Bath to Bedwyn

Saturday saw three of us (Paul R, Neil and Rachel) gather at Bath Spa railway station for a training and timing run to Bedwyn.  The weather was cold and damp, with a NE wind.

We set off only five minutes late, at 08:30, and promptly got on the wrong side of the canal two or three times in Bath!  The towpath swaps sides frequently through Bath Locks.  Still, we made good time to reach Bradford-on-Avon at 09:50.  The towpath along this section is wide and smooth; we took it at a leisurely pace to help Rach break her new bike in.

The towpath continues to be good quality, though not as wide, to the Caen Hill Locks below Devizes.  We reached the bottom of the flight at 11:00, bang on time - at which point Rach slipped on gravel and hurt her knee.  First aid applied, we reached the top of the flight half an hour later, where a handy cafe supplied us with more plasters.

Past Devizes the towpath and National Cycle Route 4 diverge, to rejoin much later just west of Newbury.  The difference is notable.  The towpath becomes much rougher - lumps and bumps where muddy paths have taken footprints which have been baked in the sun - and is often covered with grass, which slows the bike down and obscures the bumps.  We had had to slow down for Rach in any case, but it's doubtful that we'd have gone much quicker.  We reached the Barge Inn at Honeystreet for lunch an hour late, at 13:30, but mine genial host promptly supplied us with chilli and antiseptic wipes!

We left our lunch stop at 14:45, but the going continued to be difficult.  Only as we approached Pewsey Wharf 45 minutes laterdid we get some respite from the tiring surface.  We decided between us that Rach could go no further, so diverted to Pewsey itself and the train station.  The next train wasn't for an hour and a half.  Paul volunteered to wait with Rach to make sure she got her bike on the train ok, while Neil continued on to Bedwyn and thence Hungerford.

After Pewsey the towpath isn't much better than before, and the wind had turned into a strong easterly which Neil was riding directly into.  Fortunately the Bruce Tunnel and the summit of the canal is only 25 minutes or so east of Pewsey, and after that it's downhill.  Neil pushed hard to make up some of the lost time, and was back home in Hungerford at 17:30 - nine hours and fifty miles after starting.

In just four and a half weeks we will need to do twice the distance in an estimated thirteen hours.  Some planning is still required.  We could probably speed up on the section to Bradford-on-Avon so that we don't have to push so hard on the poor towpath sections.  We know that it takes four hours to reach Reading from Hungerford on fresh legs, but Neil's legs weren't going to get much further on Saturday!