Favourite rides
- Solo through Somerset: Laurie Chalk
Last weekend I had the opportunity to do a ride that I’ve been planning for some time. The idea was quite simple; ride from my house in Bath to my parents-in-law’s caravan near Watchet. Me being me though I wanted to avoid main roads and at the same time take in the best of what Somerset has to offer, all in approximately 60 miles. We have great countryside for riding on our doorstep but we rarely go beyond Wells and the Mendips. What else is out there? I relied on my trusty Ordnance Survey maps to show me the way.
I set off mid-morning in glorious sunshine and a helpful tailwind to nudge me along the way. Borrowing roads from my regular commute and then our very own GP de Somerset route; riding up Wellsway, through Timsbury and Paulton, up Langley’s Lane and on to the Mendips I was well on my way. Before too long I was descending at pace into Wells relishing the opportunity to test myself and my new bike out through some high speed corners. A ‘grin factor’ of 10 was achieved along with widespread views of the road ahead to Watchet. Rather than riding the usual main road around Wells I chose to take the more leisurely High Street route which was almost traffic free, emerging the other side of the city to follow the A39 towards Glastonbury and Street. It’s a relatively busy road but the surface is good, flat and ensures a direct passage to one of main objectives of the ride; the Somerset Levels.
Once through Street I continued on the A39 until the junction with the A361 branching left to follow the Taunton road for a while until the village of Greinton. At this point I headed right off the main road back into lanes following white signposts to first Moorlinch, then Sutton Mallet and finally Chedzoy. Despite the lack of hills this is great riding country with barely a car on the road and fast rolling tarmac. The area around Chedzoy is the Somerset Levels at its best; a picturesque village surrounded by seriously straight roads and open drainage ditches. Eventually I had to leave the levels as Bridgewater was quickly approaching. I got back into commuter mode to negotiate the busy A39 into the self-proclaimed ‘Home of Carnival’. The jury is still out on Bridgewater. I’ve been there a number of times but would be hard pushed to find many redeeming features. It did, however, have a well stocked garage in the town centre providing me with energy drinks and a well know chocolate bar with peanuts in it. Onwards to the Quantocks.
The road after Bridgewater is probably the least attractive of the whole ride. You could take to the lanes but none of them seemed to provide a suitable a flowing link to my next objective, Over Stowey. For approximately 7 miles I followed the A39 until reaching a road sign stating ‘Over Stowey 2 miles. Once off the main road it gently climbs, passes a couple of hamlets before you encounter a 5-way junction. The 
climb up and over the Quantocks begins here. Heading left on the road to Crowcombe I climbed and climbed and climbed through a densely wooded area eventually emerging to bright sunshine. A 2 mile climb at about 20% for at least half of it the road tops out at 328 meters. Thankful for the energy drinks I bought earlier I stopped near Dead Woman’s Ditch (I didn’t see her, thankfully) and soaked up the views across the Severn to Wales. I knew it would be all downhill from here, beginning with the descent to Crowcombe. There are no shallow hills in the Quantocks everything is steep. After all the climbing it took less than a minute with a 25% gradient to get to bottom again coming to an abrupt halt to give way to a milk tanker, a wise decision. A car driver stopped me to ask me how fast I’d been going as he’d been doing 45mph and I’d left him behind. Without a trip computer on board I just shrugged my shoulders. My eyes were watering and my legs were still a bit shaky; it was fast that’s all I know.
After Crowcombe it’s a short hop along the A358 towards Williton before branching off for West Quantoxhead and then on to the caravan park at St Audries. I arrived just under 4 and half hours after I’d left home, tired but with a real sense of achievement. My personal mechanic was 
there to greet me followed by a fresh pot of tea and some post ride grub. We finished the day with a trip into Watchet for a hefty portion of Fish n’ Chips and enjoyed the sunset.
As an offshoot you could extend this ride further through Watchet, Blue Anchor and Dunster to arrive in Minehead which adds on another 10-15 miles. Alternatively from Crowcombe you can head up and over the Brendon Hills via Monksilver, Wheddon Cross before descending all the way from 400m down to Dunster and then Minehead. Perhaps next time......
Laurie Chalk
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