Day Five - Cheddar to Goodrich
May 10, 2009
Day 5
Cheddar to Goodrich
Distance 63.38
Average 10.7 mph
Time 5 hours 34 minutes
We started Day 5 at 10.20am with me putting my panniers in the wrong place so every time I pedalled my feet hit them. After getting that sorted, we began our journey to Goodrich. We decided to go over Cheddar Gorge rather than round it and Rob had scared the life out of me by telling me how bad it was going to be although I have to say it was relatively easy because it was a gradual slope but five miles long.
We saw some spectacular scenery on this part of the tour, the best we’ve seen so far and certainly the most dramatic. We got plenty of photographs and hopefully we’ll get them on the website soon. We felt like cyclists on the Tour de France cycling up the Pyrenees! On our way to Chew Magna we were approached by an elderly man trying to sell us some potted plants and even offered to post them to us when we said we couldn’t carry them! He was very persuasive but we didn’t give in!
We then went through Bristol and over the Clifton Suspension Bridge where we stopped to take some photos. We travelled onwards through Avon to the Severn Bridge; luckily it’s free to cross on a bicycle! As we crossed the bridge we were met with a mean cross wind and I felt myself leaning into the wind to try and stay on my bike. No sooner had we got across the bridge and saw signs saying ‘Welcome to Wales’ we then saw signs saying ‘Welcome to England’! Having passed into Somerset yesterday, we passed through Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Monmouth and back to South Gloucestershire today.
The toughest climb today was just after passing through Chepstow but the hill climbs are now becoming somewhat of a daily challenge for Rob and I. Eventually we stumbled across the youth hostel over a disused creaky railway bridge, where we also came across a disused train tunnel which we had to investigate!! Boys will be boys! We’re glad we found that route to the hostel because the other route that Anne had to take did not appeal to us at all.
We arrived at the youth hostel at about 17.50, the same time Anne arrived with Shanie and Heidi. It was really good to see them all!! We all went to The Hostelerie a local hotel and restaurant in Goodrich. The food was good, I had a cottage pie with vegetables and Apple Pie with custard for desert, but it was still nowhere near as good as Anne’s cooking!
Day Four - Okehampton to Cheddar (mmmmmmm cheeeeeeese)
May 9, 2009
Day 4
Okehampton to Cheddar
Distance 89.81 miles
Average 12.5mph
Time 7 hours 16 mins 44 seconds
During breakfast on day 4 we were chatting to an Australian couple who are doing the same tour but doing it over six weeks!!! Anyway, we left the comfortable, warm bed and breakfast place and began day 4 of our tour leaving Okehampton at 09.25. We cycled to Crediton where I originally bought my bike. We stopped in the shop called The Bike Shed to get the free service for my bike and enjoyed a lovely cup of tea with Vanessa and some of the staff there. One of my panniers broke on the way to Crediton which meant that Rob had to take some of my load which made my ride a much easier one for about 20 miles. They fixed that for free at the Bike Shed so a great big thank you to them. They also gave us directions for the flattest route to take to Cheddar for which we are truly grateful.
The weather was a mixture of sunshine and showers but quite warm when going up the hills and then bloomin freezing going downhill. We only took one wrong turning today and in answer to everyone’s concerns; my arse is fine! However, Rob is still suffering form the paint ball injury to his arse.
We cycled through Greenway where we saw a steam train - scenery much the same as you would see on ITV’s Heartbeat and continued on through Bishop’s Lydeard where we stopped in a pub to have a drink. Unbeknown to me Rob had planned for us to go over the Quantock Hills after that but I didn’t believe him at first. I thought we were going to go round them but we went over them with a climb of 384 metres and the hill was the steepest one we have been over yet. In fact it was so steep, I had to stop for a breather and again we had to use our lowest gears and zig zag our way up. We were going to take a picture from the top but the hill was completely covered in trees so we couldn’t see much once we got to the top. From there we had an exhilarating descent and from there on in it was the flattest ride we had done so far averaging 16/17 miles an hour.
We covered the longest distance so far today but I found it quite comfortable and felt quite good - certainly a lot better than I felt yesterday!
We arrived at the Youth Hostel in Cheddar at around 19.00. We had our dinner in a local pub where I had steak potatoes and peas and Rob had a Ploughmans. However, I will say that the cooking was still not as good as Anne’s.
I am looking forward to a much shorter day tomorrow which should be about 45 miles and of course seeing my beautiful wife!
As I was writing this Rob was doing chin-ups from the lying position in the bottom bunk and after his first one he hit his head on the bed frame!!! I couldn’t stop laughing…….
Day Three - Treyarnon Bay to Okehampton
May 8, 2009
Day 3
Treyarnon Bay to Okehampton
Distance 71.42miles (including getting lost mileage)
Average 9.5mph
Time 7 hours 2 mins 16 seconds
Day 3 began at Treyarnon Bay where we left at 09.06 on our way to our destination for the day; Okehampton. We cycled to a place called Padstow which is a very picturesque historic fishing village where there is an estuary that we had to cross. Whilst waiting for the ferry I had this impression that you would walk onto a pontoon but you actually walked onto the beach and they put out a gangplank for you to board the ferry. We had to take our shoes and socks off to cross the beach and board the ferry with all our cycling gear and of course the bikes! At the other side we had to dry our feet and get our shoes and socks back on before setting off again. Very strange!!
