The penultimate day
started with the long distance cyclist’s two favourite words - buffet
breakfast! After we’d finished gorging ourselves it was time to don waterproofs
and head out into the unpromising weather. The heavy rain overnight had apparently
been the worst storm to hit the Southwest in 50 years, so we counted our
blessings that it had mostly passed, leaving just the odd squally shower and a
brisk headwind to contend with for most of the day. Mercifully, the first part
of this stage’s route was pretty flat across the Somerset levels, so we took
turns to share the windbreaking effort in our little peloton as we passed
Weston Super-Mare and Bridgwater.
When we refuelled at a burger
van (at Pat’s request!) the couple serving warned that the road would get hilly
soon, and unfortunately they weren’t wrong. Our route led us around the edge of
Exmoor, and before long we were on some narrow back roads with grass down the
middle, gravel all over the place and some excruciating gradients which left us
scrabbling for grip. The roads got better as we passed Bickleigh Castle and
Crediton, but the hills kept coming thick and fast. At least the weather had
improved by this point so we could briefly enjoy the views as we crested each
rise.
Although we were still in
Devon, the support van came to the rescue with some great Cornish pasties just
before Okehampton. With time ticking on, and our average speed lagging
somewhat, we decided to take our chances on the busy A30 for the last few miles
of the day to Launceston. This turned out to be a bit of a grind – the hills
were a little gentler but the headwind just as biting, so Evo and Jon S decided
to return to the back roads when the opportunity arose. Pat, Dave and Mark
pressed on for a couple more junctions, and eventually made it to our
accommodation for the night at a golf resort just outside Launceston, followed
soon after by Evo and Jon, who’d ended up in the town. We managed to stay awake
just about long enough to cram down some dinner and watch most of the England v
Sweden football with some rowdy golfers, before falling asleep like babies.
Still, only one day to go, how bad could it be?
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