I woke up refreshed, a good 7 hours kip in me and a porridge - raring to go. Collect bike from bike shed to find I have my first puncture of the tour ! Cue mild panic and squeals of SOS. (Did I forget to mention also that yesterday I was reprimanded for spraying GT40 spray on my brake discs ???). Anyhow thanks to Dai, my tyre was fixed and we were ready to roll.
Joined today by Julia, long suffering wife of Kev and also two Bridgend Sports RFC stalwarts Marc Jehu and Sion Evans.
The intention for today was to cruise on into Monmouth after a relatively flat 70 odd miles. Estimated arrival time 5pm.
The reality - falling over the line at approx 6.15pm after cycling closer to 80miles !
Who invented Garmins (or Germans as Gospel Gary calls them!) ? Because they're playing havoc with this ride of ours!! A lot of frustration today with us losing our way a few times.
This was never going to be navigationally straightforward now was it!
To be honest the first 50 or so miles were relatively pleasing (pleasing is a bit too positive for me I know!). Not too much climbing and some long country lanes.
Pace was increased today, with a couple of guest riders and everyone keen to get over the Severn Bridge. Sion (a self-proclaimed accomplished cyclist!) went a bit too quick around a turn at one point though !
Psychologically, crossing the Severn Bridge today was a huge boost, we'd ticked off approx 250 miles already - a quarter of the challenge completed.
A quick stop in Chepstow where I was greeted by friends Rhian, Sarah and Ruth - where I think I broke the world record for eating a bag of Jelly babies in the quickest time!
Getting to Monmouth was an arduous task in the end but was worth the wait though, as we were greeted by family/friends. It's only been 4 days but seeing Kirsten and the children was a massive pickmeup.
Another bonus is the fact I'm currently in the Celtic Manor lapping up some rare luxury on this trip. A quick swim/jacuzzi and a cracking meal has hopefully refreshed me for the days ahead - although there is a danger that my alarm clock may fail to go off in the morning - ill catch u up in Inverness team ;)
Short(ish) mileage tomorrow, a few more guest appearances and a little send off from Monmouth as we embark on the next stage to Clun. We're not in Wales for long on this journey but I had my fair share of it last summer ;)
Word of advice from my beautiful daughter Holly today - "if nothing is going right, go left"
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