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I was fortunate to have another cycling partner for the first 25 miles out of Gloucester today. Tim joined me fresh from his own LEJOG challenge, which he and his brother very impressively did in just 5 days. Needless to say he isn’t too shabby on a bike so we made quick progress on mostly main roads. After Tim said goodbye, I made my way into Stratford, which was particularly busy with tourists hoping to see the town just as Shakespeare knew it. I met Katy and the girls for lunch – it was great to see them and, on a sorter day, it was a chance to enjoy a longer lunch.
Today wasn’t all plain sailing though. Garmin continued to surprise with their definition of routes ‘suitable for road cyclists’. Probably 20% of today was on dedicated cycle path. Mostly it was fine but in some places it was practically impassible. This, coupled with seemingly endless gates and steps at the beginning and end of each segment, really added too much time to the day. Navigation was tricky too – I spent half an hour in a frankly scary corner of Coventry looking for the one access point to the canal towpath. The difficult terrain took its toll on the bike resulting in my first ‘mechanical’. The constant jolting caused the rear mudguard to shear. A quick dash to the shops for some heavy duty tape soon fixed it, but it is hassle I can do without!
Garmin: this is not ‘suitable for road cycling’!
Tape fixes anything!
So, two lessons today: Be careful about what cycle paths you choose to use and carry some ‘fix anything’ tape with you!
Tomorrow – Eyam.