The hotel offered an avocado, poached egg and halloumi option on the breakfast menu, which made a refreshing change from the usual. We left at nine, but got a bit confused trying to weave our way out of town via the canal, the network of bridges and paths too complex to ascertain which way the Wahoo was directing us. Once under way, the cycling was flat and easy.
We passed a couple in a pony and trap but with three ponies pulling them, dressed top to toe in hi-viz, they made a bizarre contrast with their old fashioned mode of transport. We stopped at an outdoor cafe along the marshes for coffee and chocolate cake and spoke to a couple also heading for John O’Groats. They were on a similar schedule to us, also seeing friends and sights along the way.
We bought food for our picnic in Wells, eaten in a churchyard a couple of miles further on. The only climb of the day took us over the Mendips and down. We thought we were on target to arrive by five but the last leg was very slow though easy riding, first along the trackbed of the former Somerset and Dorset railway then onto the canal, a bumpy ride.
We took a lateral flow test to confirm we weren’t infected, showered and changed then met our university friends for dinner, great to see them all again after so long but also strange to be in a party of twenty people after the long covid-19 curtailment of social activity.
Today’s distance: 53.4 miles (86 km)
Today’s ascent: 668 metres
Cumulative: 265.3 miles (427.2 km), 5647 metres