Today has been a tough day! Chepstow to Shrewsbury , well Harmer Hill which is 8 miles north of Shrewsbury!
The day started off with an uphill , and continued with 6000ft plus of them! That is twice the height of Ben More on Mull, spread out over 98.1 miles!
Thanks to El Ninio, the temperature was in excess of 24 degrees Celsius with another easterly wind! Most companies run this trip from Lands End to John O Groats from south to North as the prevailing winds in the UK are South Westerly and will assist pedalling uphill to Scotland . This year has saw Easterly winds which have for most parts hit us head on!
We had a beautiful ride through the Wye Valley , definitely some where I need to return . The roads were mainly flat with many rolling smaller hills.

We climbed out of the Wye Valley and on to Monmouth, another lovely area. We had to negotiate the town here before hitting the road and heading to morning tea at 24 miles!
Lunch was a further 25 miles away and was in Kingsland in the local Post Office and tea room and was very very nice! We sat in their wee garden outside and soaked up some more sun!

I had a quick visit from my lovely sister in law Chatlotte who lives nearby, well kind of near by Kingsland! It was lovely to see a familiar face and be spurred on.

After lunch, we had another 50 miles to go and took in the 2 big hills of the day. The route was very pretty and the views stunning and we rode through all the smaller routes up by the A49. The cycle routes we took are all smaller single teach roads which tend to have hedgerows and are all very overgrown, making the roads narrower and the passing of cars impossible with out getting off of the bike and venturing into the undergrowth. They are however nice and quiet but the downhills are not as enjoyable as the roads are bumpy and have lots of potholes.

We had a 34 miles after lunch to our water stop and this made for a tough afternoon. The ride was long and hot and I’m not sure what the actual temperature was but the tar was starting to melt! After our water stop it was downhill mostly into Shrewsbury and then 8 miles further on to Harmer Hill and our accommodation for the night. The last 16 miles was probably 16 miles too long! My bottom is shredded and very painful on the seat and my thighs are sore from the growing muscles I have in there!
However I have had a lovely lighter dinner tonight and have laid off the local ale to try and have a better nights sleep! I am feeling a bit tired but we have a bath tonight so that will go a long way to help the aches and pain!

Day 4 is in the bag, bring on Day 5!