The weather looks promising as we get set to depart from Bristol, (this doesn't last)!
I have a series of maps from Sustrans that have some excellent day rides. We have chosen one that starts in Hungerford and goes through the Lambourn Downs, (really these places should be called the ups and downs).
After the Garmin Station Road /Station Lane debacle two weeks ago, Stuart has vowed never to travel without an OS map again. Which is just as well, since although he programmed the route into the Garmin it seems to have disappeared.
As expected the countryside is lovely.
And on the road we meet two interesting chaps who are riding from the British Museum in London to Bristol, along route 4. These are not penny farthings apparently, they are called high bicycles. Love the fact that they can carry panniers, but they have no brakes so I definitely won't be trying one of these!
There was quite a lot of map studying done today, which does slow things down a bit. I certainly didn't improve my speed at all. One advantage of the Garmin (if we ever get the hang of it) is that if you have pre-programmed your route, you can ride non stop.
But really, who actually wants to ride non-stop, when there are hosts of golden daffodils to admire!
Our route took us through many villages, and each one has a typical country pub, with enticing menus of home cooked food. Luckily the one we chose in Leckhampstead provided a fine traditional Sunday Roast.
There is one point on the map which I have spotted that has some serious contours! I'm dreading this bit, expecting a serious climb, but what a result, I have read the map wrong, it's a downhill!
The final route that we rode, taken from Strava shows how well we navigated using paper technology. Just one minor detour, and we ended up in Station Road! Where else?!
When we left Bristol, our friend Jane handed us an Easter Egg. This was demolished in seconds as soon as we got back to the car. We had climbed a few serious hills today, I think those calories had been earned!
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