DAY 3
Taunton to St Briavels

the plan:

Flat and fast after the last two gruelling days through Devon and Cornwall. Starting the day in Somerset, moving into Avon, across the Clifton Suspension Bridge and skirting the North West of Bristol before heading over the Severn Bridge. We only stay in Wales for a couple of miles before cycling back onto English soil, and on to our destination at St Briavels Castle.

the reality:

A fantastically therapeutic first 30 miles to our major stop - lovely flat straight roads and great temperature, and we all re-discovered the pleasure of cycling! Stopped in Cheddar for our tea break, and then on to Portishead for our lunch stop, kindly provided by Sarah's parents. A few hills greeted us after lunch around Bristol, and then we'd been warned about a pretty long hill up out of Chepstow up to St Briavels, but for the Cornwall/Devon hill veterans they didn't phase us too much.

Staying tonight in the Youth Hostel in St Briavels Castle, which is a pretty amazing place - plenty of ghosts apparently.

Distance travelled: 84 miles (cumulative 264 miles)
Total time taken Day 3: 9 hours 33 minutes (including 30 minutes injury recovery time)
Cumulative time: 27 hours 32 minutes
Ride Time: 6 hours 23 minutes
Day Leader: Siobhan

Number of punctures: 0

Number of (proper) hills: 4

mm of rain: 0!

Highlights of the Day: cycling across the two bridges - Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Severn Bridge - fantastic!

Leader's favourite moment of the day: lots of favourites, but most memorable Tom falling into Steve, which provided Siobhan with laughs for hours

Day 3 Leader's Awards:
- King Nick, for being helpful and brilliant at mending things (and he allegedly was heard to swear once today)
- Queen Juanita, for reversing the van into a tight parking space and generally being all round superstar

Quote of the day: Sarah replying to someone asking where Juanita was (as we were half way up a hill) - "Hold on, I'll just put my Juani-dar on"

The Lucy of the Day: "I thought Cheddar Gorge was in America"

Thank you's of the day:
- to Fred & Audrey Bullock for our fantastic lunch
- to Siobhan's friend for Nicky who joined Juanita and Jean as support for the day, and particularly for doing an emergency bike part run into Bristol
- to the manager of the Taunton M&S for providing us with food for our supper
- to the staff of the Salisbury House Hotel in Taunton for looking after us so well last night.

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