Lejog day 8 - 6/10/2018

Today was the best riding day of the whole trip (there had to be one). We rode to Penrith through the lake district and it was scenic and flat, with decent roads and light traffic.

Cream tea for lunch

Here are some of the mellow roads we rode.

Amber and Ian admire the view

Afternoon brew stop

I think I have finally found a part of the world that I would rather cycle in than Hampshire - it took almost 60 years.

We stayed at a B&B in Penrith and I ate some uninspired fish and chips for dinner. Perhaps the regular cook was at church. Sunday today, so most of the shops were closed.

You know how, when you've been riding long enough, everything reminds you of something else? Well today was like nothing I'd ever ridden before.

We trode 76.5 miles with 3969' of climbing. Wonderful day.

Lejog day 7 - 6/9/2018

Today we rode from Northwich to Garstang. It was the worst day of the tour (there had to be one). We spent most of the day passing through the Liverpool/Manchester conurbation with heavy traffic and aggressive drivers.

As we were riding to the start point, Anne was panicked by a driver approaching rapidly from the left and slammed her brakes on without saying anything. I ran into the back of her and knocked her off her bike. I felt bad about that, but I had had problems with riders in the group stopping without warning and failing to call hazards or turns. I guess they're not used to riding in groups.

Morning brew stop

Lunch at the Rock Inn was lasagne and binoche pie - never had binoche pie before and it was good.

Lunch - Anne is standing

After lunch we were back in heavy traffic. Anne got hit by a car as she tried to make a right turn. She went to hospital and got stitches for a cut forehead and finished the ride. Wow.

The last 20 miles were back in countryside and we stayed at a very nice Best Western.

Best Western

We came across a hedgehog on the grounds of the hotel.

Amber and I walked around and found a canal so we walked along the tow path into Garstang for dinner.

Canal

I saw something I'd never seen before - a canal passing over a river!

We rode 71.9 miles and climbed 3794'.

Lejog day 6 - 6/8/2018

Today was one of the longest days, but without too much climbing. We rode from Clun to Northwich.

We left our B&B after a full breakfast and headed out on the rough Shropshire roads.

B&B

The route through Shrewsbury was mainly alongside the Severn river - very pretty but roads were rough and my shoulder was very painful.

Shrewsbury

Lunch was at the Burlton Inn in Burlton. I met David Ivory there, we hadn't seen each other in 40 years. He had a full beard and looked like a cross between a skinny father Christmas and a happy Ayatollah. He had become an evangelistic vegan which seemed to help his climbing skills but I think I enjoyed lunch as an omnivore more than he did as a vegan.

Lunch

David (right)

We rode the second half of the ride together and talked a lot, catching up. He flew up the hills like they weren't there. I slogged up them like I weighed an extra 100 lbs (which I probably did).

The riding in the afternoon also had rough roads, but also some interesting breaks.

David had parked his van at near the end of the ride, but we had a road closure within a mile of the overnight that forced us to take a long detour. Eventually we ended up at the Hartford Hall Hotel in Northwich.

We rode 86.6 miles with 4045' of climbing.

Lejog day 5 - 6/7/2018

We rode from Monmouth to Clun. It was an short, easy day which was good considering the drama of the previous night. Here's a picture of the ill fated King's Head which was the only room with air conditioning. Shame we couldn't stay there. Note the bright red Peak Tours van, one of two that supported us.

There would be a Peak Tours van at each of the brew stops. We quickly developed a Pavlovian response to red vans.

King's Head Monmouth

There was, as usual, a steep climb out of Monmouth followed by rough roads and rolling hills.

 Lunch was at the New Inn in Pembridge. We had cream of mushroom soup (good), sandwiches, and a strawberry tart. Every lunch was this good, it was amazing.

Old church on the way to Pembridge

The New Inn and lunch

Old church next to the lunch stop

View from lunch

Once we got into Shropshire the road surfaces got better and we had some nice descents and an enjoyable brew stop in the middle of a quiet village.

Afternoon brew stop

We stayed at a riverside B&B in Clun that was the best overnight of them all.The owners were an auto mechanic and a teacher who put us up in their five bedroom, riverside house. How could they possibly afford that? No matter - they were two of the nicest people I've ever met and fed us scones, did laundry for us, and even cooked Martina a wonderful vegan dinner.

Amber and I took our regular after ride walk and found Clun Castle - there's not much left but it was interesting none the less.

Clun  Castle ruins

We found an open co-op and bought even more candy and cookies and ate a decent meal at the White Horse.

We rode 58.5 miles with a mere 4037' of climbing.

Lejog day 4 - 6/6/2018

Today we rode from Street to Monmouth. It was a fairly flat route and we started on a long narrow road following a small river. A pair of swans with cygnets was not happy at the attention they were getting from the riders.

Cyclists and swans

Unhappy swan

After the morning brew stop we rode on a cycle path and through a gypsy encampment.

Bike path

Morning brew stop

We had a lovely approach to and passage through Wells. It has an impressive cathedral.

Wells cathedral

There was a long hard climb out of Wells. We had a superb lunch at The Fox in Easter Compton.

Lunch

Then we approached the Severn Bridge and Monmouthshire.

Severn Bridge

After the smooth roads of Cornwall and Somerset I found the Monmouthshire roads to be appalling. Thank goodness we opted for the 32mm tires.

We checked in to the King's Head in Monmouth which was having problems with its fire alarm. Eventually they decided the only way to stop it from alarming all the time was to shut it off entirely which meant all their overnight guests had to be transported to alternative accommodations. We were all bused ten miles away to hotel back in England, then bused back again in the morning. Despite all this we still started the next day on time!

67.2 miles with 4319' of climbing.

Lejog day 3 - 6/5/2018

Much easier day today from Mortonhampstead to Street.

Lunch was at the Drew Arms in Broadhembury.

Drew Arms

The afternoon ride was even better than the morning.

Afternoon brew stop

Even though the roads were narrow at times, the English drivers were very patient. Here's a line of cars waiting to pass a cyclist.

We stayed at the Bear Hotel. I had a nice ploughman's and sticky toffee pudding. Hobgoblin beer is good.

Total distance was 70.5 miles with 3909' of climbing.

After I got back from the vacation I found my wife had crashed her bike today and broken her arm. She didn't tell me because she didn't want to spoil my vacation!