Bristol Rally
I try to get at least one short tour in every year, and this year the August Bank Holiday weekend seemed like the perfect opportunity. After wetting the whistle back in May with a short two-day trip, I was itching to squeeze in one more, this time a little longer, before the summer disappeared.
I’ve been more than lucky with the weather on the bike over the years, so I really can’t complain. But after months of dry weather, the Bank Holiday weekend was shaping up to be a pretty wet one. I kept a close eye on the forecast in the days leading up to it, and, as luck would have it, things came good once again. In the end, the weather turned out to be pretty much perfect.
We knew we wanted to do a route close to home and something that would span four days. Without too much planning or thought, we had a quick look on Komoot and came across the Bristol Rally that someone had plotted out. A 190-mile loop starting on one side of Bristol, heading south around Salisbury before eventually making its way back to the other side of Bristol.
As with our usual starting point, we set off from Salisbury, just a short drive from home, with plenty of parking to leave the vehicle for a few days. Below is a breakdown of all the different aspects of the trip, what the route was like, the bike I rode, the weather, where we camped and, of course, the crew.
THE ROUTE
As we started in Salisbury, our first day was spent on Salisbury Plain and MOD land, which is always a treat. The trails around the MOD are wide-open, smooth gravel and, as long as you don’t get redirected because someone is firing a cannon, it’s some splendid riding.
The route is about 50/50 on- and off-road, which might not be ideal for the die-hard off-roaders out there. But in my experience, in the UK, sometimes routes take you off-road for the sake of it. This often means riding across some rutted grass field or pushing through stinging nettles, thinking, I’d rather be on that quiet country lane that I can basically see from here.
A big highlight was getting to ride up Cheddar Gorge, which I’d of course heard of but had no idea what to expect. It honestly felt like the Alps or something, with its winding ascent and huge limestone cliffs.
Things get pretty hilly over the last couple of days, but nothing too crazy. Overall, the route was a really good mix of terrain, with none of the unnecessary BS.
THE BIKE
I took my trusty Rufus on this trip, but it was my first time touring with flat bars, which I was both excited and apprehensive about. With drops, you have so many hand positions that, over multiple days, really help to avoid any discomfort in your arms. I had a slight niggle in my right arm before we left, but in general, the setup was great. It was nice to be a bit more upright for multiple days in the saddle.
This bike has seen some miles, and I hadn’t really given it a tune-up since the summer started, so she did start to make some noises after day one. Just a few creaks and groans, but she made it round and is now getting some well-deserved TLC.
I’ve been running Teravail Ehline tyres for a while now, in the 2.3" size, and the smooth-rolling centre makes for a great all-round touring tyre. Big enough for the rough stuff, but fast-rolling enough for those country lanes.
I did, however, get three flats on the trip, one of which was on a 30mph rocky descent that was a bit of a squeaky-bum moment. I usually do pretty well, but I think my recent bragging about tubes and how few flats I get finally caught up with me on this trip. Still, no messy slime to deal with when you do get a flat, so I’ll keep bragging for now.
THE WEATHER
As I mentioned, the weather forecast changed to pretty heavy rain about a week before we set off, following a summer of record-breaking dry heat. This meant I packed a lot more than I usually would, simply because I bought some extra clothes when I’d normally just not bother. There’s no escaping smelling like ass on these trips, so clean clothes are a waste of time in my opinion. But with rain on the cards, I didn’t want to put wet clothes back on in the morning or sleep in them at night.
We did set off in the rain on the first day, and even though I’m not one to ride in the rain, it really didn’t bother me. I think knowing you were out there for the next few days brought on a certain careless acceptance of it. And with that acceptance came drier weather. It ended up barely raining at all, just a few short, heavy downpours here and there.
Pretty much every other tour I’ve done has been really hot for at least two-thirds of the trip, so it was actually really nice to be out pedalling in slightly damp and cooler weather. After so much heat and dryness this summer, that little bit of rain also made the trails absolutely prime.
THE CAMPING
There are endless places to camp in the UK, all illegal apart from a few areas, but nonetheless, there are a ton of good spots if you’re willing to bend the rules a little bit. I feel like people are so scared to “wild camp” (I hate that term) that it actually makes it easier for those of us who are willing to do it. Often you’re in the BF middle of nowhere on public land, so who’s going to find you for one, and if they did, what are they going to do? Approach four dudes setting up tents and tell them they need to move on?
One of the funniest parts of touring for me is getting to the end of the day and figuring out where you are, and where the nearest and best place is to set up for the night. We never plan where we’re going to sleep on any of the nights, and we always find somewhere. Some spots are better than others, and sometimes you might have to ride 15 more miles than you planned to, but that’s all part of the adventure.
The one thing we do always try our best to avoid is sleeping on someone else’s private land, especially after seeing that video of the guy getting sprayed with shit by an angry farmer. Who, let’s be honest, had every right to do it, but I definitely wouldn’t want to experience that.
THE CREW
Now, this is probably the most important part, and decision, you need to make before you go on a bike tour: who you’re going with.
I’ve travelled with a lot of people going all the way back to my BMX days, and often I didn’t have much of a choice in who that was going to be. I was pretty lucky, though, as the brands I rode for really understood that a solid crew was everything. One bad egg and it can sour the whole trip, and trust me, I’ve been on the road with some right fucking roosters before.
It’s not always easy to know if someone is going to travel well, so make sure you’re going with people you know you vibe with. I feel like even one overnighter with someone will give you a pretty good indicator of how they’ll be as a companion on a multi-day trip. If they’re up and pacing in the morning, want to get moving before the whole crew is ready, or lack awareness of other people’s time and the group collective as a whole, then you probably don’t want to be on the road with them.
Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t necessarily a bad person. Some of my closest friends are people I wouldn’t particularly want to travel with, and I’ve found that out the hard way. It’s just something that’s worth considering carefully.
Our crew was Phil and Scotty, who I’ve both toured with before and are a pleasure to be on the road with. It’s nothing but shit-talking and laughs. As a last-minute addition, our other friend, and a new friend to me, Dan joined us. I didn’t know Dan that well, but I’d spent a night camping with him earlier in the summer and detected no red flags. He’s lived in a van for eight years and has a calm demeanour, so he was a great addition to the line-up.
THE SUMMARY
The route was actually really good, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for a short four-day tour in the South West. As I said above, there were no BS off-road sections for the sake of being off-road, and, in true UK fashion, you’re never far from civilisation, but just far enough away to disconnect and free your mind from the rat race that is everyday life.