G- Whizz, what a day!

Glad it’s done, toughest climbing day of the journey!!

We left Liskeard this morning after a hearty breakfast near our Premier Inn, at 8.30am. We all knew it was going to be a hard day with over 7000ft of climbs! The Gilles started straight away, no gentle warm up for us, and our breaks today were hard as well! We had to cycle 31.9 miles for our morning coffee!! This took us up to the top of Dartmoor which is 500m above sea level. For me this was too long! We had a rolling water stop where we could refill water bottles about 17 miles before the big hill began, which in the heat of Devon this morning along with the hills was much needed. Previous viewings of XC weather, had told me that again we would have the wind blowing from the East into our faces. We were moseying along and I made a comment to Sharon that there wasn’t much wind!! I was wrong, we turned the corner and started ascending the hill and there it was, it took our breath away and we had to really concentrate to stay on the bike and get it up the hill. It was pretty bad for about 10 miles and then we fortunately changed direction and it was not quite so bad side on!

Dartmoor was stunning and it is clear to see how Cathy disappeared!! It is wild, rugged, and bare! Plenty shrubs and rocky areas and lots of wild Dartmoor ponies, sheep and belted Galloway cows. Very like a mini safari.

bearing in mind we had come up 500m to the top of Dartmoor, to descent was disappointing!! We got a nice couple of miles down , only to have a wee yup! There was plenty of the and some were 16degrees and torture!!
We had lunch organised at 60 miles, now bearing in mind morning coffee actually happened at 12.20pm for us, we arrived at lunch in Silvertown at 3.38pm. A tough slow day but we enjoyed coming through the lush countryside and Tavistock was my favoured town of the day! Lunch was just what we needed, soup, sandwiches and chips and a pint of coke! I’ll no be losing any week on this holiday.

After lunch we had a few more ups and downs and we navigated Exeter! Traffic was not so bad today until we landed on the A38 to Taunton and it was crazy! It was a good road though and we pulled back a bit of time here and powered back to the hotel, catching up with the team in front!
Strong finish to a hard day, which has left my last bits in tatters! Loads of uphill and winds have you grinding the seat unintentionally and it’s pretty tough!
Heading for another slap up meal at tonight’s Premier Inn and one of Taunton finest Ciders!!

2 days down, only 10 to go!