Day 3 Bristol - Shrewsbury

Day 3: Epic

Friday’s riding was simply epic. It was a 116 mile ride from Bristol to Shrewsbury – from one cycle demonstration town to another - which turned into a race against time for one of my riding companions to catch his train.

The day started at 10am with a touching send off from colleagues and a gentle ride out along Bristol-Bath Railway Path with members of the Cycling City team.

I left the team after seven miles and made my way up to UWE, then Bristol Parkway and onto the A38 to head towards Gloucester, Ledbury, Tenbury Wells, Ludlow and finally Shrewsbury.

I was joined on Friday by Pete, a friend from Bristol, and my Dad who met us in Gloucester. We took a mixture of A roads and quiet country lanes which allowed us to get some fast miles in and chat in equal measure.

By 2pm we’d made it to Ledbury and stopped at Tesco for lunch. I ate a pretty poor meal of two BLT and two chicken, bacon and lettuce sandwiches and a pack of pork scratchings. Surprisingly, Tesco’s lunchtime fare wasn’t up to much.
After an early downpour in Bristol the weather brightened significantly and we were basking in Tenbury Wells’ hot sunshine at 6pm as we calculated our remaining journey length and the time it would take to reach Shrewsbury. Pete’s train was at 7.58pm and we still had 30 miles to go. We decided to take a main road on the premise that it would be faster and less hilly, which it certainly was. The route into Shrewsbury cut through a valley that revealed a number of hilly climbs and ridges on either side.

The distance markers for Shrewsbury were ticking down slowly as the time got later and later. Finally we approached the city boundary but found ourselves stuck on the city ring roads and one-way system that seemed to zig-zag its way into the city centre. After a few wrong turns we made got to the station with only a few minutes to spare.

We were on the bikes for about six and a half hours on Friday and the entire trip (inc stoppages) took over nine hours.

With Pete safely on his way back to Bristol Helen and I went in search of food with my Dad and Jan, his partner. Shrewsbury seemed like a lovely town and it was a shame not to get to explore it more. We found an Italian restaurant and, as they didn’t seem to mind me looking like I’d been on a bike for most of the day, we sat down to a bowl of pasta and a couple of drinks. I’d tell you what I ate if I could remember. All I know is it had peas and bacon in and it did the trick!

By the time we got back to our campsite and showered it was midnight and it had been another long day. Saturday was the first day with no interruptions planned. I was looking forward to getting my head down and getting the miles done.