Thanks Pat for a great day out and having a word with the weather gods after your Old Roads soaking
I hadn't really appreciated how cold the first 50km was going to be I wasn't wearing overshoes my feet were like blocks of ice by Witney
it soon warmed up and the slog up the ridgway soon got a bit of a sweat on. At Hungerford most people seemed to be within 15-20 minutes and this would be the last time I saw anyone else until Wick where I came across a chap (I never did get his name) as I was leaving and he was arriving.
The route between Hungerford and Bradford on Avon was quick.
It was nice to meet TonyH and put a face to a name, I had some cake and Hot Chocolate at the Cottage Co op Cafe chatting with Tony who warned me about some killer hill, once in Freshford I knew exactly the hill he was referring to I had to stop to let some lady in a Chelsea tractor pass as there wasn't enough room, I did manage to get going again on the vertical slope.
The drop into Wells was welcome as was the sarnies from the petrol station, I didn't stop too long before I headed off to Cheddar where I planned a proper sit down meal but by the time I got there I didn't feel hungry and decided to plod up the Gorge saving my legs for the final push after Wick. The gorge itself was packing with site see-ers and climbers who seemed to be hanging by rope from every available vertical drop. The decent off the Mendips saw me making a bit of a navigational faux pas, I turned left rather than right and left and carried on, on auto pilot until I reached Blagdon and realising my mistake, rather than retracing I cycled over the dam and headed back to Chew Stoke via some very small gravelly lanes which gave a stunning view of the lake however did drain my legs with the constant climbing and descending. I was a bit annoyed with myself as I know the area fairly well and couldn't work out why I had made such a simple mistake such is life I guess. The viaduct at Pensford was impressive I have never seen it like that before and was quite taken aback, the route through Saltford was standard but as I hit the climbs between Bitton and Wick the dreaded knock came a calling, I shovelled some fruit pastels into my gob and made my way to the petrol station and a michelin star sarnie (not) I was ready for the final slog up onto the Cotswolds.
The lanes back from the A46 seemed to fly by and it was amazing being dive bombed by bats as I cycled along this stretch, the weirdest thing that I saw on the final strech was a field that had mist hanging in it which seemed to glow in the darkess however with only a few miles to go I may have been seeing things.
The soup and fruit was very welcome at the arrive.
Once again thanks Pat
