A varied and interesting ride – about 50 miles / 85 odd Kms but with a few challenging steep short climes to weary the already weary legs as we entered our 5 th consecutive day on the road. from Wells we rode thru the strawberry growing valley on the way to a place called Cheddar – after the famous cheese.

David took us to a “Costa” a place that does real coffee – the uk is lamentably bereft of decent coffee period – so it was a great place to caffeine up. It is the base of a lovely climb up through a magnificent limestone gorge. The strong winds almost blew us up the steep grades. – towards the top I was using the brakes to slow on the climb! Ok slight exaggeration maybe.

got very cold as we pushed on towards the City of Bristol . A couple of killer hills before the descent into Bristol .The gps guided us through the busy streets into the cbd and on to a nice little cafe for lunch.

Wind conditions were very Strong and we were given due warning on the perils ahead as we had to cross the river Servern on this huge suspension bridge. Jamie – a lightweight – rode on my wind shadow for some limited protection from the buffeting

A lovely last part of the ride as we entered Wales and into a cool descent to Tintern. This is the site of an amazing ruins – Tintern Abby – a once beautiful Abby that was destroyed by Henry 8th

Jamie , Marty and John – finished the ride first and found a little sun – first time today – enjoying a little rehydration in front of our hotel for the night.

A well earned Wye Valley Bitter

Steve is a cycle adventurer and sometimes professional Architect from the usa. He bears a remarkable Resemblance to one Richard Gere but tells us that mistaken identity only becomes an issue when the persons involved , normally woman , have a enjoyed a glass or two of vino!
He enjoyed a great day on tuesday and he had enough time at days end to head off and explore a very old church to glean information about some distant ancestors – a genealogical mission on behalf of a friend back home. He struck pay dirt with some genealogical revelations that trace this family tree back to the 1400’s – he is still buzzing..