Friday 19 August 2011

The (half) hardest day

Colin and Roddy: Showing us young'uns how it's done.
Day 11: Welsh Bicknor to Cheddar
Today has been a real bee-atch of a ride. First we had to cross the footbridge over the River Wye, which meant riding the singletrack through the woods, no real problem but then there was the climb out of English Bicknor, the climb out of Coleford, the climb up to St Briavels and the climb out of Chepstow. And the climb up the Severn Bridge and the Avonmouth Bridge then, unbelievably worst of all, the climb out of Portishead to my house, where we had lunch. All in all, 6200ft of ascent in 38 miles. We were shagged.

To bring a comparison, this amount of climbing would be a full 70 mile day in Scotland. It's been the toughest day of the trip, and Cornwall is unlikely to compete. Thank goodness for the Strawberry Line cycle path which we followed this afternoon, which saved us having to climb over Shipham. Otherwise I think we may have needed an ambulance!

We were joined this afternoon by my friend Roddy of Axbridge Cycling Group, and this lifted our spirits tremendously, riding with us between home and Sandford. Cheers Roddy :)

The very weird part of the Strawberry Line is Shute Shelve tunnel. This saves an awful lot of effort, however the tunnel is not lit from above. Instead there are LED catseyes set in the road and powered by a solar panel on the hill. As the tunnel is dark, but the end remains bright, you lose peripheral vision. It's strange how much you rely on peripheral vision for secondary balance on a bike, and it's loss does kind of freak you out for a bit.

Early baths for us tonight. Hope tomorrow is easier!

Today 58.5 miles, cumulative 715.1 miles.

Have now updated previous posts with relevant pictures :)

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