Rest day

0 miles

0 metres of ascent

348 miles total

We are having a rest day at Gayle’s dad’s in Gloucester – we had planned it on the itinerary but it came at just the right time , our legs felt tired going upstairs this morning. A comfy bed ,  good company AND a washing machine- what else could you want?

We had lunch in a pub on Gloucester Docks- once a hive of commercial activity in the heydays of the canal trade, now developed into a pleasant area with flats in the old warehouses

Gloucester docks

Martin had leant on his phone a few days ago leaving it dead, then yesterday Gayle dropped hers – but luckily it still functions although with an interesting ice on a pond appearance. We had a new phone delivered here- the wonders of internet shopping. Funny how something as retro as cycle travel now requires internet access, somewhere to charge the devices and constantly asking in cafes about their wifi password.  A pub a few nights ago had a sign up – “If you feel unsociable the wifi password is ………”

Metereology instruments in the garden

Tomorrow we set off up through the Marches on the way to Leominster, more hilly than the usual route further east but it allows us to visit friends in Leominster and then Shrewsbury .

We had better not rest too long as it would get harder to start again,  we would also feel we are here under false pretences as so many people have been supportive, including one remarkable colleague of Martin’s  Helen who has been making a donation every 100 miles we complete,  and she didn’t know us at all until a few days before we left when she was at a conference Martin was attending. Thank you Helen,  and clearly good motivational psychology.