Day: June 5, 2016

June 5th

Miles Today 52

Climbing 527m

Cumulative 489 miles

We spent the night with friends in Shrewsbury- another comfortable bed so we are not that hardy really. Mike , Anna and Ruth really looked after us so we were raring to go this morning, respect to Heather who was away in London for the Ride London event- cycling around the centre of London in the middle of the night on empty roads- and a night with no sleep. We need sleep too much to contemplate that at present.

We set off from Shrewsbury with Mike showing us a better way down to the river and accompanying us for the first 10 miles or so – making it a really sociable relaxed start to the day. We stopped briefly at the ruins of Moreton Castle-  a Medieval stronghold and then Elizabethan House that fell into ruin but is still impressive

Leaving Shrewsbury with Mike

Moreton Castle

Shady Lane

Hungry cows

We settled into a rhythm making good progress across the flatter part of Shropshire- in marked contrast to crossing the Long  Mynd yesterday. We then met up with our “outriders “ for the day- Mark and Michelle had come down from Manchester and met us half way through the day and we cycled with them for the rest of the day- the easy conversation helped the miles fly by relatively easily as it was all pretty flat as we headed into Cheshire. We had our lunch sat in the sun in a field and then pressed on- getting really hot as the sun blazed down- so a medicinal stop for ice cream was essential. We sat in the shade watching narrow boats navigating through the canal lock with a cup of tea and an ice cream- British summer at its best .

We hadnt realised that the campsite we had booked was near Oulton Park racing circuit and as we passed the roar of the race reverberated- the British Touring Car championship. We avoided a huge traffic jam as people were leaving by a detour through the woods on a sandy path  ( seems ironic, lots of Jeremy Clarkson types sweltering in the heat in the traffic jam whilst we whizzed along on our low tech bikes) .

Avoiding the traffic – a detour in the woods

We arrived at Shay’s Farm Campsite to two really nice surprises- the campsite is lovely and quiet nestled down in an idylic little valley and the owner Lisa couldn’t have been more welcoming, and then Mark and Michelle produced their surprise- tea , scones and a bottle of prosecco – we hardly felt that today was arduous at all. Despite the Prosecco we seem top have erected the tent OK but if the wind blows we might find what we missed when pegging it out

Impromptu party at the campsite- thank you Mark and Michelle

Our neighbours on the site Phil and Michelle have been really supportive as well seeing our banner and feeding us cups of tea and a donation- people have been really kind as we progress along and the campsite is making a donation as well. 

4th June

43 miles

1034 metres of climbing

Total miles 437

Leominster was a lovely place to stay and it was great too to meet up with Tony Adams from the Spire cycle club and meet Helen from Huddersfield, they are being joined by others for 5 days cycling bonanza in the Herefordshire lanes

We set off North, initially fairly gentle ups and downs. Coffee in Ludlow where we really enjoyed the lovely old half timbered buildings in this ancient town. We felt we didn’t really have time to do the castle justice … another time. Instead we made for a coffee in the Ciccetti bar, a wonderful establishment where Martin succumbed to Cannolo, a crisp Italian pastry filled with a delicious chocolate and pistachio cream while Gayle’s croissant came with alcoholic Calabrese marmalade.

Not all half timbered buildings are black and white

Ludlow high Street

The town gate into Ludlow

We had been under the impression that Shropshire was flat but after Ludlow were swiftly disabused of this as a long steep hill appeared on the satnavs. Beautiful lanes up Corvedale and Westhope took us up 200 metres to Church Stretton, a characterful small town which is not called Little Switzerland for no reason.

Hedgerow flowersk

Caer Caradoc above Church Stretton

Walking the dog in Church Stretton

Bacon butties there on a bench outside HSBC and then unsuspectingly set off again on the planned route, it got steeper and steeper and steeper until eventually ending up on Long Mynd at 325 meters . Beautiful views and we were glad to be up there but next time I will pay more attention to contour lines, even on days I anticipate to be flat ….

On top of Long Mynd

Shropshire lanes

Shropshire hills

Shropshire lanes

After that it was basically downhill through green lanes to Shrewsbury and a cup of tea in Heather and Mike’s lovely garden with their hens scratching and a wren visiting their pond