LEJOG DAY 8 - Glastonbury to Bristol

Wookiee?  In Somerset?  Who knew?!

That’s going to be a climb, I just know it!
 


Huff- puff, but look how far we’ve come!

Almost at the very top!

Steep big suckers!

GlastonburyTor

Wells High Street

Yes, we climbed from WAY down there!

Fun coffee stop

Beautiful and tasty blackberries!

Uhhh, we don’t fit (until the Engineer figured out how to get us through)



Wells, but not as I know it!

It’s was a heck of a long push, but this view is worth it!


Both me and the bike are rather mucky!

Those two big climbs were actually pushes!

Our evening stay in Bristol.  Took at bit of finding, but a great little quiet place in the he middle of the city

St. Nicholas Market, sadly just closing - have to come back!

Fun place in the city centre

The Fiah Market’s only fish is fish n chips, so we had wings

Good beers

Wings were the starter, sushi was the main

Found seafood - eel and salmon

Great night out and off to an early bed!

After yesterday’s near sense of humour failure and subsequent restorative evening, we’re ready to head the 37 miles to Bristol.  Today we’re going over the Mendip Hills.  I’d say the route is hilly, but shorter and will confirm later!  We’re in pretty good shape considering the bottom-bashing we got yesterday.

This LEJOG route could not be done on a road bike, not at all.  Ours is a touring Orbit tandem, much bigger and heavier than the Santana road bike we have in Florida.  That bike would have been wrecked by this route.  TRAIL, tracks. Rutted roads - none of which. Road bike would like.  The gear we have on it is working - 4 panniers, 3 water bottles, 2 helmets / pairs of shoes, 1 top box / iPhone case.  Putting our initials on our individual bags was a master stroke - not looking in Steve’s bags for my stuff or vice versa. 

Down into Glastonbury this morning  to pick up the picnic and then back up the hill by Glastonbury Tor.  The gpx then said left and the sign said right.  We went left - farm track, but not for long then back on the road.  Then it was across the ‘fens’ with the hills in the distance, the hills you knew you were going to have to pedal up over very, very soon.  It wasn’t long before we reached the beginning of the first Mendip Hills climbs.  You’ll see it from the map, but 825 feet steeply m up.  We’ve been pushing the bike uphill a lot, but today was at a whole new level.

Monday was the highest (Exmoor), Tuesday was the longest - Dulverton to Glastonbury at 64 miles and today was the steepest as we pushed the bike up almost every foot of the two Mendip Hills.

Beautiful at the top and the picnic stop view made all the huffing and puffing worth it!

Steve’s bee bite looks worse, swollen, hot and red after the day.  I spent so much time pushing, I didn’t have time to fret about my foot or sitbones.

The 2nd climb was on a very busy road and we are snail slow going up.  Dropped down into Bristol, which is a small U.K. city.  Lots of navigation to get to our place in the city centre, the Brooks Guesthouse which is in the absolute centre.  Great old town, loads of shops and restaurants and right next to St. Nicholas Market.  We had a lovely evening wandering around testing the beer, wine, chicken wings and sushi.  

Tomorrow looks much flatter 🤞🚴‍♀️🚴😄!

Comments

  1. BrianSeptember 11, 2023 at 9:13 PM

    Chicken wings, sushi and good beer...and no guilt about calories or carbs with all the riding. A match made in heaven!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Madge H. SmithSeptember 12, 2023 at 3:08 AM

    Wow! That profile looks crazy hard. Congrats on getting up and down that. How nice of someone to put that bench at the top to enjoy the view and recoup.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KatherineSeptember 12, 2023 at 5:57 AM

      It was crazy hard, steepest suckers so far!

      Delete

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