BRIEF:
Head to the coast for the Easton connection & Portland Bill. Return along the Jurassic Coast & via Gold Hill in Shaftesbury. #wills_hills & views in good supply, 3 different railway paths included.
EVENT REVIEW SUMMARY:
| Type: BR | Points Distance: 300 | Total Distance: 306km |
| Speeds: 15-30km | AAA: 5.00 Apex Grimpeur | Climb: 4884 |
| Duration: 20h20 | Entry closes: 22/04/20 | Entry: £0.00 |
Route:
Extensive route notes and a variety of files will be distributed to entrants via email a week or two before the event. In the mean time use the interactive map for an overview of what lies ahead (subject to change); toggle the elevation & grade on/off by clicking the key. *Please note plugin's 'grade' is experimental so take it with a pinch of salt, especially where rocky outcrops may be present.
Event Information
description:
A quick exit south from Easton and the city tracing the former Bristol & North Somerset Railway into The Mendips and its old mining towns. Continue south through the rolling East Somerset and Dorset hills with vistas across The Levels. Descend along the ridge above the Cerne Giant, after climbing it of course, to Dorchester; Hardy’s Casterbridge with its Roman Ampitheatre. Ascend again giving views out to the coast before plummeting down the old main road to Weymouth where you pick up The Rodwell Trail. Then pass through the other Easton for the connection; this was the terminus of the Easton & Church Hope Railway which later GWR took control of. Arriving at Portland Bill have lunch by the Lighthouse before heading back zigging west along the Jurassic Coast with fantastic views of Chesil Beach. Then zag east across the Dorset Valleys; #wills_hills galore, catching a glimpse (don’t stare!) of the Giant before passing through the picturesque Milton Abbas. Now north you go with cracking views from atop Woolland Hill making your way to Shaftesbury and the cobbles of Gold Hill! Edge the West Wiltshire Downs and pass through Longleat to Frome and the southern end of The Cotswolds. Enjoy the 2 Tunnels, part of the old Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. Pop out in Bath for the last big climb of the day, up Lansdown Lane! Then back into Bristol to a warm welcome in the final link of the Easton connection.
details:
Hot drinks, breakfast and hot food at finish included.
On street parking locally, you’ll be updated before the event.
Cloth badge for all finishers of the GWR AAA SR series completed this AUK season.
Reviews
What others think.
Bill's Easton Connection (2019)
Bill’s Easton Connection (2019). The hardest 300 I have ridden overall. There are no spectacular climbs, but rather there is a constant war of attrition on the legs, with short and sharp ups and downs and, as the downs are often laney, little oportunity for the more cautious rider to get speed up. Portland Bill makes for a lovely mid-point, especially if you haven’t been there before, and the return North to Bristol is filled with some particularly lovely villages, as well as the cobbled climb up to the cafe in Shaftesbury (which caught me out — the trick, I was told, was to commit early), and Longleat’s grounds. Never has Lansdown Hill seemed so long and so steep. Will Pomeroy, the organizer, increases his reputation as the Torquemada of the Audax world, testing one’s faith in one’s legs. Only the pure of heart survive. All is forgiven, though, when one realizes the elegance of the route’s naming. Pictures #gwrbec
Grimper Gold
What an incredible route with beautifully brutal climbs, brilliant scenery and an epic feat of endurance. Myself and a friend took it on as we were keen of the medal for our collection. What I remember from all those months ago:
• Very well organised, with complimentary breakfast early doors, and friendly faces at several check points.
• A number of the published ‘Greatest Climbs’ en route
• Volunteers waiting a good few extra minutes for us at the top of the mighty Gold Hill
• An unforgettable pedal through the disused railway lines almost home and dry in Bath
• The view looking back to the coastline on the image above
• Will kindly waiting up for us in the early hours as we rolled in after the PBP cut-off time
…and then there’s our stats: 9,403 calories, 4951m of elevation gain, Bristol-Weymouth-Bristol, start time 6AM, finish time 2:38AM.
