Distance - 94.62 miles; total ascent - 5197 feet; ave speed - 9.6mph; max speed - 35mph; total time in saddle - 9 hours 53 minutes.
I'm typing this lying on the bed in the extraordinarily nice Guest House 'Magnolia House' in Burnham on Sea looking back at just what we have achieved today. It's almost midnight and we've only been here for just over 2 hours. Saddle time over nine hours and the day from start to finish over 12 hours. It seems an eternity since we set off this morning from the Royal Hotel in Bideford.
Russ and I have a mutual friend Paul Fryer who kindly came to see us last night at the hotel for a beer and to wish us well. Not really too much of a chore for the big fella seeing as he lives down the road in Barnstable. He brought with him a friend of his Robert and he agreed to join us today on part of our ride from Barnstable to Exmoor. We met Rob in the village of Gunn having got horribly lost first in Barnstable, at one point ending up in an estate that made Beruit look like Disneyland. Rob then proceeded to ride with us to the summit of Exmoor on his mountain bike and was top company. The 1600 foot climb was quite something although sadly yet again my bike's gearing meant I had to push for a bit up the steepest part. Photos taken at the summit we made our way down taking in some of the most wonderful views I have seen.
We had mistakenly thought that once at out of the national park area the terrain would immediately flattern out, but not a bit of it. Following cycle route 3 we took in some more killer hills which combined meant the days total ascent was once again well in excess of 5000.
We initially had decided to aim for Taunton and see how we felt in terms of how much we would attempt to do today. Before arriving though and after threading our way through some delightful and remote Somerset villages and hamlets, we came across a rather splendid looking inn which offered accommodation and good food. I was quite prepared to call it a day- having done 65 miles plus it was 6.30 and as a result I felt the prospect of a hot bath, good meal and a few beers to be the perfect way to round off our Exmoor endeavours.
Russ however was having none of it. He was determined that we should made Burnham on sea another 25 miles on, thus getting a full day ahead of schedule. "Let's treat like an evening ride, imagine it all starts now eh? And anyway it's all flat from here"
Somewhat reluctantly I agreed and in fairness he was right about the flat bit. Taunton to Bridgewater following the canal tow path would have been excellent, save for the thousands of midges invading every orifice as we tried to pick up the pace.
We arrived in Bridgewater at dusk to discover that Ally, Russ's Mum had not only booked our accommodation in Burnham but was coming down to meet us with some more supplies of protein and chocolate bars and some stuff for Russ (like Russ, she also lives in Bristol a mere 30 miles up the road).
What a godsend this was and, on arriving in darkness just before 10pm, Ally and the Guest House owner made us immediately welcome. Splendid room, the best shower I've had for ages and a chinese takeaway kindly bought and fetched by Ally, served to make the proceeding 92 miles one of the best journeys of my life.
Hard to believe we are almost a fifth of the way through the challenge....
Postscript - the only sad part of the day was to learn that my darling wife had spent most of the afternoon at the vets after Bally her beloved Lusitano mare had broken loose and run amuck through our paddocks and garden with a metal gate in tow. Thank goodness her rear leg wasn't broken, but she remains at the vets for the next few days and fingers crossed that she makes a full a swift recovery. Larri herself sports a black eye and some bruising. I'm thinking of you my love and so sorry I wasn't around to help out xx
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