Cheltenham to Penkridge

Up early, to a beautiful sunny day with lots of friends gathered to see us leave for the next part of our challenge.

We left Cheltenham Racecourse hoping to get the first 30 miles done in good time. The sun shone, the route was great (thanks Caroline) and the traffic quiet. We covered the first, flattish 30 miles with relative ease. Our aching legs and saddle sores almost resigned to another 10 hours in the saddle! As always, as we tired, the subsequent miles took longer. There are people we met who were interested in our story and stopped to chat, sights that we wished to photograph, junctions where we took a wrong turn, mechanical issues (thanks to Chris & Chris, our support team and to Mark and Caroline, two ‘hands on’ Cyclopaths), and of course, more road closures. We have become very adept at getting around these! Hotel check in took another hour with confusion over rooms booked but we sorted it all with just enough time to shower and change before dinner.

Tomorrow we leave with some trepidation for Bolton, which seems a very long 88 miles away.