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Pit, pit patter on the window as we woke up signalled another wet day on the bike. The rain came and went but at least it wasn't cold and today we were excited by the forthcoming Somerset levels. You can imagine my disappointment when I discovered that even these so called levels had hills. Luckily, little ones... until Bristol.
The rain kept us off the little single track roads, which are no good if you have to stop in the wet for a oncoming car, and coupled with the flatter ground we sailed along. We skipped Tiverton castle, which Andy didn't think looked that exciting, and so our first stop for the day was Sheppy's Cider. It was slightly too early for cider tasting, being before midday and we still had another 85km to go. The museum was interesting (did you know that they shake the tree to get all the apples off?!) and we had a lovely cup of coffee in the tea room. We were tempted to leave some clothes behind and grab a couple of bottles for later.
We stopped for lunch in Wedmore at the Black Duck. Being so close to Cheddar, we naturally had cheddar cheese on toast with mushrooms which the owner told us was a local cyclists favourite and we could see why. To celebrate our fleeting visit to Somerset, we had some Somerset Apple Cake with clotted cream which was very nice but not quite as good as yesterday's Dartmoor apple cake.
As we approached Cheddar Gorge we could see a blanket of cloud sitting on top of the Mendip Hills. The Gorge itself was its usual stunning self and still one of my favourite places to cycle in the UK. With all our gears and the last few days of hills, it was a pleasure to climb. Being that this is becoming a trip known for its beautiful scenery, we could obviously see nothing from the top. Instead I enjoyed the knowledge that I was finding my cycling legs.
Andy assured me that after Cheddar we had one more hill before descending into Bristol. Little did we know that this final hill would be one of the hardest we have had to climb to date. I sat in my granny gear and still had to rock in an effort to get some power into my legs. The road was too wet to get out of the saddle, as whenever I did, the back wheel would slip. Coming down wasn't much fun either and in the end I came unstuck on a 10% gradient 90 degree bend.
Andy nearly came down on the same bend and we think there might have been oil on the road as I certainly had a lot of oil on my arms when I had a shower later. A bit shaken but without anything damaged, I got scooped up by a friendly woman who lived on the bend (and told me that accidents happen there all the time), she put my bike and me into her Range Rover and drove me to the bottom of the hill as I certainly didn't want to descend it, and was worried Andy might start climbing back up in search of me. Luckily we were only 3km from our B&B and other than a few grazes and a big bruise on my bum, I'm OK. Thank goodness for my helmet!!
Andy has been amazing at looking after me and we had pizza for dinner.
Tomorrow we're off to the bike shop to buy a new helmet and then going to see how the day goes. Will probably be a little stiff, but fingers crossed that all will be well. Just hope this rain stops!
Todays Stats
Distance: 120km / 80 miles
Elevation: 1155m
Andy's breakfast score: 6/10
Treat of the day: Cheddar cheese and mushroom on toast
- comments
Ken Glad that you are not seriously injured, how is the helmet it must warrant a picture. The Levels provide good cycling compared with Devon but the hills do come as a shock. Take care.
Raeph Hey guys, loving the blog though i'm really not sure how you find the time to write it between all these hundreds of miles and platefuls of breakfast and cake? Educational too as I've learned that proper cyclists have such powerful legs that you actually spin your rear wheel when you pedal too hard. That has never happened to me! Keep it up :-) X
Amelia I've been reading you blog to Dylon and he liked the idea that they shake the trees to get the apples off - like Mr Bump was his comment! Hope you aren't too stiff today. You are making great progress!
Toni Ooooh, such drama!! This blog is even better than Game of Thrones!! Glad you are still in one piece - I will think sunny thoughts for you today.
tamsin Eleanor - you are amazing! I would have given up ages ago! Txx
Penny OUCH! Arnica tablets. Big hugs x