Days 2 and 3
Well I'm sat here in the bar of The Angel Hotel in Abergavenny, with a very handsome looking pint of Guinness sat infront of me and feeling very proud of myself indeed.
Today I got my first taste of 1:10 gradient hills and let me tell you, when your not sat behind an internal combustion engine its quite a daunting sight indeed.
But enough of that I've got day two to report on first.......
We sadly left The Plough in Clanfield (It really was a very nice hotel) after a great breakfast. I found it much more difficult to get into a stride cycling solo. I did however persist and managed to settle into a comfortable 13 mph average speed.
The Chilterns were very uneventful but did have a very nice lunch in a pub just outside Tewksbury. After lunch it was a quick hop over the M5 and a duck under the M50 before going into the old market town of Ledbury, which I managed to get lost in and spent the best part of 30 mins cycling back and forth from one end of the high street to the other.
Home for the night was The Leadon House Hotel and 'mother' for the stay made us feel very welcome indeed. Hotel was nice if not a bit twee. Had a trip into Ledbury for the evening found a proper locals pub with a mad barmaid and I swear to God, i could hear Duelling Banjos on the juke box. Had dinner in a cracking indian restaurant just opposite the pub however, as it turns out, mini cabs in Ledbury don't run past 9pm!!!!
Day 3.
Was awoken by a mysterious smell; especially to us city types....The smell of muck spreading is a most unusal alarm clock, after checking the bottoms of numerous pairs of shoes just in case. I gave up and went down for breakfast, which was good. The tea pot even had enough tea bags in it.
Left Ledbury and made my way into the heart of The Cotswolds which really are something special, especially when the sun lights up the fields of wheat and it shines like gold. Cycling through scenery like this makes it very easy indeed and the miles just roll by.
Lunch was at a pub a few miles from the England/Wales border. It did however, remind me of the pub from little Britain and the lure of asking 'Mefanwe' behind the bar for a Bacardi and coke was almost overwhelming. The menu was great though and we ate like kings.
After lunch with the Welsh Border a mouse fart away, I set off to encounter the most demanding cycling I've faced so far. Wales really is very hilly indeed.
I was over taken by a tractor carrying about a billion tonnes of hay which is really quite demoralising. The downhill run into Abergavenny wasn't.
Ok Uncle Phil and Grandad have turned up. Lets hope the next few days go well.
Today I got my first taste of 1:10 gradient hills and let me tell you, when your not sat behind an internal combustion engine its quite a daunting sight indeed.
But enough of that I've got day two to report on first.......
We sadly left The Plough in Clanfield (It really was a very nice hotel) after a great breakfast. I found it much more difficult to get into a stride cycling solo. I did however persist and managed to settle into a comfortable 13 mph average speed.
The Chilterns were very uneventful but did have a very nice lunch in a pub just outside Tewksbury. After lunch it was a quick hop over the M5 and a duck under the M50 before going into the old market town of Ledbury, which I managed to get lost in and spent the best part of 30 mins cycling back and forth from one end of the high street to the other.
Home for the night was The Leadon House Hotel and 'mother' for the stay made us feel very welcome indeed. Hotel was nice if not a bit twee. Had a trip into Ledbury for the evening found a proper locals pub with a mad barmaid and I swear to God, i could hear Duelling Banjos on the juke box. Had dinner in a cracking indian restaurant just opposite the pub however, as it turns out, mini cabs in Ledbury don't run past 9pm!!!!
Day 3.
Was awoken by a mysterious smell; especially to us city types....The smell of muck spreading is a most unusal alarm clock, after checking the bottoms of numerous pairs of shoes just in case. I gave up and went down for breakfast, which was good. The tea pot even had enough tea bags in it.
Left Ledbury and made my way into the heart of The Cotswolds which really are something special, especially when the sun lights up the fields of wheat and it shines like gold. Cycling through scenery like this makes it very easy indeed and the miles just roll by.
Lunch was at a pub a few miles from the England/Wales border. It did however, remind me of the pub from little Britain and the lure of asking 'Mefanwe' behind the bar for a Bacardi and coke was almost overwhelming. The menu was great though and we ate like kings.
After lunch with the Welsh Border a mouse fart away, I set off to encounter the most demanding cycling I've faced so far. Wales really is very hilly indeed.
I was over taken by a tractor carrying about a billion tonnes of hay which is really quite demoralising. The downhill run into Abergavenny wasn't.
Ok Uncle Phil and Grandad have turned up. Lets hope the next few days go well.
posted by Clock2Rock at
10:37 AM
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