15th July 2010 - Alveston to Culmington, Ludlow

We quickly get the tent down in a break in the rain and head from Slimbridge (the closest campsite we could find) down to Alveston, in the car, to start the days cycling.  A torrential downpour makes for interesting driving and the windscreen wipers are struggling to cope.  Phew! At least I missed that one.  We stop the car and I get the bike off the roof and head off in the direction of the Severn bridge.  Within minutes, the torrential rain comes down again.  I was absolutely drenched and it was blowing a gale.  I pressed on to the Severn Bridge (bit of a nightmare to navigate across).  I cycled on to the Severn Bridge to be great by a great blast of wind that nearly took me off my bike.  I didn't fancy cycling across it now, so I got off and started to walk, which was an effort in itself. I was very relieved once I got to the other side.  On the other side of the Severn Bridge, there is a crossroads of cycle track and it wasn't immediately obvious which one I should take.  I decided to head straight on.  In a short while, I came across a traveller's camp, quite a big one. I headed on through with dogs barking at me and people coming out to have a look.  At one point, there was a door mat laid across the cycle track and what appeared to be a bacon sandwich lying abandoned on the mat.  After the traveller's camp was an industrial estate.  Oh no, lost again.  I headed out of the cycle track on the main route in and back onto the main road.

Back on the main road, I was now into Wales.  I met a couple of guys on a tandem who were cycling from Land's End to John o Groats taking in the three peaks; Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis. I headed from Chepstow on to Monmouth not feeling that great and cycling into a strong wind. Ten minutes later I was suffering badly, my energy was gone and I was only 10 miles into the day's cycling.  I mustn't have eaten enough at breakfast combined with cycling into the wind.  I struggled on, luckily mostly downhill to Tintern Abbey.  I had been here before so I knew exactly where to go, straight to the cafe for something to eat.  It was the best coffee and cake (and most needed) of the trip.

I stopped here for about an hour to try and recover a little.  I got back on the bike and headed for Monmouth.  It was hard work, however, the scenery is beautiful and it kept me going.  After Monmouth, I headed in the general direction of Hereford.  I was still struggling, so I decided the best option was to come off the hilly B roads and on to the flatter A roads, so at Hereford, I picked up the A49.  I would now stay on the A49 until Warrington.  Cycling through Hereford city centre was a bit daunting and I was squeezed up on to the pavement a few times.  It took a good ten miles out of Hereford before I started to feel stronger and I pressed on to Leominster and then to Ludlow.  We were camping at a small village called Culmington, three miles from Ludlow.  A total of 76 miles cycled today.  I was suprised to see that my average speed was still 13mph today because at some points I felt like I was hardly moving.

Song for Today: The Spencer Davis Group - Keep on Running