Day 4 Glastonbury to Chepstow

Made it into Wales !  Leaving the English west country with some nostalgia but not a little relief . Everyone told me the first 3 or 4 days would be tough , and I feel the training at 8,000 ft and the odd Rim Trail or Tom Blake Trail ( 2 favourite mountain bike rides of ours  in , not to mention a grueling climb up Mt Mitchell outside  Asheville , NC ) have made it possible. Never though have I seen such steep hills on narrow country roads ( and I mean straight up - no  U bends ) keep coming at you so consistently as you see for the length of  Devon.

Wells Cathedral

Severn bridge

The George , Chepstow

Left the George & Pilgrim in Glastonbury and relied on Satmap ( he's become such a good friend I have to christen him -" Charlie " I've decided in honour of my dear father who was a pioneer in the early days of pocket chess computers and named his formidable adversary Charlie ) to get back on mapped route . Through Cheddar bu not so sign of cheese factories. 

Then skirted Bristol on the SW side , found a series of good bike tracks first over the Avon bridge and 8 miles or so further on the newer of the 2 suspension bridges over the Severn. The lovely town of Chepstow beckoned a couple of miles or so on the north side and 6.30 ( half an hour or so before dark ) I checked in very happily to the George Hotel .  63 miles and lovely prospect of Offa's Dyke separating Welsh and English border tomorrow.

Day 3 Okehampton to Glastonbury

3rd attempt at new post . Tried twice before going to sleep last night , and by some quirk of IPad ( never my fault mind! ) whole text suddenly disappeared from screen. V frustrating.  So now early morning and will try again - briefly .

Highlight of day was meeting Ken and Janet for 1st time for dinner. They drove out - an hour each way - to Glastonbury which at 83 miles was the furthest I could get towards Bristol from Okehampton. Thank you Ken and Janet not just for doing that - at an incredibly busy time for you with your son's wedding a few days away - but for the great dinner and doing research for me on accommodation. The George and Pilgrim ( built in the 1400s ) offered possibly the last room available inG'bury!  Mike and Joan , you have a dinner on us coming to you wherever we next meet!

Superb day cycling . Big relief to get everything dried at YH . After big breakfast in Okehampton, didn't get away till 10 , but went at it hard after that to make the rendezvous. Sailed through Exeter and Taunton - sadly with no time to stop - and Satmap worked a treat in leading me to bike paths through the cities - well done J&J! Roads relatively ( in comparison with last 2 days anyway ) flat and wind from WNW .  Dry and sunny , but beautifully cool - Mary please note !

Forecast good for today but rain after that , so must make the most of it . Hope to get across the Severn - unless I decide to take a rest day in Bristol . Need to recalculate on time available , when to reach Carlisle etc , etc

LEJOG - Days 1 & 2

Lands End - long way to go

No pics available as I can't download them as I was able to do on trans am.

This diary account is primarily for my own record purposes.

Left the Penzance B & B at 9 and got to LE at 11. Took the straightforward but quite busy route, spent an hour there took the obligatory photos, put the odometer back to zero and took off .

Switched on the brilliant Satmap device which Johannes found for me and which Jane had pre mapped  and loaded my route to JoG. Worked a treat. Set off with some considerable alarm a mile out of LE on the quietest most unlikely looking country single track road. I needn't have worried . The device did it all for me then and continued to do so until near the end of the day ; I was tired and prob  pressed the wrong button. Mini disaster I prob did an extra 5 miles and a huge down and up again quite needlessly.

A lovely, but v hilly route and on back roads almost the whole 65 miles. Weather good - much sun , good wind from NW and no rain. Found a good campsite to SW of St Austell  Sun Valley , got there just before dark at 6.45 , pitched Johannes's tent , lit the stove and had a Tiso "bag". One of my caravan neighbors came over and offered my a large and quite delicious hot dog. What lovely people you meet.


Day 2 didn't begin well. As I was packing up at 7.30ish , the heavens opened. And sadly just before I got the tent down . So set off with a saturated and v heavy tent and a variety of wet clothes. Found comfort in a good bakery to E of St Austell and had a substantial carb and cholesterol loaded breakfast and gallons of tea. Set me up well for one of the hardest days cycling I've ever had. See  Day 2 of the following website if you want to follow route  -  http://www.pewseys.co.uk/lejog_GPS.htm

Sat map battery gave out on me within an hour  ( have noted to make sure charged every night ) and made a navigational error early on doing about  400 feet of climbing  and 5 miles that I needn't have done.  Rolling hills and some very substantial hills all day . Limped in to Okehampton at  7 ( the last 5 miles on a brilliant dedicated cycle path )  and found by chance this fabulous YH  in one of the converted railway station buildings. 58 miles . Room to myself , locked bike shed , superb drying room , good kitchen facilities ( a Tiso bag again - I might get tired of these ) , luxurious shower , hired towel for a quid ,  and washing machine ( the delightful warden offered to throw in my grubby collection with a load of the YH washing . Brilliant  . Also free wi-fi . Campsite charged me £10 for the tent site and £6 for. wi-fi !

