A good night's sleep left me raring to go so I skipped breakfast and instead made a flask of tea and took the biscuits. A good early start saw me in Clevedon just in time for the cafe to open. Sadly I couldn't wait the 10 minutes for them to start the grill so decided to crack on. Big mistake
Had a horrendous breakfast at a garage in Avonmouth consisting of a digusting egg roll and a cup of tea so hot I couldn't drink it. Really wished I had stayed in Clevedon. A onmouth and the area around it is dominated by heavy industry and the port. Cars everywhere of every make, model and colour all waiting for distri Union around the UK
Keeping as far away as possible from both the m4 and m5 you couldn't escape the almost constant rumble of traffic. Such a contrast to the farms I constantly passed.which look so rustic and belo ginger to a different century. Everything here is so much bigger, motorways are 3 lanes in both directions and full of traffic
A lot of roads I'm trying to use are closed so diversions everywhere leading up to the Severn Bridge. The River Seven has very fast tides and is famous for something called the Severn Bore https://www.severn-bore.co.uk/m.index.html
Across the Severn Bridge which I had forgotten in built directly over the headquarters of the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers and which I have visited twice. First when I was about 17 I got to fire a 9mm pistol here for the first time and then again about a year after leaving the Army I had to report here as I was still on the reserve.
Also here is the amazing Chepstow castle https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/chepstow-castle 900 years old and dominating the River wye which joins the river Severn here.
Cycled through the countryside to Newport. Couldn't use the swing Bridge as it is closed as is the pub I was going to use for lunch. There is also a castle at Newport. The swing (or transporter bridge) is 1 of only 20 built in the world and 1 of only 6 still in use. I have used it before and its quite an usual experience https://www.newport.gov.uk/heritage/en/Transporter-Bridge/Transporter-Bridge.aspx
Cardiff was looking great in the sunshine and the shopping streets were packed. Cycled through the center before heading down to Barry. The castle was looking splendid, shame its a fake and built in the 1800s. Actually lots of real castles today, Chepstow, Caldicot and newport
Headed down to Barry whi h was my fallback pla e to stay for the night. Arrived at 1500 so still plenty of the day left. Didn't really want to stay here as it would make for a big day for tomorrow so powered on to bridgend. Expensive room for what it is but there is a restaurant here. Finding somewhere to stay is a big problem, hope it's just related to the weekends.
Completely knackered, hope I haven't blown my legs. Today was the most I have ever ridden on my Brompton. She is holding up well though I think I need to move some gear around as the weight up front might be a bit too much. There is a plastic bracket which I have snapped in the past and I have no spare. The roads are very rough in places and big pot holes. One of the little wheels that enable the bike to roll along when folded lost a nut and fell off. So much for the service. Hope Tom has a replacement
Nice meal but was too tired to really appreciate it. Living in Sweden where I don't have mastery of the language means I can't really overhear and understand other people's conversations. Sitting in the dining room listening to a couple of retired couples I wish I didn't understand English. They reminded me so much of the movie Shirley Valentine where she (being single) is introduced to some fellow travellers and forced to endure banal conversation. I felt like that as I could hardly move away. Am I being hard? Maybe I'm just too tired
Bed by 2130 and out like a light. Didn't here the traffic or the pub
Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/nzxihmOpYzb
No comments:
Post a Comment