MTB trail: "The Corrie Road"

We've not done much coverage of the mountain bike trails in the area for a while, trails such as Nova, Super Nova of Ashton Court, along with Yer Tiz in Leigh Woods.

To catch up then, lets look at another council-manufactured technical trail through the trees, "Corrie Road".

This trail starts at the local village of "Beddmynster-upon-Avon", known locally as "Bemmy". It can be reached by train from Bedminster Station, or directly from Templemeads via the new Clarence Road segregated path. There also is parking by the local store, "Asda". They sell food and fresh bread there —visit it if you haven't already! Note that while this shop is surviving, the adjacent library is at risk of being shut down and converted to gentrified housing.

As well as food from the local store, you can also buy bicycle spares at that eclectic Bristol chain, Motorman. You can also get waterproofs, footwear and other things from the friendly folk at Taunton Leisure. For anyone planning to make a weekend of it, there is some accommodation right in front of the trail itself. (warning: some of those reviews are a bit negative)

The trail itself is an all weather off-road surface. There are a number of tree obstacles to "work"; making for a very swoopy course. It is probably the easiest to do as a nighttime-excursion, primarily because of the streetlights placed in the middle of the trail itself! You won't be needing any helmet lights here!

It's also flat and straight: no real navigational problems. We'd recommend it as an intro to MTB-ing for children, were it not for the fact that if they get an obstacle wrong and fall left, they will end up going under the wheels of an HGV —this road is notable in that it is still a 30 mph road; the 20 mph zone begins behind it.

Here then is the trail done at near-race speed, though the rider doesn't clear every slalom gate correctly.



Sadly, the trail does peter about rather abruptly, leaving you with a choice of where to go next. Turn right to get to The Chocolate Path, where you can head to the Avon Gorge, the pump trail, or Ashton Court itself via the "metrobus wasteland" —formerly known as Festival Way. Alternative options are head back towards the starting point of the road via the Chocolate path and a non-technical pavement route, or simply return the way you came. Yes, The Corrie Road path is two way —do watch out for oncoming cyclists as you commit into the bend around a tree.

After a ride, we recommend the pub "The Windmill" in Bedminster, or the Nova Scotia at the end of the Chocolate Path—both of which are fine establishments to consume a beer or three.

Evening Post; Why not a cycle free day?

In the Evening Post' singlehanded counterattack to the "cities fit for cycling" campaign coming out of London, another "Trusted Source", Roy, the disgruntled motorist!, who again wants bicycles banned from our streets, at least for a day a week.

Roy starts off with,

All too often Bristol boasts how cycle friendly it is. Is this really a good thing? Myself, and many colleagues and friends disagree strongly.

We often whine about them in the pubs too. Don't forget that drink-driving laws discriminate against us on the way home from those same pubs.

Now before I go any further, I must point out that I am a part-time cyclist, and when cycling I aim to stay out of the way of proper road users by sticking to cycle paths and lanes wherever possible

The classic "I used to cycle" opener is right up there with the "some of my best friends are cyclists" phrase, which the EP is normally most happy with. We don't say either as they are not true, and the phrases come over like the head of the UK catholic church saying "some my best friends are gay" before denouncing the right of two men to hold hands in public. We do say "some of our best customers come from the catholic clergy", but that's another topic.

Everyday I experience horrendous behaviour from cyclists. Considering they are vulnerable, they often risk their lives jumping red lights, undertaking at junctions, hopping on and off of pavements at their convenience and generally getting in the way of the legitimate road user. I realise not all cyclists behave like this, just the vast majority, especially the Lycra ones who think they are as wide as cars!

Red lights, Lycra, pavements, in the way. Check.  We are going to write some Evening Post bingo cards for these letters -or perhaps an automated evening post letter generator.

I also appreciate not all us car drivers are saints as the odd couple let us down.

Don't forget us van drivers here!

I lay part of the blame with Bristol City Council for trying too hard to please cyclists and look trendy. All these advanced starting grids at traffic lights is the dumbest idea yet. Encouraging the roads slowest users to blatantly sit right in the way of the cars before the lights change, then get in the way of our desire to get somewhere quick. That is, when the cyclist obeys the lights!!!

Now we are confused. Either the cyclists sit in your way in the ASL or they run the lights. You can't complain about both at the same time. It's like saying "50% tax rate for me is too high" and "HRMC keep trying to make us pay tax"

Another gripe is the fact that despite all the cycle lanes on pavements, cyclists still use our road.

Pavements. In or out?

Coronation Road is a prime example. A few months back I was following a lorry along there, who was struggling to get past a dad and two young boys cycling along the road. The lorry eventually passed, narrowly missing the boys. I tried to tell the father this fact, but was met with typical cyclist arrogance.

Ah, Coronation Road. We've covered that before, especially how the mature trees do not make this a cycle path. Because of those trees, it's hard to to say "They should cycle on the pavement there", especially when you shout out the window. Just sound your horn a bit instead.

It should be law to stick to a cycle lane where provided, to protect the cyclist, and more importantly, improve the car drivers progress.

