Thursday 20 August 2015

Day 5 – Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’ Keep Those Wheels Rollin’

“Good morning Mark. I hope you slept well. Would you like the cyclists breakfast?” That was the cheery greeting that welcomed me to Day 5 of this adventure. Well, the cyclists breakfast started with porridge with seeds (all organic) and honey from local bees. Followed by scrambled eggs (local free range hens), granary bread and homemade marmalade, washed down with freshly ground coffee. I have to say that the porridge was the best I have ever eaten. And the rest of the breakfast was pretty good too. So, suitably fuelled, I felt ready for anything that the road could throw at us.

We left Clun up a sharp, but short climb and then hit a long drag up to a magnificent view west towards the mountains of Snowdonia and north across the Cheshire plain. A very fast (40mph+) descent brought us on to level ground which was then with us for the rest of the day. If I'd closed my eyes, not advisable on a bike, I could almost have been back home in Suffolk. With a favourable tailwind we flew along. We made such good progress that we even stopped at a pub for a pre-lunch drink.


Today was the easiest day so far – by a long way. Almost a rest day. It seemed no time at all that my Garmin, which seemed to be working today, was beeping to tell me that the 77 miles was completed and our destination for the day was just ahead. A few in our little peloton had some ‘mechanicals’ and a couple of punctures but these were all taken in our stride.



One of the challenges of an extended tour is keeping on top of the domestics. So any chance to wash and dry kit on tour makes a huge difference. And, luckily the chance for an impromptu laundry session presented itself today!





Miles today 77
Total miles from Land’s End  387 (+ 17)
Miles to John o’Groats  599

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