We've done 9 days of
the ride now, and over 900 miles. Today
was the 8th hundred mile ride in 9 days, and as we came through the Cotswolds,
we had to ride some of the hills. But
this is home for me, and the knowledge that I could be home in a car in 20
minutes, or less than an hour's ride didn't distract too much from the
beautiful views! I seemed to get a bit
more strength from actually knowing where I was, and what was coming, which
definitely helped!
By the end of the
day's riding, my brakes have worn so much that they weren't gripping the wheels
even when squeezing the levers as hard as possible. I've managed to tighten them up so I should
survive the final day tomorrow. I never
thought I'd say it, but it is going to be so nice to get into Swindon tomorrow
and the Tricentres will never look so good!
We were very lucky
with the weather today, and had a really good run from Birmingham down to
Cheltenham. The fast group just saw the
others pull away from Cheltenham racecourse as we arrived and had to stop for
our obligatory 'landmark' photo. We all
but caught them again on the Shurdington Road but were stuck behind the queue
of traffic behind them! As we went round
the corner into Endsleigh I nearly had my head taken off by the barrier as the
guy wasn't expecting us to appear as well!
Fortunately it was quickly lifted for the rest of the group and we all
had a fantastic welcome at Endsleigh and a great barbecue.
This afternoon the
hills really started up to Painswick to Stroud and then out of Nailsworth, but
the final 10 miles were along the Bath-Bristol Railway path and we had a race
with a steam train!
At the Roman Baths
we took our fast group picture and got another comedy one with someone who
didn't make it!:
I want to give a
shout out to the support team who have been immense for the whole challenge -
keeping us topped up with food and drink, helping out with mechanical issues
(we haven't had too many in the fast group, but the other groups have had quite
a few!), and making sure our bags make it to the end place and everything is
sorted out ready for us to arrive.
Yesterday we caught up with Ita and Sophie at Stafford Castle - thanks
guys for all your efforsts!:
Tomorrow evening
we'll finally have finished the challenge, and ridden 1000 miles - if you're in
Swindon, then it will be great to see you when we arrive at 3pm. Thanks to everyone out there for the support
you've given me and all the other riders - I can speak for everyone when I say
it really means a lot and has kept us going!
Lots of day riders are joining us tomorrow morning for the ride to
Swindon via Stonehenge so there will be big crowds of us on the road, which
should make the final day pretty special…
francis
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