Day 5. Monmouth to Clun

 Miles cycled - 58
Total ascent - 3300ft
Terrain - hilly
Weather - beautiful morning, cloudy afternoon
Best bit - lunch!
Worst bit - the muddy footpath at the end

 www.justgiving.com/JanesBigTrip

Challenge or holiday?

Today started with a monster of a hill out of Monmouth, then the route was described as 'undulating'. Not how I'd phrase it, as it felt a lot more hilly than that! Out of Monmouth, we passed through some amazing countryside, picturesque villages and rural views before passing through Hereford on a lovely cycle path.

Spaced out lunch

 From there it was lunch at an old fashioned tea room in Pembridge where we had the most delicious fresh sandwiches and salad, followed by homemade cakes in their garden - the best lunch so far! 

Nice curves  -  and the hedge...

 After lunch we sailed along enjoying the views until we got 4 miles from Clun, our destination.

ho hum

The road into Clun was closed, and we had been assured the workmen weren't letting bikes through. The options were a 40 mile detour, or a 3 mile track through some woods. Not really much of a choice.

We set off through the woods, but it was far too muddy and steep to pedal on road bikes, so we pushed for the first mile, which wasn't any fun at all. As the path dried out a little, we pedalled and pushed for the last stretch, but by now we were muddy and our bikes were worse. Poor John took a tumble, and hero Aled pushed his bike for a while, but by the end of the track, I was beginning to throw my toys out of the cot.


This was not Peak Tours fault, and unavoidable, but it was not what I had signed up for. As we reached Clun, I'm not sure why, my bottom lip started to go! I'd promised myself I wouldn't do a Davina and spend the trip blubbering about how hard things get, but for some reason, it happened!

Ugh!

Niv ( one of the tour guides) took me under his wing and cleaned my bike, arranged a cup of tea, and gave me a big hug - feeling much better now!

A rough end to what had been a lovely day.