Today was a day of two halves - the last sting in the tail of Devon climbs, followed by miles of canal towpath in Somerset - our first taste of canal towpaths which the 'Safer way' uses extensively on the way through England. The surface of the towpaths was ok~ish - firm and well made, but not best suited to a road bike. They made for slow, flat, easy but less-pleasant-than-tarmac-riding miles. That said, the scenery was very picturesque - no doubt more pleasant than the roads from that point of view. We saw a swan with 10 cygnets in tow on the canal - that I believe is more than you'd normally expect to see.
The stats:
Distance cycled today: 75.2 miles
Ascent: 2,942'
Distance from Lands End: 212 miles
The best bit about today: with today's miles I now top the RPV (Richmond Park Velo) club leaderboard for the week for distance as well as ascent. :-) And there's still Sunday to go - which is a bit of a double-edged sword. Nick topped his club's leaderboard yesterday. But as the forecast is for rain, I don't expect anyone else to be going out to do big miles :-) I don't have the choice.
Actually, there is a choice to be made - about the route: An extra 15 miles of distance, or an extra 1000' of ascent? The 'Safer Way' goes along more towpaths and should be slower riding than the roads as well as adding the extra distance. A more direct road route should be faster going once the climbing is out of the way, as well as a shorter distance. With rain in the forecast I think I'd like to spend the least time possible in it :-)
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