Having finished at Chew Magna last night we’d packed the bike into the car and drove a few miles to the southeast to our B&B in a place called Temple Cloud. Therefore, after a delicious (and filling) breakfast this morning, we had to drive back to Chew Magna.
With the front wheel back on the bike along with all my tech bits (Garmin, GoPro, phone and recharged lights) I ran out of excuses to prevaricate and had to start riding again!
Within the first few miles I had the two biggest climbs of the day behind me and I was enjoying the freedom of not wearing waterproofs - I was even wearing my summer cycling shoes (they’d finally dried out from Monday’s soaking). I used part of the Bath to Bristol cycleway to get through Keynsham and a cycling community police officer suggested I follow it to Bristol then follow a signposted route to Yate (my next destination) but that looked to be twice as long as the route I had planned. So I kept to my route. Soon after this I crossed over the M4 and made my way through Yate. I followed a path I’d worked out from my maps which used an unused ex dual carriageway(!) and a track through some (rough) parkland. As I continued north I was expecting more hill climbs to spoil my day, but joy of joys, there weren’t any and having passed Leyhill Open Prison I had a lovely down hill to cross over the M5 and then pick up the A38 for a couple of miles before using the lanes on the flat of the Severn flood plain.
By now I was at the halfway point of the days ride and was greeted by Jan and our friends Tina and Brian. They all took some photos of me in riding action and then we had lunch In a delightful cafe in the centre of the village of Berkeley.
The afternoon saw me use the towpath of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, some quiet lanes running right next to the River Severn estuary and the canal towpath right into central Gloucester. From here i had spotted that NCN 42 could help me avoid several busy A roads and dangerous junctions to acquire the B4215. That said, the route was so quiet and deserted that I was worried in case I encountered any ne’er-do-wells! Part of the route used the old road bridge over the Severn which weirdly had no evidence of a road leading to it or even heading off from the other side!! Anyway, I’d had some messages from Jan and Brian suggesting the last few miles were hilly and busy with traffic. So I switched on all of my rear lights and my front light, joined the traffic and upped my pace. More photos were taken as I flashed along the road - the hills were very slight - and with Brian shielding me with his car I made the right turn into tonight’s B&B at Malswick Mill.
Once I’d freshened up and got changed we headed off for a nice evening meal in a nearby pub before Brian and Tina headed back into Wales to resume their holiday.
Todays stats:
Distance: 58.31 miles
Avg. speed: 12.8 mph
Max speed: 38.3 mph
Climbing: 2,134 feet
Total distance so far: 270 miles
Just in case anyone wants to sponsor me:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/robert-moore47
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