Real world rides, real world riders

Coast to coast - One day’s ride

If you fancy a coast to coast ride, can’t stretch to Route 66 and find yourself in Somerset, then try this one. Weston-super-Mare and West Bay are two well known motorcycle haunts in the South West, and they’re joined by 60-odd miles of entertaining roads and fascinating topography. I did this route north to south – I’m sure it’s just as much fun going the other way, but this is of course uphill and therefore slower.

Ah, Weston-super-Mare, England’s answer to Le Touquet, thanks to its famous beach racing, which is taking place October 7-9, probably just as you read this. If you have missed it, try and get there next year, as it is quite a spectacle, with bikes and quads racing flat out across the vast expanse of sand that sits here at low tide. To make things interesting, a fleet of JCBs scoops out an obstacle course of whoops, jumps and berms on one side.

But on a drizzly Wednesday in September, when I’m there, it’s far less exciting, especially when the tide’s out. Still, there’s a good selection of cafes open, and a very attractive glass fibre donkey (life-size) outside one of them. There were lots of these (donkeys as well as cafes) in Weston until recently, and why they appeared in the first place is a mystery. A friend found one outside his flat one morning – it had evidently been levered off its plinth by a group of revellers during the night, who found the joke wore a bit thin after carrying the donkey half a mile, and dumped it.

Said friend kept it in his bedroom for a while (let’s not go there) until the council came to collect it.

Donkeys or not, Weston does have an impressive and spacious seafront, with lots of green space, a long, long prom and some (I wouldn’t say a lot of) bike parking.

Trying to navigate away from the sea through the centre of town is a tedious affair, and it’s easier to head south, following signs for the A370 and A38 towards Highbridge. The A38, like lots of these old A-roads paralleled by the motorways that replaced them, can make for a great ride. But this isn’t the best bit – despite the closeness of the M5, the old main road is still busy, and we crawl into and through Highbridge, where it’s hard to believe that this was once Britain’s autoroute de sol for the South West.

At Highbridge, turn left onto the B3139 for Mark, over a railway bridge and finally out onto the Somerset Levels. It’s a remarkable landscape, about 650,000 acres of land that’s flatter than the proverbial pancake, most of it just a few metres above sea level. Flooding, you won’t be surprised to learn, was a serious problem until they got the drainage sorted out.

At Mark (twinned with a village in Yorkshire, named Dave) we turn right onto a minor road signed Glastonbury and Burtle. The roads across the Levels are a subject in themselves. Built up on causeways to keep above floodwater, they run straight as can be before 90-degree bends send them off in another direction. Some of these bends have chevrons, some don’t… either way, the roads have a serious subsidence problem, parts sinking into the soggy, peaty soil they sit on to create a switchback that can have you bouncing out of the saddle even at moderate speeds.

Gives the suspension a good workout as well.

At the village of Burtle (the name means small piece of raised ground in these parts) we turn right and head gradually uphill to Shapwick, leaving the Levels behind for a while. But not for long, because we head straight down on the other side of the village, cross the busy A39 and get glimpses of the Levels as we lose yet more height, cross the A361 and get back on the flatlands, with another straight and lumpy stretch of Tarmac taking us to the foot of the Poldens. The road twists its way up to High Ham (a nice antidote to all the flat going), where there’s a traditional four-sail windmill, nicely restored by the National Trust and open to visitors.

Back on the bike and it’s off the Poldens and down to Langport, said to be one of the smallest towns in England. Or largest village. Seek out The Hill, a road that squeezes through a 13th century archway named Hanging Chapel. Only room for one car at a time, and no indication as to who has right of way – drivers must be unusually polite around here.

We haven’t finished with the Levels yet, leaving Langport to wind past Muchelney Abbey, then bouncing along to the B3165 and heading through Martock, all golden-yellow Ham stone, very nice. Cross the A303 and we’re onto the A356 and (once through Crewkerne) 3066. Finally, if you’ve been frustrated by pootling across the Levels, here is a twisty, swoopy A-road that dives into valleys and climbs over wooded hills. We’ve crossed the border into Dorset, and this is one of the hilliest parts of the little county – the contrast with the Levels is complete.

Beaminster is such a picturesque market town that even the Co-op keeps its bay window. The famous delicatessen was closed when I was there, but Nick Tett the butcher does a very nice line in pork and blue vinney pies. Pie eaten, it’s A3066
for the last miles into Bridport (fewer overtaking opportunities on this stretch) bypass the town and follow the signs for West Bay. You can tell this is a popular bikey place.

Not only are there 25-odd motorcycle spaces, but all are within 20 yards of a choice of chip shacks. If you’re feeling energetic, walk a bit of the cliff-top coast path (spectacular but hard work) or else sit back and reflect on the South West’s very own Coast to Coast.