnstaple. Once more up onto Exmoor, another long climb. Run the southern ridge with views to Dartmoor before dropping down to pick up The Exe Valley to Bickleigh and Devon Railway Centre. Back east you go over the Blackdown Hills to Winsham for dinner (inc). The final leg home enjoys some respite to Wells before once more back across The Mendips and Dundry Hill.
An additional distance on the same day as above to give options for people's commitments.
Down & Black 200 with 3.00AAA. As above but after Bishop's Lydeard Station you cut across into the Blackdown Hills to pick up the 400 return route benefitting from afternoon tea at Winsham.
Finally (I say finally as there is no alternative for this one, it is the pinnacle) there is the
Devilishly Elegant 600 with 10.25AAA. This is the calendar version of my ACP SR 600 perm
https://www.facebook.com/GWRaudax/photos/a.243710282767244/769053283566272/. First up you have The Cotswolds around Stroud to contend with. Then relax up the Severn Valley until to The Malverns, Herefordshire’s hills, Long Mynd and beyond. Cross the Severn once more and edge Berwyn to the Old Horseshoe Pass; IMHO this is the toughest bit. North to the Clywdians and descend Bwlch Penbarras. Over the hills and through Clocaenog Forest as the Milk Race once did. Then into Snowdonia to Llan Ffestiniog. More mountain roads as you climb Bwlch y Groes the ‘easy’ way before descending the hard to cruise down the Dovey Valley and around the coast. Up into the hills once again to
Devil‘s Bridge stopping at the station of the Vale of Rheidol Railway; with locamotives made at Swindon’s GWR works it was the last state operated steam railway only becoming a charity when privatisation occured. Over to the Elan (
Elegant) Valley and descend to the Wye; for a bit. Glorious hills to Hay-on-Wye, more hills, and views of Raglan Castle, to Chepstow before back across the bridge to the Arrivee.
Entry is open. The sleep stop is bijou: no bedding provided but sleepingbags & mats transported if you don't carry them yourself; simple evening meal and breakfast; no showers.
A new route for 2020
A Bluestone's Throw 400 with 6.75AAA - same as the other 400 so no easy option
. This has actually been on the cards for a long time after I ready about Craig Rhos-y-felin and it being one of the birthplaces of Stonehenge's bluestones; I do believe there was a Time Team or similar suggesting they floated them around the coast rather than dragged across land, some suggest it was actually the glaciers that deposited them from their source, but I digress...
Having crossed the Severn Bridge into Wales make your way to Usk following NCN42 with a superb drop down to the valley floor. Back lanes to Pontypool and the old road as you climb up for the first stop at ‘Breakfast in Bread’ – open early for you; then over to Crumlin. On to the spectacular Hengoed Viaduct; sold for £1 once the tracks were ripped up. Follow this old railway for a while then various cycle routes to first the Taff Valley, second the Cynon. Into the hills and follow NCN47 arching north above the Rhondda Valleys through forest and open hill tops on tracks and wind farm service roads before descending to the Neath Valley. Over to the Tawe. Remote hill tops to the Amman Valley. Into Carmarthan on rural lanes and out on more to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and Craig Rhos-y-felin for an al fresco BBQ (by the stone outcrop subject to landowner confirmation). Now you are all ‘beefed’ up it is time to return. You will be thankful that you have put almost 2/3rds of the climbing behind you at this point! Head back to Carmarthen, bit of A40 here but there is an adjacent cyclepath should you wish to use depending on time of day. Enjoy the respite of ‘flat’ roads up the Towy Valley for a good 30km before climbing up to Usk reservior and over to Trecastle. The next 70km to Usk is all ‘downhill’ and easily navigable late in the evening with tired legs. Up once more then downhill to Chepstow and the bridge. Finally that last hill of the ride, small in comparison to what is behind you, will feel like a mountain!
This event compliments the visit to Stonehenge, Avebury and Woodhenge the following day and can be done back to back.
www.gwraudax.co.uk/ptna200Back for 2020 and an odd distance not usually found in an SR but it can be substituted for shorter distances,
The Giant's Tooth 500 with 8.25AAA. Legend has it the Giant Bica lost his tooth on Llangrannog beach whilst eating berries from the cliff. The solitary rock is known as Carreg Bica, or Giant’s Tooth.
With a late start cruise to Sennybridge along the Usk Valley through the night before into the hills at Trecastle. Then the Towy Valley passing through Carmarthen. Now let the hills begin proper like as you head to Fishguard, a former GWR port with their steam ships serving Ireland, then skim along the coast to Llangrannog. Inland again to Tregaron and the infamous mountain road with its iconic phone & letterbox. Descending the Devil’s Staircase can be just as daunting as climbing it! Then across Sennybridge Ranges via Mynydd Bwlch-y-Groes stopping in Sennybridge this time. Buckle up for The Devil’s Elbow then you are into The Valleys, hopping across for the final leg home through Caerleon.
To round it all off the
Chalke & hAAArd Cheese 200 with 3.00AAA; a variation of the popular winter route but hAAArder! You head out from Warmley Station along the Bristol to Bath Railway Path, now get ready as the similarity quickly fades. Vaulting over valleys to Frome, then more ups through chalk downs with glimpses of Fovant’s Badges to the Chalke Valley, named after a small tributary to the River Ebble emerging at Broad Chalke. After the control you turn back on yourself before continuing up the valley as the winter version did to Shaftesbury first climbing onto Charlton Down, the northern edge of Cranborne Chase; here you may see on the horizon The Needles if a clear day. Leaving the hilltop town behind the Mere thought of #wills_hills may dwindle, briefly, before passing East Somerset Railway, stopping at Cranmore Memorial Hall for CAKE laid on by the WI! Continuing up and atop The Mendips before descending to Cheddar for some cheese then, you guessed it, ascending its mighty Gorge for the final hint of the winter route as you traverse The Mendips to the Chew Valley and on to the Arrivée.
Cloth badge for all those completing the SR Series in one Audax season from the above selection; further details:
www.gwraudax.co.uk/aaa-sr (artwork to follow soon)
Do you accept the challenge?
Happy New Year!