Left the comfort of Stourport Manor this morning with trepidation as the weather forecast was dreadful with wind and rain expected most of the day. However the sun was out so grateful for small mercies we pedalled on.
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| 2 Famous Cyclists and Some Thin Blokes |
The road was full of up and downs through attractive countryside up and down into Worscester Where we decided to stop for coffe, thinking we'd get one along the lovely riverside path we followed that Up and down and ended up in the countryside without finding our coffee, on we went and by the time we had covered 18 miles with still no coffee I was getting cross. Eventually found a pub went in to find a ladies craft morning in progress, it wasn't actually open till 12, this was about quarter to but the landlady served us, luckily we weren't expected to make a patchwork quilt while drinking it!
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| Lunch With the Ducks |
The road took us parallel to the Malvern Hills which looked daunting, thank goodness we weren't trying to go over them, however our road was still up and down, I never knew Worcester was so hilly! One pretty village after another then we came to Hanley Swan where there was the most beautiful village pond with lots of ducks. Bought sandwiches from the village stores and sat on the bench to eat our lunch. I think the ducks got more than we did! The sun dissappeared so we decided to hastily get on.
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| Windy Day on the Cycle Path |
Till now no rain though the wind was horrible, really hampering our progress. It's so hard riding against the wind it takes twice the effort and is depressing. Neil took the scenic route through tiny winding lanes though we had a section of an A road to negotiate. Somehow or other I didn't notice Neil turning off onto the lanes again and kept straight on with lorries, cars and bikes thundering by. I was wondering why I hadn't seen him for a while, Neil rides faster than me and sails up the hills I struggle with so every few miles he stops, has a nice rest waiting for me then I catch up, have a minute to catch my breath and off we go. The deal is I keep straight if I don't see him, he has the Satmap (not that I could use it!). My phone started ringing which I ignored, it wasn't till it rang 3 times that I decided to see who it was . Neil realised I wasn't behind him so he had to steer me back onto the right road. To say I was upset is an understatement, especially as I had ridden two extra miles on that busy road!
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| Old Man of Ross' House |
Anyway reunited we carried on, here the hills got even worse each time you crested a long steep hill there would be a downhill, you didn't want to go down knowing it would be followed by another incline. This continued till we thankfully reached Ross-on-Wye having done 47 miles. Guess what, our Hotel is at the top of the town on the hill!
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| Ross on Wye Market Place |
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