Leaving Keith & Fiona's in Edinburgh bound for the station and train to Penzance - 2nd attempt

 Youth Hostel at Okehampton

Tomorrow should make it somewhere towards Bristol . Hoping to meet up with Ken Temple ( who did trans am on his own last year and introduced to me by Mike and Joan who teamed up with them for quite a large segment of it) .

Back to Scotland

The GRR Autumn UK trip started with a golden wedding anniversary lunch in Abeerdeen

Hosted by my sister Barbara and her husband Bill , sharing the celebrations with Bill's sister Nancy and her husband Wallace who were married  a few weeks before B & B. No pics I'm afraid till Ros sends me one to include.

Off next morning the 21st to Edinburgh for meetings at AS and then to Monaliath Hotel at Laggan to meet up with the Yorkshire contingent - John F, Rod, Simon, John A and Adam. A near perfect day on the Saturday for our hike up Creag Meghaigh and a couple of other Munros on way back. Views magnificent. John's dog Mia an excellent additional companion.

Morrone on Sun morning to collect stuff required for LEJOG and NB and back to Edin for  a delightful dinner with Keith and Fiona , meeting Hew and Karyn Dalrymple for first time. Monday was hectic - returned hire car to airport , got bike serviced incl new wheels - splashed out here with the rims worn and and the Adirondac experience of having a tire and rim explode. I was concerned at prospect of biking 1,000 miles with only 50psi of tire pressure.

Left for station early on Tues am fully laden and accompanied by Keith . Train an hour and a half late due to severe flooding , only to get to Newcastle and find train terminated. Offer of free trip  back to Edin and tickets valid for following day. Disaster then struck. As I was rushing to push fully laden bike over a steep ramp to get access to platform on other side of station, the heavy back end came down , one of the pedals catching me on the shin and inflicting a considerable gash. Blood flowing freely of course . Applied a tourniquet handkerchief ( always useful - Mary please note ! ) and then bandaged up by a first aider at station. Of course missed that train , but got the next one back to Edin and the long suffering K & F. F later insisted ( and I'm so grateful to her ) on my going to A & E  where I spent almost 3 hours  waiting to get treated. Well worth the wait though. The gash had exposed the muscle and nearly the tendon. A delightful Danish doctor ( and keen cyclist who understood my predicament ) stitched me up with a belt and braces job ( cosmetics I said not a problem ! ).

Back then in pouring rain to Waverley station the next morning and a 2nd try at getting to London and Penzance. At time of writing , all going well. Not easy though with uncertainty of getting bike on train due to limited capacity and a pretty hairy ride from London Kings X to Paddington. Missed train there by 5 mins , but v helpful ticket office staff managed to secure a bike slot on a train an hour later . Then another exceptionally comfortable 5 hour plus 1st class trip to Penzance and  a B & B booked at the Torwood. Leg stiff but with stitching and antibiotics , should be OK. Will change dressing tonight and see how it looks. With benefit of 1st class ticket ( great thing to have senior status ! ) have managed to put leg up for over 10 hours.

Asheville , Lexington, Columbus and back to the Rim Trail!

Since getting back from Ireland and hearing the wonderful news of Iona's complete recovery from that nasty virus which had her in the HDU of Limerick general Hospital for 4 days, it's been hectic.

Mary's mother recovering from carotid artery surgery needed help to get back to independent living at Deerfield and we decided to make a road trip out of it , driving across Kansas ( again! ), stay with Betty a week and then return via Columbus, OH to enjoy Labour Day weekend with Duncan and Katy . The plan worked well and we managed too to fit in a delicious lunch with John and Luanne Milward in Lexington, KY ( managing too a quick visit to Bob and Sue Fox's house also in Lexington ) and an early morning breakfast with Mike and Joan Weingarten at CrackerBarrel outside Dayton on I.70 as we headed home from Columbus.

                        Betty performing at her 90th in front of 50 or so guests at Deerfield. These celebrations took place 3 months earlier on June 9,  but I failed to record them at the time.

              Betty with her sister Polly and the 3 girls after performing "Today while the blossom....."

                               The birthday girl holding the Ryan card - the only ones sadly missing

          John & Luanne Milward who were so good to Meghan , Jane , and Duncan many years ago

 Bob Fox , our ex neighbour from Douglas Crescent , Edinburgh days almost 40 years ago and his wife Sue.  Bob introduced us originally to the Milwards

 Duncan when he hosted me for a round at the OSU course minutes from where he and Katy live

       A highlight of Columbus visit joining 104,000 at an OSU football match.  Incredible.

                             Making the O...H...I...O  sign on conclusion of an easy OSU win.

         A comfortable interlude in a delightful 40 plus mile bike trip to north of Columbus

    Back on more comfortable terrain  - our beloved Rim Trail above our house at  Snowmass

                                        Ditto - views to the South of Capital and Daly Peaks

                 With Gaby at the annual Aspen picnic at the Aspen municipal golf course.                                     Catering for all provided free by the Town for the first 750 !
                                                       We weren't late!

                                     Mary fishing with Gaby on other side of pond - stoic she was !


Back now to Snowmass where G has 2 weeks before setting off back to UK for End to End bike trip.  Mary will be over in mid Oct in time for a 2 week family reunion - minus D&K - at North Berwick. Bus driving and a lot of mountain biking , music ,  bike trips to Aspen,  time with Gaby, etc keep us from getting idle.