Woke up with a dodgy stomach. I had a light breakfast and set out at 8.30 but couldn’t pedal more than lightly without my insides feeling as though they were going to explode. The weather was drizzly and misty but did gradually clear up. After about an hour and a half of cycling I started to feel somewhat better and stopped at Minions for a brew and a toasted teacake. I met four more end to enders who seemed to be much more proficient cyclists than me and soon disappeared into the distance. Once at Horsebridge the hills seemed to become much more relentless. Steep descents which took a matter of seconds were followed immediately by hard climbs of 15 minutes or more and this unfair pattern continued endlessly. I travelled around the north of Dartmoor with the intention of dropping down into Exeter. That’s the trouble with using road maps – no contours; the route into Exeter was mostly uphill with a particularly savage climb about 10 miles out. Exeter itself does have an excellent cycle path network, and I arrived at the Youth Hostel at 7.00 knackered. I found myself in the same dorm as Matt and Steve, and Andy another end to ender who was also at Golant. 81.56 miles cycled, over eight and a half hours in the saddle and an average speed of 9.3 mph.
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