Bristol Commuters?

sarajoy

Any of you cycle from about town centre up to work in Aztec West/Filton area?

I'm about to do just that (Totterdown - Aztec West) as soon as I get hold of my new bike and gear and I'm just wondering how it is?

Will I get used to the bleedin' great hill in the middle of the A38 (Filton roundabout)? Are there any really hazardous bits I should take note of? Who should I smile and wave at?

And also - hi all

Sara x

redvee

To avoid the melle that is Temple Circus of a morning/evening it might be worthwhile going past the dogs home and picking up Midland Road and going into St Judes and hitting Portland Square then Ashley Road and picking up Gloucester Road at the end of Stokes Croft. The climb up past the college isn't nice but you'll soon get used to it, the climb from town to Horfield common is easy, I can do it without changing gear, not that I have any gears to change.
The people to wave at are those RLJing though this is pointless as if they can't see a red light they aren't going to see a law abiding cyclist. As mentioned already the only hazardous bit is Temple Meads/Circus.

Where in Totterdown you coming from? Will play on googlemaps and try to find a beginners route later.
Finally welcome to the club that is SCR.

itboffin

sarajoy wrote:

Any of you cycle from about town centre up to work in Aztec West/Filton area?

I'm about to do just that (Totterdown - Aztec West) as soon as I get hold of my new bike and gear and I'm just wondering how it is?

Will I get used to the bleedin' great hill in the middle of the A38 (Filton roundabout)? Are there any really hazardous bits I should take note of? Who should I smile and wave at?

And also - hi all

Sara x

Hi Sara I have to warn you the yokels are a savage ruthless bunch of mercenaries, they pretend to be your friend just to find your route, travel times etc. then SCALP you alive.

Evil every one of them and watch out for Grandpa - shudder!!!! :shock:

Actually whilst I'm in warning mode, steer clear of GregT is says bad things

gtvlusso

Hiya,

I do Redland to Aztec everyday. Slightly different for me as I have a pretty flat run from Coldharbour road, Kellaway Avenue and picking up Gloucester road.

I think it is about a 6 mile journey - Filton hill is nothing, trick is, if you have done it once, you can do it again - just make sure that the once is the first time!

I guess you will have showers and cycle parking at work - makes a huge difference!

Generally, I try and pick a longer and trickier route - out to the old Severn crossing and up to Thornbury before heading back to Aztec. But I have done this cycling lark for a few years - prepare yourself well for the summer SCR onslaught too!

gert_lush

sarajoy wrote:

Are there any really hazardous bits I should take note of? Who should I smile and wave at?

And also - hi all

Sara x

Watch out for them all, they will creap on you, maybe a sly smile and then challenge you to the SCR dual, cue manic spinning of legs whiles trying to look cool and like your not trying

enjoy

sarajoy

Hee, wonderful replies thanks

redvee - Temple Meads/Circus is the least of my worries to be honest - right now there's roadworks so the traffic is pretty slow, and when cycling for leisure and around town I go through it quite often

My planned route is this - which is a little different as GMaps hasn't updated itself for Cabot Circus (though the satellite view is more up to date!), but there don't seem to be many nice detours on the way... Maybe Filton Ave for a bit? Hmm.

itboffin - SCALP? That one's new on me... And just spotted you pointing out Grandpa in the SCR thread, what will he do?!

gtvlusso - sounds very like my boyfriend's commute - though he hops off at the Filton RAB. If you see a great big 6'6" rider on a grey hybriddy type bike and probably a red top... try not to kill him :P He's only recently got back to riding daily after walking under a BMW about this time last year... !

And cheers gert_lush

attica

sarajoy wrote:

itboffin - SCALP? That one's new on me... And just spotted you pointing out Grandpa in the SCR thread, what will he do?!

Don't worry SJ, our commutes will only overlap around the Portland Square area assuming you take RedVees advice.

I'm coming in from Yattonia Don't be fooled by ITB though, he's casting aspertions at me as a smokesscreen (for some reason I've attained the nickname Grandpa).

Scalp = Overtaking someone who is higher than you in the foodchain (after the American Indian's penchant for removing their victim's hair slightly below the root)

sarajoy

Attica wrote:

Scalp = Overtaking someone who is higher than you in the foodchain (after the American Indian's penchant for removing their victim's hair slightly below the root)

Oh good, not chasing someone and giving them a clip round the back of the head then? Phew!

wjhall

The whole thing sounds like a classic case of "I wouldn't start from here to get there", also, as an almost complete tour of the town's dual carriageways and major roads, as a good example of how much work Cycling City needs to do to make the place habitable. Have you considered putting the question to them? If they have not yet thought of an answer, then it would be useful for them to study it.

