Hereford to Bridgwater
Wednesday 3rd June 2009
Today had long been pencilled in as 'the big day'. 105 miles, starting off in England, travelling through part of Wales, back into England, navigating through Bristol for a hospice visit after 60 Miles and finishing 10 miles south of Weston-Super-Mare on a seriously hot day.
We met at The Hopbine Hotel, Hereford at 7.30am. Well I was there on time - the others were still finishing off their breakfast and checking out. Monmouth's greatest living gentleman, Chris Chalk had come over to see me and filled me in on what had been going on at work - that killed the time until 8.30 when everyone was ready to go.
We were joined by eight stage riders today and set off towards Monmouth and the beautiful Wye Valley - the scenery was really stunning today. We stopped at Tintern Abbey for a photo and then onto Chepstow Racecourse for a pit stop, where a very strange thing happened.........
We've lived, breathed and dreamt LifeCycle for what seems an eternity. We've lived in close quarters with each other, so it was inevitable that one of us would crack. Step forward Sam Kemp!
The Kempster had been complaining about a rattle coming from the back of his bike for a while. Well, today enough was enough for Sam. Once at Chepstow, he decided to remove his rear wheel, followed by his chain, then his cassette. Every nut or screw that he saw he unscrewed. He had oil everywhere (he made Tets look clean). By his own admission, Sam knows NOTHING about bikes, so it came as no surprise at all that when he tried to put it back together, he had more parts left over than when he'd started (see photo on 'Photos' page - Sam was pretty laid back about it!). Out came the spare bike for the second day running.
Whilst all of these shenanigans were going on, Jase, Lee, Tets and Myself headed off in front and decided to move into 'Bridge Mode'. We made the two mile crossing over the Severn Bridge, stopping half way across for a photo. We then pushed on towards Bristol and the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Three miles down the road, we arrived at Charlton Farm Children's Hospice, where once again we were greeted by Eleanor Brady of Children's Hospices UK. Eleanor has become something of a 'groupie' over the past nine days, following us all over the country (only joking Eleanor, it's always nice to see you!).
We were given a guided tour of the hospice by Niki and Alexis. Once again, it has to be said how impressive these children's hospices are and the work that goes on there is fantastic.
We left there at 3.15 and really put the hammer down for the final 40 miles of the day as we headed along the A38, arriving at Bridgwater at 5.30.
Tets and myself then walked into North Petherton town centre and enjoyed fish and chips, sat outside the town's exclusive 'Fish Bar'. The rest of the guys were staying two miles down the road and I think that everyone was up for an early night tonight, so we all did our own thing.
Well we are in Somerset now, the South West of England and the final part of our journey.
Mark
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Reply #1 on : Thu June 04, 2009, 12:36:31