I had a great night’s sleep, but for some reason the nicer
the sleep then the harder it seems to be to get going the following day. In
this instance I don’t think it helped how lovely a spot I was camping in! Once
I was ready to get going though, my sleepiness and lethargy soon evaporated as
the pedals started turning along with the wheels. It didn’t take long to reach
Leintwardine along gently downhill and flat roads and then on beyond there to
Wigmore.
It was on the outskirts of Wigmore that I first saw large
groups of cyclists, all going the other way. At first I wondered if they were
just riders from a local cycle club, but it soon became apparent that they were
cyclists doing the same trip as me, but in reverse, and with back up, as none
of them were carrying any kit. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves, cruising
along with the wind at their backs, and I got lots of waves and smiles as I
passed them. I was also surprised at just how many women were cycling, close to
half I would guess, which is great for cycling in my opinion!
About 10 miles or so I took a wrong turn after misreading my
map, finding myself heading off towards Eardisland and a few miles of very
narrow lanes and ridgeline roads that rose and fell sharply in quick
succession. Back on the right path but getting low on water on a hot day I
decided to stop for lunch in a charming village called Weobley, a former
village of the year winner – and yet another village that reminded me of Hot
Fuzz – the Simon Pegg police comedy.
Back on the road, after cheesecake and other tasty lunchtime
foods saw lovely B roads through villages such as Madley, Clehonger and
Kingstone, and the miles rolled quickly by. I was pretty close to Ross-on-Wye
by tea time and the sun had come out once again – lovely. Ross looked like a
nice little town as I passed by, hilly though, and I stopped to chat to a Swiss
woman who was cycle touring around Britain, albeit very slowly, covering a mere
30k a day – she was able to stop everywhere she wanted and soak up everything
she came across, but still, I don’t think touring at that pace would suit me - I
was now looking forward to completing my trip and returning to my daily routine
and lifestyle. That’s not to say that I wasn’t enjoying myself, I was, and felt
that the trip was having a positive effect on my sense of self, along with an
increased sense of human goodness, but I was missing my wife, and hot showers,
and a comfortable bed, and…
South of Ross-on-Wye I took what I didn’t know was a wrong
turn, and ended up following the meandering road alongside the river for about
6 or 7 miles. I eventually found someone to ask for directions at a sports
field. It turned out that I was very close to the youth hostel, but the wrong
side of the river! I followed the directions of the sports field chap and found
myself dragging my bike and luggage along an overgrown footpath, through
brambles and stinging nettles until…I found myself back at the starting point of
the sports field! Sheepishly cycling along the outside of the football field
was pretty funny as the guy from earlier spotted me and just shook his head at
me. I tried again and this time actually found the right bridge, hooray!
Dragging the bike up a steep bank and onto the bridge was hard and heavy work,
but the bridge was pretty cool, like something out of an Indiana Jones movie!
I found the youth hostel soon after, checked in and then
enjoyed my first hot shower in days – bliss! The rest of my time at the hostel
was spent sorting through and cleaning my kit, cooking dinner and chatting to
Alice. I was looking forward to turning south west once over the Severn Bridge
and chatting to the staff at the hostel it seemed that the hostel was on the
route for many “end to enders” – usually from the south, and often four days in
– this was welcome news indeed as I was pretty sure that I could cover the distance
in the same timeframe. It was also nice to be able to cook my evening meal in a
proper kitchen and I even enjoyed a couple of alcoholic ginger beers, after
which it was definitely time for bed!
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