After a solid performance in the saddle yesterday confidence was high in the team and we set off bright and early thinking the day would be a breeze...
As it turned out the 'breeze' would haunt us as after two sweat-inducing climbs at Stroud and Nailsworth we got onto the Cotswolds plateau and a literal gale put the brakes on massively. It was cycling with an extra 20kgs of weight and we soon figured out the art of drafting as we battled on through 700 miles for a lunch stop in Bath. A quick sandwich by the Abbey and we decided to make the short detour (about a mile) to see where Mand went to boarding school. The mile we had to cover however was up the steepest hill Rich had ever seen but it was good for Mand to reminisce about her times there. After a quick stop at an old family friends' of Mands we pushed on out of Bath, which has a great similarity with Blackburn in that it is in a ditch and surrounded by what seems like vertical cliffs, and we headed for Wells. Here the hills and wind were at their worst but we got our heads down and pushed on...
Wells provided a nice photo opp and the end of the hills as we felt Bridgwater was finally within reach. The unexpected then happened at Glastonbury as we got caught in the most intense downpour either of us had ever been in. It was conpletely insane, only lasted about 5 mins but soaked us through. The next bit to Bridgwater went a bit quicker although we had some close encounters with the Somerset drivers who are by far the worst we have come across yet on the trip.
By this time we were both feeling pretty weary and a final snickers probably gave us the final energy we needed to conplete our final few miles of a very tough 87 mile day. We arrived at our b and b which is the Huntstile Organic farm one of the prettiest places you can imagine, right on the edge of Exmoor, where the owners John and Lizzie so kindly invited us to an amazing supper with them and their friends...
3 days to go... Good sleep should sort us out for more hills tomorrow as we head for Dartmoor.
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