If you are not an experienced urban cyclist, you soon will be.

The route on the map does appear to be the most direct, however, have you considered, at least for variety, the option of going SW through Patchway to pick up the Mall/Cribbs Causeway cycle tracks in the Mall area, then through Henbury to enter the Blaise Estate by the house and descend the main pathway along the Hazel Gorge, and so on through Stoke Bishop and Clifton to descend through Cliftonwood to somewhere near the centre thence round the south of the town centre to regain Totterdown.

And for a short summer trip into the country there is the back road through Spaniorum, but careful, at rush hours this is a known short cut if Cribbs Causeway jams up.

John Hall

redvee

It might be wise to go round the Temple Meads Gyratory the right way :oops: If you're comfortable doing that part of town at the mo, bear in mind when the waterboard has finished the traffic will speed up and mean a detour. A host of cycle lanes exist in the area too so you can make use of those and there is a link from Temple Meads over the river into The Dings and Avon Street/Barton Road/Midland Road/Lamb Street/Wade Street/Newfoundland Circus and pick up the route as before. Filton Aveunue is best on the way home as you bypass/avoid (delete as appropriate) Filton Hill. Think you'll have to get to Aztec West by going up beside the school on Hempton Lane and not via Consiton Road, there are some steps IIRC.

sarajoy

I seem to think you all worry too much..!

I was used to Temple Meads pre-roadworks too. Used to cycle into lectures across the Downs from Stoke Bishop down Whiteladies road into Woodland road and surroundings (and home again, back up Blackboy Hill). When I lived up by the Arches I would cycle into town centre to meet people quite happily, as well as commuting daily down to Temple Quay for work. Always along the roads.

I see the Filton Hill as an exciting challenge rather than something to avoid. Is that madness? And nope there are no steps between Coniston Rd and Aztec West, just a kissing-gate style thing to get under or wiggle through.

Am I being a bit laissez-faire? The detours are pretty huge, it's possible I may want to take a longer route for safety or ease but as said I kindof fancy the challenge of the direct route...

gtvlusso

Scalp example from this morning;

Myself on Barron SS running 44/16 - overtakes several road bikes a couple of MTB/Hybrid things; "I scalped them" - then I get my but handed to me by a bloke spinning out on another SS on a down hill by Monks Park School......:-(

i.e. "He scalped me"...I was devastated and then my fecking pager went off and I had to stop and phone into work.....bollocks, no revenge for me.

If you can get up Blackboy Hill after comeing up Park st, Filton Hill is childs play!

Some of us Brizzle commuters are planning beers at some point too - won't hijack you're thread, but we have met at Mud Dock once before!

sarajoy

Haha, no I wasn't as hardcore as that, I'd tend to cheat a bit by wheeling up the wee cobbled road by the side of the Frogmore St car park, then cycle back via Woodland Road/Cotham Hill.

The top of Blackboy Hill usually hurt a bit unless I stopped for breath where the traffic from the roundabout swings in front of you!

Mind you for much of that time I had a 4-speed-hub hybridy thing, lovely and lightweight, curvy frame, bloody thing got nicked. Bah. It was branded "Oxford" but I can't find any examples online anywhere!

Beers sound good to me, let me know

Sea_Green_Incorruptible

What IS going on at Temple Circus at the moment?

I have a bad back at the moment and so am off the velocepede and in the car. The experience is utterly loathesome, particularly as traffic at the end of the M32 seems to be worst than for years. My route doesn't actually take me past any obvious delays though so I am left to stew in ignorant frustration.

Sooner I am back on the damn bike the better.

Also, welcome Sarajoy! I too go up and down the Gloucester Road at times - only in the opposite direction to you... My only tip: ride confidently, don't be constrained by the (ill-designed and dangerous) cycle lanes and don't be afraid to take the primary position at pinch points. Give car drivers an inch on that stretch of road and they'll take a mile.

sarajoy

Sea_Green_Incorruptible wrote:

What IS going on at Temple Circus at the moment?

Dunno! For some reason I seem to think it's a sewage thing. It's annoying anyway. I tend to leave home about 9:15 as it avoids the major rush, but does mean I get home pretty late in the evenings. And getting up /earlier/ than the rush just ain't gonna happen for me!

Also there's a gas leak somewhere by the 4-lane bridge thing, so that had another van clogging a lane on it this morning. Happy days. Sooner I get my hands on my new steed the better!

Cheers for the tips I tend to just assume every car contains a real b*gger of a person who will cut me up, swing a door at me, whatever. Although hopefully most drivers aren't so antagonistic - as a driver the only cyclists that annoy me are the ones with dark clothes and no reflectives or lights in the dark. Really scary when they appear out of nowhere and you only see them by their silhouette in someone else's headlights.

