Bristol to London, Kennet/Avon canal path, there and back.

Cycle Route Forum > England Forum > Bristol Forum >
1 2 >
wheelnut 11 Jul 19:49  

Joined: 11 Jul 2010

Posts: 5

Bike:

Im thinking of cycling the towpath in the near future , camping a few nights along the way. Have any of you ever done this route? If so, are there plenty of campsites nearby ,or oportunities for wild camping? Also, anyone fancy joining the trip?

twhite 13 Jul 21:14  

Joined: 12 Jul 2010

Posts: 6

Bike:

hey, Just cycled (month ago) Newbury to newport. So most of journey was on route number 4. Was a beautiful ride, you're going to love it. Especially between Devizes and bath in my opinion.. but to be fair it was all good. Shame I didnt start in London though.

I followed route 4 for most of it, but on occasion ignored the signs taking me away from the canal. It's possible to stay on it all the way from Newb to Bath. But where the route does take a detour it goes through some really nice villages and countryside, so either way its good. Probably faster staright down the canal though I rekon.

Plenty of wild camping oportunities I think, especially once you get in to Wiltshire and berkshire. HAving said that, on my first night I slept at a campsite just past the locks in devises. I'd had enough just as I cycled past a pub with a campsite out back, an ideal combo..... and second night I made it to just past chepstow and slept in a bush at the edge of a forest by some farmland.. no-one in sight.

To give you an idea of how much I enjoyed it. I've never cycled more than 40ks in a day. This trip took 220ks. I loved it so much that on thursday I leave for a 20 day trip zigzagging around the country up to john of groats. Thast all off the back of this one trip.

have a gooden






wheelnut 14 Jul 18:58  

Joined: 11 Jul 2010

Posts: 5

Bike:

Hey, thanks for reply, It sounds as good as Ive been imagining. Cheers


PolarJust 15 Jul 10:25  

Joined: 15 Jul 2010

Posts: 2

Bike:

Hey!

I'm in Hilperton near Trowbridge. If you do it, look me up and I'll bang our a few miles with you.

If you're looking for a place to stay there's Marsh Farm at Hilperton (Martin Oatley) which has a campsite right on the canalside. Great site, nice and clean, and not too far from the village pub for a good carb loading session!

Best of luck

Just


wheelnut 15 Jul 18:25  

Joined: 11 Jul 2010

Posts: 5

Bike:

Great stuff ,thanks.
Twite, can you give me any idea of the tow path surface state? Would you say road tyres or knoblies?


sparkman 15 Jul 19:33  

Joined: 15 Jul 2010

Posts: 1

Bike:

Watching this thread with interest. I have a Giant Defy 3 which I would like to use on exactly this route. Have fitted with 25c Maxxise Re use in the hope that they will cope with any rough bits. Opinions appreciated.


mbailey 29 Jul 12:47  

Joined: 15 Feb 2009

Posts: 2

Bike:

I would definately not recommend this route on a road bike. I did this last year on my Hybrid with 700x35 tyres and that was bad enough. The canal path from devices to bath is variable, its hard packed stone in places, but does have some holes.

It's a great ride, I did Bath to Basingstoke in a day, but not on a road bike. Stick to the A4 if you want to do it on a road bike.


wsl55 05 Aug 18:23  

Joined: 05 Aug 2010

Posts: 2

Bike:

I went on road bike Melksham to Bath and back. such a lovely ride. next day went from Melksham to Devizes and back. I didnt find it difficult on my road bike, but do agree that some areas are not so smooth. if you have been now, how was it for you?


wheelnut 06 Aug 22:12  

Joined: 11 Jul 2010

Posts: 5

Bike:

Ive done the bit between Devizes and Newbury and can confirm tyres no smoother than my Schwalbe land cruisers are the way to go. Great ride though and wild camps abound.


Talisman 18 Oct 20:20  

Joined: 18 Oct 2010

Posts: 6

Bike:

My brother in law and I did Bristol to London, the last week of August 2010, on the K&A towpath and then alongside the Thames on the Thames Path, which is really for pedestrians, all the way. We didn't deviate anywhere away from the canal or river. we used our normal commuting hybrids and made it with no damage, albeit in hindsight we may have been lucky we didn't buckle a wheel and if we did it again we would prefer mountain bikes for peace of mind. It took 3 days, B&B at Hungerford and Windsor. Train back from Paddington, with bikes, for £9.50 inclusive. Overall, it was a lot harder than we bargained for, it turned the ride into a mini adventure, we are glad we did it, but we won't be doing it again. It was fun and felt an accomplishment. As the postings for this forum are earlier in the year, I won't go into a longer explanation, but if anyone needs more info, please shout.


EJT 14 Jan 12:27  

Joined: 14 Jan 2011

Posts: 1

Bike:

Hi all,

My husband and a couple of friends are planning to do Reading to Bristol along the canal path. They think they can do this in a day, on road bikes. They are all fit but don't cycle that regularly

Is this going to be possible? I think they might be underestimating the challenge as they keep saying things like "its all totally flat and with a path", "how hard can it be" etc!

