Ashton Court has been given a makeover! The old trails were getting worn and for that reason almost technical. We quite enjoyed them but apparently were in a minority.
The first big change to note is that the loop now goes the other way round (clockwise). Apparently this is the same as a the Bristol Bikefest anyway. At least now riders do all seem to ride it the right way so you're not constantly having to give way to each other. Which is good because it does flow a lot better now, it draws you into a sequence of pedal-pump-jump which is very engaging and surrpsingly tiring given that there are no big hills. There's a few bits which are a bit tight and it's hard to maintain a good speed through but not too many. In fact the worst but for this is at the start of the red diversion but this section improves as it goes on. The worst thing about the improvements is that it is noticeably busier, so you are often trying to overtake slower riders or stay ahead of riders behind (too flowy to want to stop). And being a city centre trail you get lots of kids/novices who don't understand that it's polite to pull over (though I am at times guilty of that too and I guess it is designed for kids and novices so I should go and play at a proper trail centre.......).
Leigh Woods has also been more formalised so that will be worth an explore. Fifty Acre wood has not been changed so that remains in the same old style - very different now to Ashton Court.
The cafe remains a bit limited - I went in looking for cake and returned empty handed. I think this is set to change too but i'm not sure when.
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