TRADESIZE

sarajoy wrote:

Any of you cycle from about town centre up to work in Aztec West/Filton area?

I'm about to do just that (Totterdown - Aztec West) as soon as I get hold of my new bike and gear and I'm just wondering how it is?

Will I get used to the bleedin' great hill in the middle of the A38 (Filton roundabout)? Are there any really hazardous bits I should take note of? Who should I smile and wave at?

And also - hi all

Sara x

Greetings

I commute fromm St George not far from the feeder to Aztec West most days. I dont arrive via town or the A38 though. I go up to kingswood, thru hillfields, back of downend, to hambrook lights thru bradley stoke and I 'm here this maybe an easier way for you?. Relatively flat which is good as I'm on a single speed. Sometimes I do go the long way round home though down A38 to town then head up the A420 , becasue the way I get to work is really bland!
The only thing that does my head in is getting up at 6 most days as I got to be here by 8

I am thoroughly enjoyingthe commute though. Who do you work for?

Jeff

JonSkids

My commute is to Aztec as well. Emersons Green to Hambrook, stay on the Old Gloucester Road and turn up Trench Lane A slightly longer route but country lanes instead of the exceeding dull Sadly Broke Way. http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/skids-commute-i-team

sarajoy

TRADESIZE wrote:

maybe an easier way for you?

I've considered a few other routes but tbh I need to get used to an 8-mile commute before doing any detours! Sadly all alternative routes suggested involve equally busy parts of town to get out to them, and then sometimes they're steeper or more difficult in other ways!

I'm pretty happy with the A38 to be honest, the traffic is at a level I can handle, and I proved today I can make the hill with the odd pause - I can only assume I'll get a little fitter so may be able to do it faster/without stopping in due course

TRADESIZE wrote:

The only thing that does my head in is getting up at 6 most days as I got to be here by 8

I am thoroughly enjoyingthe commute though. Who do you work for?

Yeow, does it take you 2 hours?

I think I left my house at about 8:45 this morning, arrived at about 9:40-ish, quick shower then at my desk by 9:50. I tend to start and finish late, pretty flexible here! At STMicro, that is.

Takes longer than my usual drive commute - but cycling home on those annoying days when traffic means it would take forever to get home by car will be excellent

TRADESIZE

sarajoy wrote:

TRADESIZE wrote:

maybe an easier way for you?

I've considered a few other routes but tbh I need to get used to an 8-mile commute before doing any detours! Sadly all alternative routes suggested involve equally busy parts of town to get out to them, and then sometimes they're steeper or more difficult in other ways!

I'm pretty happy with the A38 to be honest, the traffic is at a level I can handle, and I proved today I can make the hill with the odd pause - I can only assume I'll get a little fitter so may be able to do it faster/without stopping in due course

TRADESIZE wrote:

The only thing that does my head in is getting up at 6 most days as I got to be here by 8

I am thoroughly enjoyingthe commute though. Who do you work for?

Yeow, does it take you 2 hours?

2hrs I am not that unfit . get up at 6 1/2 hrs for breakfast, set off at 6.30 arrive at 7.30, shower, at desk by 8.

Thats 4 of us on here that work at Aztec West I am at LV (insurance) at the quadrant. They are very pro cycling here, they even bought us a new bike shed about 6 months ago that cost the best part of 6k! :arrow: :arrow:

sarajoy

So which of you guys do I look out for again?

Saw a bloke on the shiniest bright blue bike I've ever seen today on the way home, wondered if it was one of you lot.

Darned snow falling again - just had to run out and re-park the car somewhere which isn't on a ruddy great slope! In my pyjamas!

Man, I'm cool.

If any of you have spotted (or want to keep an eye out for) me:
Black bike with guards, black rack pack/panniers thingy (well, it was golden yellow today as it had a rain-cover on), dayglo-yellow cycling jacket (teamed with a yellow hi-viz vest - avec smiley face! - in the evening), navy shorts, light grey leggings, white-ish helmet. Pretty slow

gert_lush

...Brown Dawes super Galaxy with one blue ortlieb pannier, yellow jackey, red panting face :)

currently I play THE GAME the A369 but soon to be changing battle grounds and taking on Westbury road..woohoo...

redvee

Snow doesn't appear to be settling at present though what it does sneakily when we all retire to our beds is another matter.

I ride a red Inbdred decorated with me in jeans and a hi viz bomberjacket with the customary cycling footwear of safety boots. Very unlikely our pathes will cross unless you do Portland Square area at 8am and 6pm.