Day 4 – Tuesday 4th June Started well Jim the landlord gave us a generous donation. Bit breezy but lovely clear sky again, we have been so lucky with the weather. Had earliest start so far 0830. After seeing how busy the A371 was and managing to get everyone’s attention, we tweaked the route and avoided most of it. Met Derek again he is still going strong. Ladies caught us up just as Mick’s bike decided to protest at the number of hills and the hard work it was going through. Others went off leaving us to try and administer repairs. Mick finally got bike working (Fred Baker Cycles, Bristol) and is looking forward to problem free day tomorrow. Fantastic scenery today, Glastonbury Tor could be seen to our left for a few miles, cycling through rather than around Wells was a good move, a lovely Cathedral and moat…stunning. Chew Valley Lake one of the largest artificial lakes in the country, looked pristine with the sun reflecting of it sparkling blue waters, wow a bit of descriptive writing, perhaps the trip is enhancing our minds! Cycled through the Aston Court Estate, people around there are so lucky to have such a facility to take their families. Ended up cycling over and under the Clifton Suspension Bridge, don’t think we were meant to, but we found the navigation through and around Bristol very challenging, spending at least an hour exploring the roads around the area, i.e. we got lost. But it gave us a chance to interact with the locals. Severn Bridge is an amazing piece of engineering; getting off our bikes half way across gave us a chance to look closely at the structure and to feel the vibrations of every vehicle passing. A personal landmark for us all…250 miles now under our belts!! Later on after a late lunch 16:15 caught up again with the young Warwickshire boys, Ant & Dec, as we now call them, as usual Clive being his normal restrained self decided to put on show and storm pass them at 25mph, took us another mile to rein him in and slow him down again. The Wye Valley looked so lush and green its undulating roads provided us with the best cycling we have had so far. How come they have so few potholes? The Old Court Hotel in Symonds Yat we are staying at tonight best so far. With our meandering and mechanical problems we ended up having a 10 hour day covering 74 miles in 7 hours cycling time, posteriors suffering the effect of 4 consecutive days, they need careful attention, any volunteers?
Posted on: Wed, 05 Jun 2013 08:19:07 +0000