LEJOG day 4

 Tracy's blog. 

Today was one of our longest rides of 100 miles to Bristol, so we set the alarm for 5am and were on the road just after 6am. Breakfast was some pain au chocolates bought last night from the Co-op down the road from the hotel. Not quite the breakfasts of the first 2 days but better than nothing.  I got slightly concerned over a large, very dark mole that appeared on my arm that I was sure hadn't been there before.  I then realised it was a stray chocolate chip from my pain au chocolate. Relief! 

It had been raining overnight and it felt nice and fresh as we set off on relatively quiet roads. We negotiated our way out of Exeter and then joined B roads that flirted with the M5 for some time. We made good progress on fairly flat roads. I definitely appreciated the absence of hills! We passed through Cullumpton, a really pretty town but sadly too early for coffee and cake. 

We joined the Grand Western canal towpath at Sampford Peveril which we followed for about 6 miles. Even flatter! Definitely my kind of cycling. And traffic free. It was a good surface and we largely had the path to ourselves aside from the odd early morning dog walker.  The scenery along the canal was beautiful. Happy days. 

At Wellisford we left the tow path and almost immediately had to attack a steep hill which my legs were not happy about.  I got a bit grumpy after Dan assured me that we were nearly at the top (from his Satmap) which I reasonably assumed meant just round the next corner. But no. And it wasn't around the next corner either, but the one after that! Seriously, it's not fair to mess with people's emotions. 

After I got over that, we followed quiet roads to Taunton, arriving mid morning and feeling good. We debated about whether to have coffee and cake or grab some lunch. It definitely felt like lunchtime, having been up since dawn, and we were conscious that we had a long way to go and couldn't afford too many stops, so we plumped for lunch in Greggs which filled a gap. 

After Taunton we joined the Bridgwater and Taunton canal tow path for another 12 miles. Again, good surfaces and fairly quiet, albeit not the fastest route. We saw plenty of people enjoying the canal, either on canal boats or kayaks. Lots of people again wanted to chat to us about our trip, wishing us luck. We met a lovely couple of ladies who regaled us with funny stories of when they were the support team for one of the lady's daughter who did the same trip as us 10 years ago. We chatted for ages. 

Also along the tow path was a replica of the solar system, with a model of the sun at the centre. In either direction were scale models of each of the planets, spaced out at the correct distances according to scale. It was fun to spot the models along the way although Saturn almost remained elusive. 

We stopped for a welcome cold drink at the Lock Inn bar and kitchen on the canal. It was still very warm, although at least not as hot as yesterday. 

It was a pleasure to cycle over the Somerset levels. Reclaimed land from the original marshes and seriously flat! All the while, the Mendip hills loomed in front of us. I knew this involved a seriously big climb (Ebbor Gorge) and I was mentally trying to prepare myself. 

The climb went on forever! Strava tells me it's my biggest climb to date. I managed to cycle about two thirds of it although even Dan had to get off and walk the ridiculously steep middle section. I had to stop and get my breath back several times. Passers-by looked at us pityingly. We stopped for a chat (and welcome rest) with a friendly farmer who was interested in our trip. He asked if it was for charity. No, it's really just a holiday with a bit of challenge. He laughed. "I was on holiday 2 weeks ago," he said. "On a beach in Málaga. I know which holiday I'd prefer" . He anticipated his wife asking him if anything interesting happened today, he assured us that his reply would be "I met a couple of lunatics!"

Once at the summit we were rewarded with magnificent views of the Somerset countryside and Bristol channel beyond. It was (almost) worth it! 

We stopped at the pub in Priddy for a a well deserved full fat coke and refilled our water bottles. We even managed to get ice-cream from the local campsite shop. Bliss - small things make such a difference, although I had at this point resigned myself to it being a disappointingly cake free day.

We loved the long descent to the Chew Valley Lake and Chew Magna where we cycled past the Valley Fest music festival . One last climb and then onto the cycle paths into Bristol. We were mostly off road and were impressed by the cycle network. The busy on road sections were a bit of a culture shock after a mostly traffic free day. I love Bristol but this evening it felt busy, noisy and stressful. Not helped by the fact I had just cycled 90 miles and feeling a little weary. 

We rode with some friendly cyclists on the way for a couple of miles including Nicholas who was full of questions as he is riding LEJOG next year. I am sure that he'll be fine as his positivity and enthusiasm was infectious. The people we have been fortunate enough to chat to on the way has been one of my favourite parts of the trip so far. 

We finally arrived at Alex's flat. Despite the distance I think we finished strongly but it was a late finish at 8pm. Worst hotel of the trip so far. No sachets of coffee and no little packets of biscuits. Very disappointed.  Only one mug in the entire flat. Seriously? We had to take it in turns to have a cuppa.

We had left some provisions in the flat when we picked up Alex back in May so we could cook our own tea. We both looked at each other in disappointment when we saw that we had just left pasta and pesto. At the time we figured that we would appreciate cooking something quick and easy but it felt a let down after last night's delicious dustbin lid pizza. Still, it actually tasted pretty good.

Today was long and tiring but (so far) I'm really enjoying it and pleased with how I'm coping with the hills and distances. Long may this continue! 

Distance travelled 98 miles

Elevation: 4230ft

Cake of the day: pink lemonade magnum ice-cream 

Tracy whinge factor: 2/10

Total miles: 260