Today we aimed to be on the road for 8am but alas, another problem with inner tubes meant we lost a half hour and so were starting later. Our route took us north from Gloucester up the A417 towards Malvern, and we were again rewarded with some stunning countryside and a very, very hot sun. We had another clipless moment before our first stop. I won’t name names but suffice it to say his nickname is now Timber!
Heading north again through Bridgenorth and Telford we hit some really sharp and steep hills. Quite a lot of them really, including one 17%-er. To the point that there were “observations” about my route planning hitting every hill in the country.
We stopped at a village post office en route to get ice lollies and a very kind lady, upon hearing what we were doing, gave us a fiver towards the cause. How nice is that?
We also rode (up some more hills) through a very pretty forest which was completely quiet and still, with the sunlight glinting through the canopy. Then Pete started with the “Deliverance” impressions so that was that ruined.
The heat was having an effect and the lunch stop was longer than usual. Long stops don’t help me as it takes me 5 to 10 miles to get going again, so this afternoon I was seizing up after the stop. Roll-call of things that ache
- Shoulders
- Left elbow
- Balls of my thumbs
- Backside
- Thigh muscles
- Knee (both)
On the plus side my cardio-vascular seems good.
We crossed into Cheshire in early evening (picture to follow) and made good strong progress to the finish at Middlewich. Good news awaited me – my sponsorship broke £3,000 today – thank you everyone that’s helped.
Garmin stats
- 120 miles
- 8hrs 57mins riding
- 13.3mph average
- 6168ft (uncorrected) climbing
- 6681kcals used
This is relentless. We’ve done 370 miles in 3 days and are a third of the way through it. Niggles, aches and pains are beginning to set in now, and not sleeping too well means tiredness is too. This is HARD! However, it’s also a great experience and great fun – it beats working any day!
