The Wellington Memorial is located at the western end of the Blackdown Hills and looks down on Wellington and the adjacent M5. I was therefore slightly bemused (at first glance) when having ridden some 20 miles and being in the middle of the Somerset levels I thought I could see it still! However, after a look at Google, I found it was another memorial but to someone I’d never heard of - William Pynsent (look up Burton Pynsent Monument on Wikipedia). They seem to like building memorial columns in these parts!
After a nice stay in Wellington (a great evening meal and a pint or two at a pub called The Vintage, followed by a restful night and great breakfast at The Blue Mantle Guest House), we managed to get started at 09:30, however, just as I was swinging my leg over my bike I saw another cyclist and got chatting. He is doing the JOGLE and is on target to do it in just 11 days! His name is Mark Paul and he’s already raised over £1800 for Cancer Research. He has a Facebook page - Search for Marco JOGLE. After chatting for too short a time I had to apologise and get riding. Then I was off to Taunton and thence the Somerset Levels.
Travelling through the Somerset Levels meant that the first half of todays ride was relatively hill-free and amazingly, not much rain. I rolled up to meet Jan for lunch in Glastonbury - she thought the denizens were fascinating, I thought they were all a bit weird!
Something else about these parts is that there are a lot of yellow cars around - these means I can easily play “Yellow Car Boom” as I ride along. My current score is 52!
It was raining when we finished lunch, so I put my waterproofs on and headed off, through Wells and then up into The Mendip Hills. The quiet yellow road of my route turned into a really busy small yellow road due to the closure of the main A road into Wells. Dammit! As I struggled up the 900 feet of climb there were lorries and cars zooming past me in both directions. I had to stop to let them pass at times and I took the opportunity to shed my waterproofs as the rain had stopped. Once I reached the top, life became easier and I shot through the next 15 miles relatively quickly. I even got to the end point in Chew Magna before Jan (by about 1 minute)!
Tonight’s B&B is a pub that has a block of newly built rooms - fully appointed and clean - and the pub’s food (and beer) is superb. We’re inside number 9 (and currently it’s on the telly).
Todays Stats:
Distance: 53.31 miles
Avg. speed: 10.5 mph
Max. Speed: 34 mph
Climbing: 2,760 feet
Accumulated Distance: 212 miles
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