Day 6: Gloucester - Whiddon Down

The BBC forecast for today was so bad that I nearly bought some waterproof trousers last night. Glad I didn't as we woke up to dry weather and whilst the day was cloudy, it didn't rain at all. Cheers BBC finally you got it wrong in our favour! Let's hope they've got it wrong for tomorrow as well!

The A38 from Gloucester to Bristol was nice with good views over the river Severn (and some nice hedgerows for Will!) We sped along at around 17 mph and were stopping in Clifton in a shade over two hours. Sadly everyone we knew in Clifton was at work, so had to make do with Tesco express.

Over the suspension bridge we had a nice descent before the big climb up to the airport. We then started to descend towards the Somerset levels where we met John, a friend of Will's, who had offered to show us a route through some of the quieter roads, I was struggling to keep up with them as we weaved along the lanes, so when we got to Burnham-on-Sea I plodded off along the A38 while they stopped for a break.

Will caught me up as we got to Taunton, by this time I was feeling pretty tired and after a food and drink refill we set off for Exeter, the road became more hilly and the shoulder and bum ache more unbearable, Made worse by the dreadful road surface between Cullompton and Exeter.

We eventually made it to Exeter and headed straight to Subway as the South West regional manager of Subway had offered us a free footlong. However the staff in subway said that our email was out of date - despite us being in all our cycling gear! We did however get a £5 donation from another customer! Annoyed at the lack of free food, we pressed on taking the old A30 through Tedburn St Mary and up 5 mile hill onto the edge of the moors.

The road was very hilly and tough going but we didn't have far to go and weren't in any rush so went on at a slow pace chatting to a commuter who had bought a new bike to take touring round Nepal.

As we turned into the Whiddon Down I somehow managed to get a puncture from a thorn in the tyre, so had to walk the last 100 metres! Staying at the travelodge again, they serve their purpose, although not much else up here just a little chef and a garage.

Little Chef for dinner was better than expected, Heston must have done a good job. Last day tomorrow should be around 110 miles but will also be the hilliest, so may be slow going.

Vital Statistics:
Total distance cycled: 134 miles (including 7 extra thanks to John!)
Time on bike: 9 hours 12 mins
Average speed: 14.5 mph
Max speed: 45.8 mph
Total ascent: 2122 metres
Highest elevation: 254 m (at the finish!)
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device