LEJOG Day 13 - Bridgnorth to Nantwich

Today’s route - 3 climbs

Outside the Parlor Hotel, Bridgnorth, Low Town

Morning pedal through the misty forest 

Pub in the banks of the River Severn

Wrought iron bridge 

Patiently waiting while I take pictures!

Some fancy field grooming going on here

Newport, but not as I know it

Looks like really tall weeds, but there’s miles of the stuff!

Cows

More cows (and a farm on every corner)

Neat route info from Komoot, the roads and the surfaces 

Breakfast room

Long awaited coffee

What a place to read your paper!

We’ve given up on cafes and gone straight to pubs

Our room for the night

We’re over the garage

Tudor buildings everywhere

Ebenezer’s craft beers, something for next time

Had a very nice dinner at The Crown

Enjoying his Shropshire beer

Very cozy spot, with soft seats!

Nantwich

So many oldy worldy buildings

Another cow

Moving from the West Midlands to Cheshire today, 52 miles with ‘some’ hills.  Wondered yesterday if we’re getting stronger and the answer is yes, there is a noticeable improvement - not massive, but there is a difference.  Yesterday’s pushing was mainly due to obstacles, impossible turns for tandems or a hilltop turn.  We do have a new hill phrase, ‘It looks steep, but I think we can manage it’.  Progress indeed, but legs are still sore.

Going back to the discussion regarding the journey or the destination.  A couple of times I (the navigator) have thought, ‘If we just go that way, we’ll take off X miles.’  But on this trip, what are you going to do if you get there early?  We got to Gloucester at 2:00 and found out.  Get into the room, have showers, have a wander about to check out the town, see the cathedral, fall into a pub for a ‘scoop’ as Steve says and then realise you’re STARVING and it’s an hour or more before any of the restaurants you want to go to are open for dinner!  Another reason to not rush the journey.

Today’s route took us through the Bridgnorth Low Town, along the river and then followed a bike path for 5 miles.  It was a gravely, muddy bike path, but it was better than some.  It did feel a bit like 4 wheeling on 2 wheels though!  Lovely misty morning as we pedalled along the last parts of the River Severn (for us), through the forest and then followed the Silkin Way rail trail into Telford.  Telford is a ‘new town’, a purpose built town with things like bike paths running throughout.  We rode all the way into town on a bike path, stopped for the Costa coffee that I’d been wanting for 400 miles, picked up the bike path and left town on a bike path - no fighting traffic!  Loads of roundabouts though…

One of the interesting things about rail trails is they look like there is a really steep hill and instead you pedal up an amazingly gentle incline all the while wondering where that hill is!  That first steep hill in the map, wasn’t - such a treat!

Then we got on the country lanes.  Today there was almost no traffic, some hills, a couple good pubs.  It was 52 miles so it was a long day, but amazing to say this one wasn’t brutal.  

At one point I said to Steve, ‘We must be seeing 10-15 farms a day’.  He said, ‘No, we’re seeing 10-15 farms an hour’.  I started counting and he was right - farm after farm seems like around every corner…

We’re in Nantwich tonight, at an over the garage Air bnb.  Surprisingly the 8/10s walk into town and back wasn’t too bad.  Nantwich was really pretty with loads of Tudor buildings, cobblestone streets and beautiful flowers everywhere.