Saturday 14th June 2025

Tewkesbury  -  Hasely 77kms   1752'

I  must start by thanking Wendy and Paul for providing us with a very comfortable day off! We washed all our very smelly gear, Al changed my front brakes and generally checked the bikes. My sister provided delicious food and everything else to make our stay a delight.

We set off in good time this morning and we're soon dicing with death on normally quiet roads (it was Saturday!) No they were okay and just at  coffee time we passed a village hall where a van was providing coffee and  cakes. Very English villagey and very good coffee.

We chose to ride this route from south to north based on some knowledge of prevailing winds and today was a good example. Fot the most part, the wind was behind us and very strong. When we changed direction cross winds could be guaged by the flattened grass in-between the hedges. Certainly made me wobble but fortunately it was blowing me into the side of the road and not into the middle.! 

Unexpectedly, because I had forgotten that it was Saturday, Evesham was heaving and the way through took a while, entailing some careful route finding. The final approach into Stratford was a joy, along the Stratford Greenway - several kms of flat well surfaced path and lots of folk to say hello to. Stratford town was pretty  chaotic ( I think I  mentioned it was Saturday) and then tourists were out in  full, wandering aimlessly, unaware of two cyclists trying to get to the other side of town. But we did.

We had stopped for lunch on a suitable bench and researched possible accommodation for the night. Options were so limited that there was only one, and that was a teeny bit further than we planned. How unusual is that!  Anyway it was duly booked so we  had to make the extra distance which we did and , in the process accepted that there is a general improvement in our performance which is increasing our overall confidence. The latter has also been enhanced by the encouragement of our followers and folk along the way. Thanks all.

Must tell you this - at some point we took a  cycle path, the easy access to which was a gate, well two in fact and both were locked! The only alternative was a bike hike over two wierd wooden steps. Quite a challenge with heavy bikes. Al went for it and then man mountain appeared and asked if I wanted help. 'Oh yes please," I simpered. And with that, he picked up my bike, panniers and all, and waltzed over the obstacles! My hero! 

Anyway here's to tomorrow, the route of which Al is working on right now.