"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own"   Sri Chinmoy

The Fishing Expedition Permanent Audax - Feb 2025 - South Gloucestershire & Monmouthshire

My latest restart in the world of cycling came after a battle back from a knee injury in October and then an equally tough battle back from a respiratory illness in January. I wasn't the only one to succumb to the flu (which had symptoms more like pneumonia), a lot of people I know at work, in the Sri Chinmoy Centre and just in general had suffered as a so-called Quad Demic swept the country. Once my osteopath, Alex, had pronounced my knee as officially better (after months of rehab work with Lucas at UWE which has turned things around) and I had managed to shake off the flu and the fatigue that followed it, the weather had started to shift from damp, freezing gloom to something more spring-like, blustery and changeable but with temperatures closer to ten than than zero. To reboot my much-neglected cycling I signed up for a 50k Audax perm that started 10k from home - the Fishing Expedition.

I rolled up to Alveston feeling pretty good then picked up the route on my wahoo easily enough. After Alveston village came Vattingstone Lane, rolling through the South Glos countryside with a couple of steep downhills before bringing me to the Severn Bridge with 18k on the clock. I wasn't keeping up much of a speed but I was aware it could have been worse - I was at least staying in touch with the small bunches of riders crossing the bridge up ahead on various club/group rides into Wales.They seemed to be mostly heading on towards the Wye Valley and its well-known roads but I followed the GPS down the quiet and narrow Mounton Road, descending sharply at first then beginning a steady, rolling climb past woodlands and fields with full-voiced birdsong as the soundtrack. I hardly saw any cars on this stretch, but I did see a couple of horse riders - I slowed right down and so did they but even so one of the horses got a little skittish so I stopped completely and invited them past. The cloud was starting to slowly break up, but more from the west than the east so there was no sunshine as yet. I was loving the feeling of riding at an easy/steady pace through quiet and gorgeous countryside.

Shirenewton came at the top of a climb, the village pretty much still asleep but with one or two people out walking. The route then headed down into new territory, as usually Shirenewton is a place I pass through on my way to or from the Usk Valley but this time Oliver Iles' route was taking me north, following the line of the ridge towards Devauden. This meant a steep descent again to the Usk Road, straight across and down into a hidden valley again filled with birdsong and empty of cars. The road kept heading down until I crossed a stream, the Mounton Brook, at a bridge lined with daffodils, then the climb back up to the ridge began. Lost in the scenery I took a wrong turn but only took a couple of minutes to roll back down to the fork and take the right road. Soon I was climbing again, up to Devauden, roughly the half way mark of the Audax. This was the high point on the ridge too, so straight away the rolling route started to dive down into the Wye Valley. Here I was deep in the woods, on a broken and muddy lane with potholes descending extremely steeply and with plenty of twists and turns. As per usual I took it slowly, knowing that this is what you sign up for with an Audax so you can't complain. The reward for this slalom came in the shape of a glorious less-steep section through woods with moss-covered trees and mossy banks, the sound of woodpeckers and unfamiliar birds calling. The air was heavy with mist and damp although at one point I began to see the pale winter sun take shape and filter through the clouds.

After the wonderful woodland lane came the fishing lakes, after which the ride takes its name, then pine forest and the occasional car passing to remind me I was approaching civilisation. At the foot of the descent came Tintern and the Filling Station directly opposite the bottom of the hill - a welcome hot drink and piece of carrot cake to fuel me for the final 20 miles and a fire keeping the half dozen or so cyclists in the cafe very cosy. The walls were lined with pictures of cycling greats including Chris Froome, Cav and Geraint Thomas.

I didn't hang around too long - soon I was back in the saddle and stopping briefly to grab a picture of the ruined abbey before the long drag up Wyndcliffe began. There were views down through the trees to the meanders of the Wye and the thickly wooded slopes on the opposite side of the valley. After the hard up-and-over of Wyndcliffe came the less gruelling up-and-over of Chepstow, over the Severn Bridge again but this time in pale sunshine, a stop at the Peace Plaque for a moment of meditation and then the familar miles back to Filton. All in all a good ride - it felt good to have signed up for something and completed it, even if it was the shorted possible Audax!

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