Thankfully he only revealed what choice of cycling shorts he'd made that morning!
We have been promised that the morning session was the last of the hills, and if that's true there sure were a few belters in there. The one advantage of going up hill is the inevitable reverse the otherside, but the road conditions were so poor we couldn't really give it any beans down hill, else we'd be supermanning it over the handlebars after hitting one of the many craters and piles of horse poo that lay before us.
To navigate around these beautiful, yet hilly, Isles of ours we've been using goggle maps on our phones. I'd noticed a place called 'Uphill' that we were due to come across, and the name instantly filled me with dread. Thankfully it was the opposite way we were due. But ironically that ended up being up hill too.
We had a target of Weston Super Mare in mind for lunch. Mainly because Brooksy promised me a cone of chips and a donkey ride on the beach (which I was hoping wasn't a euphemism), but when we got to Windy Super (Night)Mare all I wanted to do was hide, as the hideous view of the muddy sea rolling in was upsetting my eyes.
After a disappointing break we set off towards Bristol, but only weighing 11.5 stones I found dealing with the 'tornadoic' conditions terrifying. Especially when we were biking alongside the sea front, the LAST thing I'd want would be to spend anymore time in Western than I needed to.
The road to Bristol was pretty good, but then we reached an actual mountain on the way into Clifton. This thing was epic. I was in my lowest gear, but it felt like i was going up escalators the wrong way, of which i have first hand experience having been thrown out of the Octagon Shopping Centre for doing thy exact same thing as a 13 year old. There were cyclists bombing it down the other side with that smug, look at me I'm not pedalling face on. Grrr.
When we eventually reached the top, we discovered that we had inadvertently stumbled across the Clifton Suspension Bridge, designed by
Isambard Kingdom Brunel history fans! The views were great! Just about worth taking 20 minutes to do two up hill miles. :-)
After singing Goldie Looking Chain lyrics past Bristol Zoo, we headed like a bolt of lightening towards the border.
As soon as we'd reached our destination we were warming down with the techniques shown to us by Pavel at Wildmoor Spa. Mid stretch, Brooksy spotted a Kebab van, and next thing I knew he was in the line for a 'victory fried something'.
Wales now, and rain is predicted. Although I think being a Welsh weatherman must be the easiest job alive. All you need to do is predict rain, as you'll be right 90% of the time!
Miles today: 81.4
Miles total: 221.5
Drink of choice: Mountain Dew
Number of times I've hit my head on the ceiling while in bed: 9
Location:Tiverton - Chepstow
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