Exactly. There are more people on cycles than ever before -and have you noticed congestion gets worse? Congestion costs our country twenty billion pounds a year -and it's all the cyclists fault.

I feel there needs to be more legislation to protect the proper road user from the menace cyclist. To start with, cyclists should have insurance. Can you imagine the damage they could do to a cars paintwork if they were to get in the way?

Don't use the "get in the way" phrase, as it's one of those "I may need to run them over" claims that the police get back to later. We prefer "crash into our parked car". Actually, this gives an idea. Why not advocate strict liability -whenever a cyclist hits a car, it's their fault!

Bodywork repair costs a lot these days. I find it harder by the day to avoid cyclists who flout the highway code. They should also be made to pay a small tax, and have a registration plate of some description. This would help to hold them accountable for the accidents they cause. The tax could pay for cycle wardens to fine them every time they break the law.

Registration, license, tax. Three more bingo items ticked off. And a new one; cycle wardens. Nice idea. But how to stop them ticketing cars for things too?

I would also like to add, cyclists are also a menace on the pavement.

Again, inconsistent arguments. Either they are on the road when you are driving or they are on the pavement when you are walking. You have to pick your point of view and argue with it: speeding on-road criminals, slow moving families, pavement cyclists or lycra louts. Pick one, not criticise them for: stopping at ASLs, running red lights, being on the road, not being on the road, wearing lycra, not wearing hi-viz. Right now the letter just comes over as an ill-informed rant, not an attempt to communicate your issues to people outside your two mates in a pub.

I'm sure many readers would agree. Trying to walk near Temple Meads station is a gamble. If you think I am anti-cyclist you would be right.

An anti-cyclist part-time cyclist. Now this does make our brain explode. This we would like to see. Someone cycling on the pavement shouting "get off the pavement" at himself, going onto the road and then shouting "get on the pavement!". Please send videos of Roy to the usual address.

Years of trying to avoid their antics have made me this way. I am all for saving the environment, but please do it in a lawful, polite manner, and stay off the road where possible. Do not undertake where its dangerous, obey road signs and traffic lights and respect the car driver who funds the cycle lanes you fail to use!!! Do all this and we can all be friends!

Roy, the disgruntled motorist!

We're not actually sure that people cycle to save the environment, though it makes a nice outgroup to explain why they cycle and we, the important people, don't. We prefer to say "we are not against unimportant people, but why do they have to hold us up"


Summary: badly argued, not that entertaining. The Evening Post is losing its edge. Must try harder.

Coronation Road Cycle Path

The Coronation Road bike path is a source of excellent photographs. It is also an item of regular contention in the comments section of evening post articles, the key comment being "why aren't you tax dodging cyclists using it instead of holding us up", apart from when the comment is "why are you cycle terrorists trying to run us pedestrians over all the time"

Well, we sent someone on a bicycle (it's OK, it was a Sunday) to ride the route. At the Bedminster End, we can see some tourist signs clearly marking the split between the pedestrian area (on the right), and the cyclist route -the faded markings to the left.

The approaching cyclist is on the wrong side, though the presence of the Bristol Traffic van (we were unloading the bicycle) may have been a factor. Note, however, the new signs up on the walkers side showing them the route to the Malago stream/footpath/bike path. We aren't entirely sure why anyone walking or cycling would cross just there, rather than at the pelican crossing right behind the camera, and we aren't convinced that signage was something this path was short of.

Anyway, on to the path. As you can see, the presence of large trees down the centre of the path does complicate things, as do the lamp posts, the road signs and other pavement features. Fortunately, for both us drivers and those cyclists, there no 20 mph signs. This road is deliberately kept at 30 mph, because the council recognises it is a key traffic route in and out the city, especially for somerset commuters coming in on the A370, A369 or even A4/Avonmouth Road. Since the council stole the Queen's Road dual carriageway, this is a faster route to drive to the Templemeads area from the nice places out of town.

Because of its critical nature as a key traffic route, it is essential that cyclists stay out the way, yet many of them don't. This video of the cycle route shows that anyone complaining about it is a whining troublemaker who should be grateful for what they get doled out for free. It also shows that they have forgotten the time when the path stopped at every tree and diverted them roadward, not pavementward. This not only annoyed the cyclists, but could inconvenience us drivers too, so we are slightly more pleased that now it is the pedestrians who are held up.

The big problem is the trees, not only do they force cyclists to swerve into the pedestrians lane at speed, they hide the signs in the middle of the path behind them, and could increase risk at night, especially from unlit cyclists. Fortunately, the many street lights positioned in the middle of the lane reduce the risk of a cyclist not seeing any of the many pieces of street furniture. Furthermore, there are now banners up round the city encouraging cyclists not to cycle without lights to reduce the risk of them hitting any of the trees here.

Looking back, we see no alternative option for this road. As we have seen from the Muller Road build-out which attempts to provide a safe cycle route on a main thoroughfare, that just creates congestion on a key access route for the city.

