The day started with eggs, toast and cornflakes which we shared with a German cyclist. We made an early start at 8:30 and made our way to Wells to find a new link for Mike's chain and the correct tool to fix it if it broke again. I enjoyed looking around the magnificent cathedral and acting like a tourist.
After a double expresso we started to make our way to the Mendips over the Old Bristol Road, one of the longest and steepest climbs so far. The Mendips home of the Cheddar Gorge and Wookie Hole are great for cycling with wide roads and views over Somerset.
We sped into North Somerset and stopped for a lunch of steak & chips and veggie bake and made our way to Bristol. We managed to avoid a steep climb into Bristol along an A Road by climbing up a Forrest track where I managed to jam my chain, dad met an inquisative Labrador and Mike was propostioned.
A fast descent to the magnificent Clifton Suspension bridge where we enjoyed the view over Bristol taking photos and eating ice cream. We avoided the major roads through Bristol but unfortunatley got lost when trying to locate the cycle track to the Severn Road Bridge.
The Severn Road Bridge was a highlight of the trip. I could not stop grinning as we cycled the whole span of the bridge to Wales.
We arrived in Chepstow at 6o'clock and decided to call into Tesco for dinner. However, Tesco in their wisdom had decided to turn their cafe into a pharmacy. Not to be thwarted by Mr Tesco's quest to turn floor space into maximum profit we bought sandwiches, crisps, Bakewell Tarts and Tonic water, which allledgedly stops you getting leg cramps when cycling, and picniced at a local Church.
Due to our sight seeing, long lunch and hunt for bike parts we had made slow progress and still had 2.5 hours cycling to go at seven o'clock. We slowly made our way towards Welsh Bicknor YHA following the beautiful Wye valley. At 8pm we were still 11 miles from our destination and were very close to the St Briavels Castle YHA. Dad had the fantastic idea of phoning the Welsh Bicknor YHA to see if they would change our booking to the nearer accomodation. We were all keen to finish cycling before it got dark and Dad was at his most charming in persuading the warden to change our booking.
I'm now enjoying a pint of Butcombe Bitter in St.Briavel and looking forward to cycling along the Wye Valley to Shropshire tomorrow.
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