The weather was glorious this morning in Bristol, and after an early departure for work of one of our hosts, Pam, we were joined by my cousin Julie, who also lives in Bristol, to send us off for the day. After I'd at last finished the blog, we were able to set off only 20 minutes behind schedule, but we did manage to fit in plenty of photos, the one below being with our other host, Mike. By the way, thanks to Mike and Pam for their generous hospitality - great hosts.
Note that artistic composition has taken precedence over the need to actually see people through the shadows in the photo!
What followed was what was arguably the best day so far in terms of weather, with light clouds and pleasant breezes, plus some stunning views. We made good progress out of Bristol (despite the odd big hill!) towards the two Severn bridges, the older one of which took us over towards Wales.
We then spent the rest of the day cycling through the (largely) gently rolling countryside of Monmouthshire and Herefordshire and some of the views really were stunning, the one below, with Martin looking wistfully on, towards Hay-on-Wye and beyond.
The route kept us close to the England/Wales border and we ended the day just in Wales, in Norton, which is close to Herefordshire and Shropshire, but is in Radnorshire (officially Powys these days, but we'll stick with the traditional name). We arrived, with the original estimated 75 miles turning into an actual 86 (is their a theme here?) and we were really well looked after by Chris and Jack Ruby at Corte Cottage (including home made cider!).
Right, it's Friday morning and we have an estimated 93 miles today. Given the actuals v. estimates to date, will this be the first 100 mile day? Watch this space!
Ian
P.S. Note the lack of mention of last night's football!
