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Tour stage in Bristol

by brooksby
Mon, Sep 03, 2018 15:33
9

OK, so it turns out I have a day off tomorrow and I may slope down to watch the Tour come through Bristol.  Do you actually get to see anything if you wait at the finish line, or is there too much happening around it?  (Never been to *any* professional sporting event before... ).

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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Redvee | 6 years ago
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Watched the highlighs show in ITV Hub over the weekend as I was out of the country last week and knowing the local roads the last few miles to the finish were hard, climbing up Providence Lane in Long Ashton then Rownham Hill a few miles later is not the route I'd choose.

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hawkinspeter replied to Redvee | 6 years ago
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Redvee wrote:

Watched the highlighs show in ITV Hub over the weekend as I was out of the country last week and knowing the local roads the last few miles to the finish were hard, climbing up Providence Lane in Long Ashton then Rownham Hill a few miles later is not the route I'd choose.

I almost killed my wife a few weeks ago when I led her up Rownham Hill in the hunt for Gromits. She doesn't like hills very much and it was a particularly hot day.

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brooksby replied to hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
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hawkinspeter wrote:

Redvee wrote:

Watched the highlighs show in ITV Hub over the weekend as I was out of the country last week and knowing the local roads the last few miles to the finish were hard, climbing up Providence Lane in Long Ashton then Rownham Hill a few miles later is not the route I'd choose.

I almost killed my wife a few weeks ago when I led her up Rownham Hill in the hunt for Gromits. She doesn't like hills very much and it was a particularly hot day.

I lack the physical ability to ride up Rownham Hill, and the nerve to ride down it.

(I've ridden up Bridge Valley Road a few times, mind, on the shared-use path).

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hawkinspeter replied to brooksby | 6 years ago
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brooksby wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

Redvee wrote:

Watched the highlighs show in ITV Hub over the weekend as I was out of the country last week and knowing the local roads the last few miles to the finish were hard, climbing up Providence Lane in Long Ashton then Rownham Hill a few miles later is not the route I'd choose.

I almost killed my wife a few weeks ago when I led her up Rownham Hill in the hunt for Gromits. She doesn't like hills very much and it was a particularly hot day.

I lack the physical ability to ride up Rownham Hill, and the nerve to ride down it.

(I've ridden up Bridge Valley Road a few times, mind, on the shared-use path).

It's definitely not a good road to go up as you the pavement rises above the road, so if you need to stop,  you end up pushing your bike up the steep road with not much room for cars to overtake you (which is what my wife ended up doing whilst I was waiting, chuckling, at the top).

I wouldn't fancy going down it as I'd be dragging my brakes all the way down and not getting much benefit from the gradient. I tend to be a bit cautious on steep hills and end up not going much quicker than if I were on the flat. I much prefer a nice long shallow downhill.

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brooksby replied to hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
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hawkinspeter wrote:

It's definitely not a good road to go up as you the pavement rises above the road, so if you need to stop,  you end up pushing your bike up the steep road with not much room for cars to overtake you (which is what my wife ended up doing whilst I was waiting, chuckling, at the top).

Don't forget that there's no footpath on the other side of the road, either.

And that there's not even any access to the raised footpath for the length of the hill.

(For non-locals, "raised" in this case means the rutted and potholed footpath climbs at a steeper angle than the road and ends up about ten feet above the road!)

My wife won't even take her car (1973 VW microbus) up there because she's scared about what would happen if she had a mechanical halfway up...  If she's anywhere at the bottom she prefers to go all the way around and over the suspension bridge rather than up the hill! 

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hawkinspeter replied to brooksby | 6 years ago
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brooksby wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

It's definitely not a good road to go up as you the pavement rises above the road, so if you need to stop,  you end up pushing your bike up the steep road with not much room for cars to overtake you (which is what my wife ended up doing whilst I was waiting, chuckling, at the top).

Don't forget that there's no footpath on the other side of the road, either.

And that there's not even any access to the raised footpath for the length of the hill.

(For non-locals, "raised" in this case means the rutted and potholed footpath climbs at a steeper angle than the road and ends up about ten feet above the road!)

My wife won't even take her car (1973 VW microbus) up there because she's scared about what would happen if she had a mechanical halfway up...  If she's anywhere at the bottom she prefers to go all the way around and over the suspension bridge rather than up the hill! 

What made it even funnier (to my twisted mind) was that we'd just had lunch and a pint and my wife had made some remark about her beating me up it when I warned her that the hill was a b**ch (she had no chance, I'm a lot quicker than her).

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brooksby replied to hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
1 like

hawkinspeter wrote:

brooksby wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

It's definitely not a good road to go up as you the pavement rises above the road, so if you need to stop,  you end up pushing your bike up the steep road with not much room for cars to overtake you (which is what my wife ended up doing whilst I was waiting, chuckling, at the top).

Don't forget that there's no footpath on the other side of the road, either.

And that there's not even any access to the raised footpath for the length of the hill.

(For non-locals, "raised" in this case means the rutted and potholed footpath climbs at a steeper angle than the road and ends up about ten feet above the road!)

My wife won't even take her car (1973 VW microbus) up there because she's scared about what would happen if she had a mechanical halfway up...  If she's anywhere at the bottom she prefers to go all the way around and over the suspension bridge rather than up the hill! 

What made it even funnier (to my twisted mind) was that we'd just had lunch and a pint and my wife had made some remark about her beating me up it when I warned her that the hill was a b**ch (she had no chance, I'm a lot quicker than her).

No: in all fairness, that IS funny

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brooksby | 6 years ago
3 likes

I went up on the Downs for the finish. Everyone watching on huge screens then dashing across to the road to try and be in time to see the finish. Got to be honest, the sheer speed of the sprint finish was absolutely astounding. The atmosphere was amazing too.

Only negative thing was in my head, wondering how many of the people there will support cycle racing as a sporting event whilst still being aggressive drivers who really don't want to share the roads day-to-day.

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Grahamd | 6 years ago
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Watched the tour come through Monmouthshire on Sunday, nice to see a small breakaway breeze through followed by the peloton a minute later. Made me feel a bit slow. Highlight was chatting to fellow cyclists for 20 minutes whilst waiting, rather than the 20 second burst of activity. Would do it again though.

 

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