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

Bristol-Portishead-Clevedon - Dec 2024 - South Glos, Bristol & N Somerset

It was New Year's Eve morning that I got out for my second rehab-ride, another chance to test how my injured knee had progressed through a regime of weighted squats, stretching and isometric exercises and a last chance to taste the english countryside in 2024. For once I wasn't following a pre-planned route, just riding out towards some well-loved roads with the vague idea of covering around 50-60k. The weather was grey as per usual - in fact I can't remember a greyer Autumn/Winter than this one of 2024. In the media they have explained it as Anticyclonic Gloom interspersed with the usual depressions coming in from the southwest. Whatever the meteorology, it's left the mood of the country a little flat and subdued. We're creatures of weather, always obsessing over it and talking about it (and those of us who ride and run are probably the most guilty).

At first the forecast of blustery winds coming in later made me decide to avoid the Avonmouth Bridge, but as I rode up to the Downs I changed plans, seeing as the winds were still light, heading down through Sea Mills, the ancient Roman town that prefigured Bristol but now a fairly prosaic post-war suburb, then up to the bridge at Avonmouth. This crossing of the mouth of the Avon often feels a bit exposed but the breeze remained kind and I was up and over the bridge on the cycleway alongside the M5 pretty quickly, descending to the riverside village of Pill then climbing up Lodway Hill towards Portbury. In the summer I would have gone down the Avon Cycleway on a single track lane through some tiny villages, but I knew that route would be pretty muddy so I took a right on a footbridge over the Portbury Hundred to come into Avonmouth on the marked cycle-route on low-traffic lanes. Here I joined our old Triathlon route, riding it in reverse, remembering what a great race it was, getting down on the bars here and there to ride fast and flat through the villages of Clapton and Walton. There was nobody around, barely any traffic - those lucky enough to have a long Christmas break from work were probably wrapped up at home enjoying the last day of Twixtmas while those back at work were probably only half involved in their usual line of business, with much of the country still half asleep.

At the end of the fast section, coming into Clevedon, I turned down the beautifully named Middle Way to take the B road past Clevedon Court and make good time inland, back towards Bristol. I passed a club rider on a gravel bike who had stopped for some kind of mechanical - gave him a shout to make sure he was OK and had all the stuff he needed - then got my head down again to cruise towards Tickenham. Once I hit the long climb up Stone Edge he passed me and asked if I was heading to someone's house (I forget the guy's name he gave) - I replied no, I was just out riding my own loop. Later I wondered who this guy was and why I might be riding out to his house - some kind of Bristol cyclists meet on New Year's Eve? I'll probably never know.

The climb carried on then became a rolling route past Tyntesfield and the ups and downs of Failand, with views across the fields and forest overlooking the Avon Gorge. The high winds had held off but there was a stiff breeze coming in now from the west that swept me briskly down Beggar Bush Lane, making life difficult for the riders I was starting to see coming out from Clifton mid-morning. Although I ride it regularly on the way to work, the Suspension Bridge seemed particularly impressive this time so I stopped to grab a photo of its majestic arches - looking back with one tower framed in the other. It was a peaceful ride to end the year, my knee felt strong, and I had resolved to go for it and try to resume running in January.

Looking back through those arches at 2024 I have a lot to be grateful for, looking forward I have a lot of new challenges to take on. I was happy to end the year feeling happy with what I'd achieved and with things still challenging but on the up. Back in the day we used to get a New Year's Message from Sri Chinmoy which was always a real blessing - knowing the inner qualities of the year to come, the things to focus on. That got us all into the habit of taking the turn of the year as a spiritually significant time and among ourselves we still always talk about the consciousness we feel in the coming year. For me, 2025 has the feeling of a more peaceful year after a couple that have been turbulent. I hope I'm right about that. I'm hoping we can shift this anticyclonic gloom too.

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