Sunday 26 February 2012

Brockley Combe to Bristol Airport

Start: A370 GR: 473668    Finish: Bristol Airport Perimeter Road GR: 496648
Horizontal Distance: 5.9km       Height Gain: 155m

I would guess that most readers will have 'done' Brockley Combe a some stage. Perhaps not this version though. Most will have started from the crossroads on the A370, proceeded up Brockley Combe and Downside Road and finished on the A38 beneath the the airport. And there's the point. There is a variation that finishes above it. Watch out for the little road on your right once you've passed the 16th tee of Tall Pines golf club, it's called Cooks Bridle Path, but in fact it's a perfectly passable road. Follow this and it will take you up to the airport, round the perimeter road then to a sharp right angle bend where the road turns south and you've arrived at the summit.


As you may well know, the section up Brockley Combe and Downside Road isn't too demanding. For sure there's a steady climb but the angle is simple enough. The sting in this route comes on the Cooks Bridle Path section; there's a reasonable bank up past Tall Pines golf club which leads on to another onto the airport perimeter road. The perimeter road itself is perfectly pleasant (and about level) before a dip round past the end of the runway leads on to two final climbs, one pulling up from the right angle bend that takes you back east after passing the runway and and another up to the summit past all the people watching the aeroplanes take off... Why? I guess they're wondering why we're cycling up the hill. But only we get to sail off down to Wrington.


Summary: Perfectly pleasant. Not overly demanding but fairly long with a sting at the end. 

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