jogle april 28th 2011 Whitchurch to Gloucester

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I woke early ...i was freezing , the clear night has allowed temps to drop to below zero and ice had formed on the inside of my tent! , it took a while for me to thaw as i jammed stuff into compression sacks /tent bags and panniers.I had to put my cycling gloves on just so i could continue packing.
The worst part about this is nearly everything was damp or wet ...

Just after leaving the camp site , i came across a lock gate on the canal and paused to watch some American tourists strugling with the lock, his wife barking orders from the canal boat!.
I decided that the tow path would be a nice start to the day and it was , i watched 2 hot air ballons take off as i peddled along, a more English scene would be hard to imagine .I follwed the path to Whitchurch town ..it was very quiet...there was bunting in the town to mark tomorrows royal wedding, all the shops were shut .I did notice some activity in the bakers shop and the lady was happy to sell me some croisants and a coffee...a French start in an English town ...oh well.
My thought had to turn to todays ride , my butt cheek was so sore (only 1 side ?) if i could have cycled side saddle i would of done , i was also packing more powder down my shorts than Pablo Escobars most loyal mules , the problem was that i had blistered from contant abrasion and burst the blister which in turn would thenm stick like glue to the fabric before I ripped it away every time i stood off the seat..agony .
Todays route was the A49 to Shrewsbury , then picking up the A 458 to Bridgenorth - A442 -Kidderminster -A449 to Worcester then on the A38 skirting the Malvern hills through to HOME !!!
the 1st section took me to Much wenlock and a well deserved tea break as i had just climbed tha hidious Wenlock Edge ..with a dodgy knee , i was packing down the nurofen , only the ad says "goes straight to the pain source" ..it was having to contend with multiple pain sources and was not really working.
The brighter note though is that the tea room is also a hairdressers ..not that i had a hair cut in mind ..its just that the young ladies that served the tea were a fine sight indeed...:D...i know thats not PC and if it offends you tough luck 😊
After tea was the lovely ride through to Kidderminster ..busy but pleasant , i stopped just outside the town for a break and some lunch ..the pub also allowed me to hang all my tent/sleeping bag etc on the picket fence to dry.At this point I was still cycling with Matt , and Will and we were bowling along , only i was aware of a ptreety serious wobble in my rear wheel , on close inspection I had broken 2 spokes and a couple more were loose .
I decided to slow up rather than running the risk of making the wheel worse , i bid farewll to the lads , this was the last I would see of them but they both arrived in Lands End on Sunday as I recieved a txt to tell me .
I rattled on through Tewkebury , where a certain Richard Davies of 21 club fame drove passed me beeping his horn ..it made me realise that i was nearly home , familier roads and some familier faces 😊.
I finally peeled up my drive at 19.40pm, knackered and worried about the wheel, tomorrow aftyer alll was the Royal wedding bank holiday and i knew from a phone call that Leisurelakes would not be open until 11am , i had hoped to be through Bristol by then !
Still back home a chicken casserole a hot bath , a cuddle (with the dog!), a chat with my lovely wife and kids and an early night ...tomorow will come soon enough.

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