We docked at a place called Rock and continued our tour to Okehampton passing through Camelford, Bodmin and Trebullet where we had to ask directions and had a climb up a hill which was probably steeper than 1:5!! The only way to get up was for us to be in bottom gear, out of the saddle and zig-zagging up the hill literally doing about 3 miles an hour. Our tyres were slipping under our feet because the road was wet and the hills were so steep. We stopped off and had lunch in a place called Lewannick. We enjoyed the look of the café so much that we went full circle and ended back in the same place! (Rob’s map reading)
A bit later on in the tour we again did another full circle ending up back where we started which took us about an hour!! Quite depressing really….. I blame Rob’s map reading!! We later crossed the river Tamar near a place called Kelly which took us over the border into Devon. We took the immediate left after the bridge and we were confronted with another 1:5 hill which went on for half a mile. When we were passing through a place called Lew Trenchard we came across half a house on the side of the road.
This was the toughest, hilliest day so far especially as we were carrying about 14 kilos each in our panniers. It was a wet and cold day and we arrived at the B&B at about 19.30 The B&B is called Betty Cottles where we ate our dinner. The restaurant was very nice; I had a chicken meal with vegetables and potatoes although I did struggle to finish it probably because it was nowhere near as good as Anne’s cooking. We finished off the day with a chat in the bar. We are hoping the toughest days are now behind us in terms of the hills.
As I am writing, after 70 odd miles of cycling, Rob is lying in his bed doing 50 sit-ups because he needs the exercise - what an idiot has he not had enough exercise for one day!!!
Day Two - St Just to Treyarnon Bay
May 7, 2009
Day 2
St. Just to Treyarnon Bay
Distance 68.1 miles
Average 10.6mph
Time 6hours 37 minutes 40 seconds
We began our second day of the tour at 09.40 from St. Just heading towards Treyarnon Bay. It was a long tiring day, well bleedin’ hilly, incredibly hilly!! We started with a puncture; we took the bikes out of the shed and had to repair the puncture, probably from the day before. This leg of the tour was very hilly and very steep but we had the wind behind us so that helped. We arrived at Treyarnon Bay at about 18.00.
During the day as we were cycling Rob decided he was thirsty, took his water bottle from its holder and began to drink. Unfortunately the lid fell off the bottle just as he was about to drink it and the contents went all over him (sticky isotonic drink). He blames me for not putting the lid on properly!
Not a lot else to report apart from the fact that it was a hard day. We passed through a place called 3 Mile Stone but there has been no exciting scenery and no beautiful villages so we look forward to seeing something a little more interesting tomorrow.
We stopped for a break by a gate and a huge herd of cows came across the field to look at us, we got a great picture with loads of wind turbines in the background and a herd of cows gawping at us!!
Our hostel for the night is like a miniature hotel - quite impressive! We bought some food in a little local shop in Treyarnon and made our own dinner (again not as good as Anne’s cooking). We had tomatoes, onion, chicken - Dolmio sauce and pasta! The day was rounded off with a pint of Guinness and I’m pleased to hear that Man U nited beat Arsenal yesterday!!
Day One - Land’s End to St. Just
May 4, 2009
Day 1
Lands End to St. Just
Distance 5.315 miles
Average 10.9 mph
Time: 29.25 minutes
We left Rob’s house at 07.35 to get to Swindon Station to catch the 08.26 train heading for Penzance. On arrival at the station after having made meticulous plans, I left behind my rucksack containing my cycle helmet, camera and food for the day and it was too late to get back to Rob’s house to collect it!!
We got to Penzance at approximately 13.30 where Rob very kindly offered to help an elderly lady with her bags who he met once again outside the station where she donated £10 for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance (Rob’s chosen charity). This brightened our day and made up for the fact that we left our food behind! We then cycled from Penzance via a cycle shop to buy a new helmet and on to Lands End our official starting point.
We thought it would be nice to commemorate the start of our journey in Lands End by having a photograph taken by an official signpost detailing the distance from Lands End to John O’Groat’s only to discover it would cost us £9.50!! We decided that we would rather donate the £9.50 to Rob’s chosen charity and asked a passer by to help us out and we returned the favour to them also.
At 17.00 we left Lands End to begin our epic 1,000 mile journey to John O’Groats. Rob wasn’t impressed with me as I kept mentioning the distance we had yet to travel and he threatened to shove me off my bike which he promptly attempted to do when I said we only had 999 miles to go!! Luckily I managed to stay on my bike and our journey to John O’Groats continued. I don’t think I’ll mention the distance we have to travel again!! We arrived at the Youth Hostel in St. Just at around 17.30.
We finished off a perfect day with a lovely meal (not as good as Anne’s cooking) at the Wellington Pub in St. Just whilst watching the Champions League semi final between Arsenal and Man U. United are currently 2-0 up as I write (Hooooooooray) ;o)