Thanks!


Talisman 25 Jan 22:02  

Joined: 18 Oct 2010

Posts: 6

Bike:

I'd say they are underestimating the challenge.The stretch from Bristol to Devizes is good and last August we were averaging 12mph. My recollection of Newbury to Reading is now hazy but what does stick in my mind is the Devizes to Newbury stretch. Yes, it's flat, it would be alongside a canal, but the path is terrible and non-existent in places. On one stretch we were riding over a field. Sometimes the path is only inches wide with head high vegetation growing across the path. The worst was the tree roots which were exposed and growing across the path, reducing speed to almost nil and unbelievably bumpy. In the wet, we would have had to walk. As I say in my post above, I think we were lucky to not buckle a wheel and we are both agreed we wouldn't attempt it again on less than a MTB. We did it in a dry spell and are convinced that, if the weather had been wet, we would have had to give up on our hybrids. It took us 8 hours actual cycling just to do Bristol to Hungerford. Both of us were reasonably fit.I hope this is helpful.


wheelnut 26 Jan 19:51  

Joined: 11 Jul 2010

Posts: 5

Bike:

Ditto to what Talisman says.


oldbiker 01 Feb 19:41  

Joined: 31 Jan 2011

Posts: 2

Bike:

Joined: 31 Jan 2011

Posts: 1

Bike:

A group of us did Bristol to Reading in October 2009 and 2010 on 1950's lightweights (27inch x 1 1/4 inch tyres) with no trouble. It would be easier to follow Sustrans route 4 signs onto quiet roads between Devizes and Pewsey.There is a Sustrans route map available,use it as a guide and you will get a good experience of the canal and a good ride.
best of luck
old biker




smithvinny 03 Feb 19:56  

Joined: 03 Feb 2011

Posts: 1

Bike:

Following this with interest. I have committed to organising a charity bike ride Bristol-London over 4 days for 15 people and was planning on doing route 4 so tips above very helpful. Going to get new bike for trip as have road bike at present. Any recommendations for c£500?.


jp1 07 Feb 14:44  

Joined: 07 Feb 2011

Posts: 2

Bike:

Hi cyclists,
some advice would be great. A crowd of us are cycling Windsor to Cardiff for charity in April this year.
we have booked accommodation after the first day's cycling at Bradford on Avon, that means we all have to get from Windsor to Bath in a day. Is this a possibility - all moderately fit, some of us have cycled London to Paris over three days.
We'll be in small pods of twelve or less and are planning to leave at approximately seven am.
Id appreciate feedback,
cheers


kplod 09 Feb 14:43  

Joined: 09 Feb 2011

Posts: 1

Bike:

Hi all, I've been following this thread for ages as I intend to ride from Newbury to Bristol during the May (Royal) Bank Holiday weekend. I'm getting worried now though as to the state of the canal paths as I have a road bike with 700c wheels. (Although I recently bought some Schwalbe Landcruisers thinking they would do the job). Please keep up the advice. Thanks.


Talisman 11 Feb 20:35  

Joined: 18 Oct 2010

Posts: 6

Bike:

kplod. We had 700 x 35 tyres on our hybrids, took things carefully, and had no wheel problems Bristol to Newbury.

We did as "oldbiker" advises and carried the Sustrans Route 4 map, so that if we had to give up on the Devizes to Newbury stage of the K&A towpath we could take a suitable exit onto Route 4.


dcycling 05 Jun 20:46  

Joined: 05 Jun 2011

Posts: 2

Bike:

Planning to do Bath-Reading (if not Bristol-Reading) in one day. My main question is with regards to the choice of tyres (i.e. the dominant type of path surface). Some posts recommend fitting heavy touring or CX (if not MTB) tyres. What is the main driver? Is it just shock absorption? It's all flat so I cannot see why grip would be a big issue as long as it's dry.


Talisman 07 Jun 21:06  

Joined: 18 Oct 2010

Posts: 6

Bike:

Hi, Dcycling. It's shock absorption. The surface from Bristol to Bath is tarmac - excellent. Bath to Devizes is, for the most,fine compacted gravel - good. Devizes onwards is compacted hardcore, exposed mud (hopefully dry), and grass. Please see my January post. The worst surface is the exposed tree roots at some sections Imagine riding over a very long cattle grid which has small diameter bars with many missing. Squishy tyres, suspension and padded shorts are a wish list. But we did it on ordinary hybrid road tyres, at 40psi, which is about as hard as you can get them using a small hand pump. But it really slowed us down. To me, Bristol to Reading in a day sounds daunting but not impossible if you have a very early start and are prepared for some 10 to 11 hours actually in the saddle. Whatever, it will be fun. I hope you enjoy it.


1 2 >