What a lovely sunny day today! Although it was a bit fresh first thing my hands and toes felt as if they had frostbite coming down some of the hills, but it didn’t take long before the sun was high in the sky and the temperature rose. I was following one of the national cycle routes today, route 24. A lovely route that more or less runs parallel with the busy A36, it passes through loads of little villages with thatched houses lining the streets. All was going well until I went through Longleat, for a moment I thought I was going to go through the safari park but thankfully I didn’t I just went through the immaculately kept grounds and past the magnificent Longleat house. Bearing in mind I was on a national cycle route so I was never really ever going to go through an actual safari park and neither did I expect the road to be closed by a locked gate with two giant logs either side of it and no way through apart from having to lift your bike over and to top it all there was another one about half a mile down the road! Another cyclist told me that their always locked and that you always have to lift your bike over! How ridiculous only in Britain do we have national cycle routes that are gated with no way through apart from lifting your bike over! I think I’ll write to Sustrans the cycling authority that look after these routes! Well after that I gave up on cycle routes and just headed down the main road! Found a lovely little campsite just outside Bridgwater for tonight, there’s only me here! Photo: Longleat House.
Follow Garry on his travels