A better option would be to remove this route, and ban bicycles from Coronation Road. Even if they do cycle up the path, we know later on they will be in our way, in town. Saying "No bicycles welcome here", sets everyone expectations up clearly, but this this path only does it halfheartedly.

Coronation Road: safety enhancements

More news from our new contributor, flytopia. These pics also mark our first photos from a google nexus one phone, which also includes GPS location data in the images. Handy.

A concerned citizen has noticed the danger posed by the roadwork signs on Coronation Road (i.e. a cyclist may fall into the road, blocking traffic).

They have selflessly parked their car M442AHU on the cycle path, creating a far more visible deterrent to cycling.

Coronation Road Improvements

We have a new contributor, "flytopia", who has some good news about the Coronation Road bike path. It's been made more dangerous. In their own excellent words:

On this blog you've often mentioned the excellent Coronation Road cycle path. The path does a fantastic job of bringing cyclists and pedestrians into conflict, as cyclists swerve round the many large trees and streetlamps into the paths of angry oncoming walkers.

If the cyclist chooses instead to ride in the road they will face abuse from drivers, who rightly point out they should be using the cycle path provided. This sends a clear message to cyclists in Bristol - you're not welcome.

However, the immobile nature of the trees leads to a problem - people get used to them. The cyclists know when to slow down, and the pedestrians know when to expect cyclists to try to squeeze past them. What we really need is a few extra obstacles to shake things up a bit.

Now these signs may look a bit obvious - after all they're designed to be seen from a long way off, so the cyclist has time to react, slow down and avoid swerving into old ladies. But the fun comes in the evening when the cyclists are returning from town.

The backs of these signs are invisible in the failing light, especially for those cyclists that are not using lights (which is pretty much all of them, right?)

I've stuck a brief video on YouTube. Unfortunately I didn't catch anyone crashing into the signs and it was raining so I didn't stick around. I got a cyclist sticking to the road and a sensible hi-viz runner

We thank flytopia for their contribution -both photographs and commentary! We hope for more in the future!

Muller Roadworks

Here are the some roadworks on Muller Road, a key M32 access route. We have proposed widening this road in the past, by using up the under-exploited pavement and bits of greenery on the side -here some allotments.

Is this happening? Has the council seen reason, realised that a wider road would help traffic to get to and from the motorway, and so even boost bus journey times? Not a chance

This is the current end of the Farm Pub Path route. They are narrowing the road, adding some raised bike lane leading up to some light-controlled crossing that will slow down us, the tax paying economic backbone of the city, while the cyclists and pedestrians, the underpeople, pootle over.

Yet look at this pavement. There is perfectly enough room to the right of the pedestrian to fit bicycles. True, there are trees in the way at regular intervals -yet this has not been a barrier to on-pavement bike paths elsewhere in the city, coronation road in particular!

If a bike path with trees along the middle of it kept bicycles out of the way of into-city commuter traffic in South Bristol, there's no reason why it wouldn't work here as well.

Coronation Road Crash

We have a photo of the flowers left on Coronation Road at the site of Friday's fatal motorbike/lorry collision.

There's also a letter from his sister; it is very sad. Clearly, he will be missed very much by his family. It should not have come to this.

Motorcycle Rider Billy James killed on Coronation Road

There is a new blog documenting parking and traffic issues in Southville: http://southvilleparking.blogspot.com/

It's already a better source of local road news than the BBC or Evening Post, which is why it is so sad to read its coverage of a fatal motorbike/lorry collision at the junction of Coronation Road and Dean Lane. The comments by people that knew him say that rider's name was Billy James, He will be sadly missed by all of his friends in Highbury and Kings Crescent estate and by all whom had the pleasure of knowing him.

Sometimes on this site we are bit unhappy about motorbikes using our parking facilities and bike lanes, but the harsh truth is that bikes and motorbikes are equally vulnerable to collisions with motor vehicles, to cars pulling out while you go along a road with the right of way, to anyone else out there making a mistake. And lorries -which Coronation Road suffers from- pretty much guarantee that when something goes wrong, it's the two wheeled vehicle user is in deep trouble. It was just along from here, at the roundabout, that I had a lorry drive over the back of my bike, and it was terrifying: the lorry edging out looking right for a gap, me, in front of the lorry, having my bike first pushed into the junction and then, after jumping off the bike, having it go under the lorry wheel. Lorries are dangerous. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are bad drivers, only that the whole vehicle's design isn't appropriate for city streets. And when something goes wrong, its the pedestrian, the cyclist, the motorcyclist and even the car driver who comes out worst.

Today, we have a new name to remember, a Bristolian who came out worst against a lorry: Billy Joy. Billy, we didn't know you, but we will think of you whenever we pass this junction.
-SteveL and family.

Coronation Road bike lane

Joe Evans also sends in a photograph of the Coronation Road bike lane, though there is a car blocking the view.

If you look past the car, you can see the path, which goes alongside the Avon new cut. This path is famous for its greenery. On the Bristol-Bath path you get greenery beside the path. Here you get mature trees in the middle of the path itself. This is why this bike lane is one of the most popular in the city, right up until it comes to a halt behind this car, P719UHY.