Sunday 6^th March, most of the roads in Bath are closed. I had already spent some time earlier in the week studying the maps of the half marathon route and thinking of potential routes around it.  This was made harder with the diversion adding around 10 miles to the route to Bath from where I live in Paulton.

The call came in for a job whilst the marathon was at its peak! And it had to be the only possible scenario I hadn’t already planned.

An urgent sample needed to be collected from Shepton Mallet Community Hospital and taking to the pathology lab at the RUH.  Shepton from my house is easy. But the route to Bath was not. With a quick mental calculation of a route I decided to go from Shepton to Frome, to allow me to come in from the right side of Bath to determine the way through. With the roads being moderately quiet I decided to go through Frome.  This was the first problem. An incident in Frome had closed the main road through. A quick diversion, turned sour when everyone was then on the same route out of town. This is where the bike pays dividends, filtering to the front of every queue.

Back on to the A36, I am starting to think that I will not be able to get around Bath to the RUH without a 20 mile diversion (if I follow the signs).  But just as I enter Bathampton, my mental compass kicks in (it’s something that bikers are born with!). So I cheat, and decide to follow a car that appears to know his way. We hang a right into Bathampton Village. A good result, but then I find it’s a toll road.  Again a big queue to pay the attending Troll.  He was doing a very lucrative trade today with everyone trying to find a route around the marathon. A quick wave through (fortunately free for emergency vehicles – and it’s very difficult trying to get change from your pocket in bike gloves!), and I pop out just where I need to be, and can now finish my journey without interruption from closures up to the RUH. The only trouble was getting home again, but by this time the runners had passed, and I was allowed to use the closed roads for a few hundred yards to get back on the A4 to go back to Paulton. Again the bike comes into its own, as there are cones and bollards everywhere. Overall, not the best or most efficient route, but the urgent sample was delivered quickly. Now can I fit the GPS please?