Day 1
From minster to minster.
And below is how it looked after 20 miles - just as I reached Otterton. The bracket holding the basket had snapped. I'm just glad I was going slowly because the basket landed on the wheel and led to an unscheduled emergency stop.
I'm still working out how Google blogger works, so let's see how this goes...
I left Exminster from outside the village pub in darkness at 0540
and arrived in Warminster in darkness at 2100.
108 miles and 2800 m elevation gain! So this is the longest day of the 10, and also the one with the most elevation gain. Last time I did 100+ miles in the day was 1992 - so more than a third of a century ago!
A slight bike malfunction
Here's how my bike was loaded up when I set off.
Some views along the way
Budleigh Salterton at 735am.
Sidmouth at 9am
Seaton at 1030
Lyme Regis at midday
Looking east somewhere between Charmouth and Marshwood at 115pm
The weather deteriorated after that and the increasing desire to "just get it done" meant I ignored all other photo opportunities!
What went well
1. Body has held up remarkably well. No cramp - thanks to Karilyn for pushing the electrolytes point hard.
2. The botch it fix to cope with the broken basket.
3. The joy of having to eat lots😁
4. Having my phone in the handlebar bag and using the "Ride with GPS" app worked a treat for navigation.
Lesson learnt
Trying to run Strava and Ride with GPS apps simultaneously, alongside listening to podcasts, drains the phone battery big time! I had to recharge fully twice (taking the opportunity to recharge my own fuel supply!) and top up the power twice - with shorter stops - in the last couple of hours. In the cold and wet that wasn't much fun!
Saturday's plan
Today was deliberately the longest day. Tomorrow is deliberately the shortest day. To Weston-super-Mare via RSPB Ham Wall, where I'll spend a couple of hours seeing what wildlife I can see with my camera.
Day one ticked off and you're already a seventh of the way through.😁👏 Keep it going.
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