Where camping is fun for disabled and able-bodied together

Everyone reading this please do what you can to pledge your support by sponsoring the lads. They are hoping that people will be inspired by their efforts. The End2End is not a challenge to be undertaken lightly and they have trained for over a year.

Thanks to all those who have donated to this worthy charity.

James

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A day of contrasts started with us riding through the docks and industrial areas of Avonmouth, moved on through the idyllic Wye valley and finished just north of the surprisingly sprawling town of Hereford. Great weather and nice riding all helped towards a pleasant day on the bikes.

We left camp around 10.30 and rode north towards the severn crossing. We were all suprised that it was 22 miles to the old crossing and much of this was through some very grim industrial areas. Ben lead the last 4 miles to the services at phenomenal speed once we had agreed that we would stop there for burger king! Whoppers consumed we rode out across the bridge and stopped for photos at halfway. We spoke to a couple of guys who started the ride on the same day as us but on mountain bikes with panniers. They looked more knackered than us and looked at our light weight racing bikes with envy. We left them on the bridge quite chuffed with ourselves that we had gone the fully supported route.

From Chepstow we headed north up the Wye valley and the steady climb was rewarded with a terrific and speedy descent into Tintern Abbey. Here we met Mark with the support van and Sarah, julie and Rachal who had also stopped for a look round the old grounds. Vix (my partner) arrived at about the same time to join our happy caravan for a few days. The sun was shining and moral was high so we spent a good hour having lunch.

After lunch we roused ourselves for what we had assumed would be a tough climb up the Wye valley. What actually followed was my favorite riding on the trip so far as we made our way along the wooded and shady road which undulated just above the height of the river. I can safely say I will be back to ride this road again although I reckon it would be a nightmare on a weekend.

Monmouth was grid locked with school run traffic and thousands of uniformed children. The town isn't that big so I can only assume they go for big families in this part of the world. They certainly don't like their children walking to school!  We abandoned our usual rule of waiting in line with traffic and picked our way through town as best we could to escape on the northern side of town, straight into another climb. This went on for what seemed like miles but unlike previous days in the south west, was stepped with flatter ground between steep sections.

We hit the busy A49 five miles out of Hereford so got our heads down and raced through the building rush hour traffic. About 3 miles from camp I rode over a drain cover and got a blow out on the back tyre which I thought was a lot worse given that my wheel dropped down through the grates and got whacked really hard. I'd love to meet the person who thought drains with the gaps running in the same direction as the flow of traffic were a good idea. Probably the same person who thinks a splash of tar and a generous sprinkling of rough stone constitutes a new road surface. Not for the first time on the trip I ranted about highways engineers being forced to go everywhere by bike. Hardly surprising that I'm the trips default grumpy old man!

The camp site appeared to be a pleasant field just off the A49. Now I've traveled around a bit in my time and stayed in some fairly far flung places but this place has got to have one of the grimmest showers I've ever been forced to use. On my advice, only the riders used the facilities, the girls not even daring to look inside.

So we have another night of being lulled to sleep by the drone of traffic and the knowledge that we may have contracted some as yet unidentified disease from the shower. But we've had a great evening eating fish and chips with great friends and loved ones and I guess that's really what matters...

North to Shrewsbury tomorrow which looks quite straight forward if a little dull. We'll try to get an early start but this will involve Ben being capable of useful action and some limited, coherent speech before 9am so me and Tim are not holding out much hope!

Craig