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.
Easton Connection 2019
An awesome ride but took me a good couple of hours longer than my usual 300k time. The ride down a Portland to the Lighthouse was amazing all be it there was a gratuitous hill on the way. The stage via Burton Bradstock was deceptively hilly and I bottled out of riding up Gold Hill as it was lethal on wet cobbles! Riding across the Longleat Estate at dusk was amazing. The cycle path and tunnels were exciting although I wish I’d got there before dark and the final climb up Lansdown Lane almost finished me off. I lost my way coming into BrIstol so local knowledge may help. The Dahl at the end was scrummy. A really challenging and varied route with amazing scenery and landscapes but possibly one of the hardest 300s I’ve done. But in a good way.
