More pretty countryside to cycle through today. There was no room in the inn at Much Wenlock, so i had to come across to Broseley for the night. All in all, 67 miles today, and I got here at 1715 which is my earliest ever arrival. Gps says i was moving for just over 5 hours, which means an average speed of 13.4mph. What a difference a tail wind makes! I spent the last hour of the day sprinting to keep ahead of a massive rain cloud which was blackening the sky behind me.
Techwise, today was all about adapting to changing weather. I just kept the rain covers on my shoes all day. Rain jacket and trousers lived on top of each pannier, held down by the strap so that they were easy to get to. Rain gloves were in the jacket pocket. I also found that i could wedge my map case between the aerobars, which makes it much easier to get to.
So what shall we do tonight? Same thing we do every night – shower, wash clothes, yoga, food, route review and bed.
Day: May 16, 2009
De Greys Tearoom, Ludlow
I’m sure i read about this place on someone else’s lejog trip report – probably Andrew McHattie’s.
I stumbled in here, panniers swinging, before i made the connection. I’d describe it as the Jenners of the tea room world. I think i walked past Miss Marple on the way in. Not exactly cyclist central, but i’ve got used to brazenly stomping into delicate tearooms with full cycling gear. They served a tasty steak pie but lousy latte – but what was i thinking walking into a tea house and asking for coffee?!
I managed 40 miles before lunch at 1pm, aided by a useful tail wind. Wait, what’s that? It’s like a wind . . that helps you rather than hinders you. A cyclist power-up if you like!
Weather has been showers on and off. I’ve stopped four times to shelter under trees to avoid the worst of the rain, but the wind blows it over quickly (the rain, Anthony, not the tree!). I was very focused on getting the miles done this morning, lots of heads down pedalling and munching of snacks whilst on the move. The biggest hassle was switching clothes a million times – jacket on, jacket off, rain trousers on, then off again. Still, i have my gear stowage nicely optimised now! Another 25 or so miles left to Ironbridge, though the forecast for the afternoon was poorer.
Withington
I was looking in my phone camera to see if the had am exposure control (no) but i did find that it has a timer mode! So more self portraits from now on, and fewer photos of road signs. However, i did suffer my first nettle sting of the trip whilst setting up the shot!
Travels with my Spork
Never leave home without your spork. So far i’ve used mine to fix a puncture, eat food, align dilithium crystals and create controlled nuclear fusion.
Ross on Wye
Ross on Wye turned out to be a lovely place to spend an afternoon. I got a new water bottle finally and had a very pleasant lunch, coffee and cake!