LEJoG 82

Day 11, to Market Drayton

The YHA hostel at Coalport is in a lovely old building, an old cider factory which is opposite an old china factory (now a museum). The china factory building has a kiln reminiscent of a Kentish Oast House. I was so exhausted, cold and tired last night that I didn’t notice how nice it was and it was difficult to update my blog, what with a lack of Wifi or cellular data signal.

Day 10, to Coalport

Yesterday Pascal was contacted by Dan Brothwell of Bike Worcester, who also writes cycling articles in the Worcester News. I can’t resist the chance to get more publicity for Refuge and Women’s Aid, but I’m not sure how long a good cyclist will tolerate my slow riding pace.

Day 9, to Worcester

This will be an easy ride, I thought to myself. I know the area. On the other hand though, I resolved to put my trust in Garmin today. But as I approach the long, easy, descent into Cheltenham I was disconcerted to be redirected – sidelined – up and over Leckhampton hill.

Day 8, to Miserden

When Paul arrived at the B&B we managed to extract our bikes from their hall (where we had talked them into letting us store them last night), even then the challenge of starting the ride wasn’t over as we had to negotiate a huge hole made by road-works. Our hosts at the B&B were worried that we might fall into it!

Day 7, to Corsham

What a lovely B&B last night, a really lovely welcome from Tina Tucker who made me (and my bicycle) so happy and welcome. And such delicious porridge this morning! And it was happy that I set off, in the warm sunshine, in the direction of Wells.

Day 6, to Glastonbury

(Don’t miss the updates to days 4 & 5 which have now been made)

Breakfast at the Angel Guesthouse was heaven. Porridge, followed by a huge fry up, followed by homemade Rhubarb and Ginger jam on gluten free toast. Chris, the landlord, assured me that there was only one more (long) hill before we descended onto the Somerset Levels.

Day 5, to Tiverton

The Northlake B&B was not exactly where I’d plotted it as being on the Garmin, so we set off up the hill (no surprises there!) out of sync with the device and trying to find the route. It felt like the right direction though. The hill was long, and we climbed steadily – endlessly, it seemed.

Day 4, to Okehampton

I reluctantly left the warm Countryman Hotel and set off up the hill out of Camelford. Fortunately, my friend Paul is going to ride with me a lot of the way.

Day 3, to Camelford

My third day, and I was looking forward to a lovely quiet Camel Trail – and (hopefully) some easy miles – along with the company of my son Pascal (again) and grandson Danny.

Day 2, to St Columb Major

Although meaning to start early, we met our AirBnB hosts (Demelza and Judi) who had given us such a friendly welcome last night. They were both retired professional musicians, with Demelza having played the Congas (large bongo drums) in an all-female African music band.