Momentum and Rhythm

Day 2. 8th July 2012

Miles 110
Total miles 230

After an excellent night’s sleep and a fortifying breakfast at Number 59, Michael and Jim set off in good spirits towards Bristol. Today was sunny, dry and bright, they made good progress this morning leaving the Cornish hills behind and enjoying the scenery as they passed Exeter, into Somerset, had lunch in Taunton, cycled close to Cheddar Gorge, saw signs to Glastonbury and took what a local described as an easier route, known locally as Strawberry Lane, this afternoon. They may have been off the road but the climbing towards Bristol had started and legs were beginning to tire. When they got to Bristol unfortunately they had some trouble finding their guesthouse in the large city and took some time negotiating the one way system before they finally found it.
Jim and Michael, both heading towards their half century, were smugly delighted today to pass a group of “younger” men, who left Land’s End on Thursday, two days before them, also heading for John O’Groats, although these guys are carrying their nightly camping equipment too.
Michael feels at times he is going very slowly but was heartened when his speed was fast enough to trigger a “slow down” sign on a speed detector at the side of the road. Let’s hope he doesn’t get points on his licence for that one! Jim is feeling strong but does find it hard to get into the crouch position which makes cyclists more aerodynamic. They are in great form, finding that when they work as a team, getting pace, momentum and rhythm right, everything works well. They take turns to lead with the other tucking in only inches behind. Michael finds he hits a wall at around 85 miles and for the remainder of the day is eking out the reserves of his strength.
Unfortunately Michael had left his baggy cotton shorts in last night’s guest house so will be wearing the fitted Lycra padded shorts for the remainder of the cycle. If you are of a nervous disposition perhaps you should look away as he passes you by! Hopefully he won’t leave anything else behind on the journey or it could be chilly by the time they reach Scotland.
After checking in with wives they are off to get some carbohydrate and then a well deserved sleep before taking to the road north again tomorrow.

Jim popped into Aldi today to get two small bottles of water. The only water the shop would sell him came in 4 large 2litre bottles. They drank what they could then offered the rest to a lady who happened to have got out of an ambulance just outside the shop, and she then shared the water with the medical team.