207 miles/ 333 km down…
As Im writing this blog a day late, I’ve actually tried to forget about this horrendous day…but here goes on the recap… My watch lasted most of the ride but then google takes over.
Okay… So my host Julia was kind enough to give me a ride to the nearest town this morning: Yeovil. Saved me at least an hour and lots of leg work up those hills… more grateful for this head start as the day went on.
Well to be a typical Brit… let me first start with the weather. Wow. When they forecast rain and wind all day they don’t half mean it! The weather was shit from start to end, with maybe the odd break in rain throughout the day. The wind was lashing me from the side all day and I was thoroughly soaked through. Yep I was not a happy camper and this added hours onto my day. I was aiming to arrive in Cheddar an see the Gorge in the evening around 5-6pm. It ended up 8.15pm when I turned up to the hostel looking like a drowned rat! haaaa. It was a cold day! The temperatures were ranging from 10-12 degrees most of the day!
So thats the weather report.. now the ride.
The ride started out pretty nice. The first 20 miles were relatively flat and alongside the Camel River – The track was okay, but really too much gravel for my thin tyres on the road bike. The track went on forever and it was nice to be away from the main roads and the cars but the rain… the mud…. did not make for a fun ride at all. The cycle path was nice alongside the canal until you were made to duck under the bridges every 1km or so!
Middle of the afternoon was okay when there was about 2 hours of break from the rain. I got to the Somerset Space Walk – which was totally on my extra things to do and see however I was not game for much extra today. It happened to be along the canal cycle trail… I saw all the planets apart from Neptune and Pluto due to the cycle path suddenly being closed off and closed for construction leading to a horrible detour over major roundabout, and random canals. Oh and the rain has started again. This is when it gets worse.
Its about 6pm and I realise Im still a good 15 miles from where I need to be. The rain is hammering and the wind is right in my face, Im freezing and soaked. My maps are taking me down country roads to avoid main roads – which is normally fine. But with the tractors and harvests in full swing the roads are just caked in mud, making it horrendous on my bike. I am covered in mud, the bike is covered in mud, and the country roads are windy and narrow. I knew I was about to race the sunlight, so I attached my bike lights ready, but when It came to using them around 7pm, it was little help on these roads. It was pitch black… I couldn’t see the roads I was taking, and the cracks in the road seemed to be magnified. Safe to say I was shitting myself a little. (Very thankful to friend being on the other end of the phone with me at this point) Anyway I kept going, to find that my brakes were loose/the brake pads had worn down so much during the day leaving them pretty much useless right now. I couldn’t stop in the pouring rain and dark to do anything about them so as soon as I felt a (what would normally be glorious) down hill I jumped off the bike to walk. I wont go into how I found out the brakes were fucked, but I can tell you I have one hell of a bruise from it, haha! 3 Miles from Cheddar and Im finally out of the country roads and onto a A road, and I can finally see town lights…. ahhhh!
8.15pm I hit the hostel, shower, stock up with food and snacks and water, have dinner, check in with people to say Im alive and smother myself in Tiger balm, and pass out! Tomorrow is another big day and I want to see the Gorge before I leave! Today testing me mentally, I was definitely ready to say fuck it, I’m done.
Tomorrow is another day – with a hurricane in the forecast…
