Day 7: Hereford to Great Bourton

I was up at 4 and got away by 5:10. Down the road and then turned right at Mordiford; sign said 10% for one and a quarter miles. I knew it wasn't possible because I wasn't going that high! Turned out to be three steep sections which seemed greater than 10%. Cleared the tubes! Too hot for fleece and Gore-Tex on the ups and too cold without on the downs; too lazy to keep changing. Lovely ride, no cars. Modified route a bit as I went along. Apart from two cars immediately outside the campsite I didn't see another one until Ledbury at 6: 45. Was feeling peckish but resisted my chocolate rolls and hot chocolate drink in the hope I'd find a greasy spoon in Ledbury. I didn't but several shops were open. Bought a roll, a cheese sandwich, apple donut, and strawberry pastry. Ate them sitting on a bench in the town centre and brewed hot chocolate. Listened to the Today programme. A few sideways glances. Left at 7: 40. Stopped on the climb out of town to disrobe and put on sunblock. A fairly flat ride through to Upton upon Severn.

Nice looking place; had a walk round and bought a paper. Sun blazing down. Flattish ride to Pershore where I stopped for water and orange drink and saw a cafe. I didn't intend stopping until Evesham but the cafe looked good.

I'd been going really well. I was mentally writing my autobiography 18-27 and was suddenly in Evesham and it was 11:30. I stopped to take a photo but decided to carry on even though it looked a nice place to stop. At Bretforton I deviated again (because noisy traffic disturbed my thoughts) and entered Shipston on Stour via NCN 5. I stopped there as I thought it might be my last chance before the campsite. Greengrocers, butchers and general store. They were setting up for free concert in the evening (Blockheads- if there was a campsite nearby I might have stopped). Nice place.

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After Shipston I again deviated onto what looked like a generally flatter, shorter route although I noted a Chevron at Tysoe hill which I thought I might have to walk up. My arse was beginning to twinge but I managed to crank my way up! Good feeling -- a short section was probably over 20% -- a bugger though. Saved me more than a couple of k and 80 m. A couple more ups and downs and I was at Great Bourton.

Found campsite, reception was a "private" caravan. Only £7 and nice field. Reasonable but not as good as last night. Asked about a shop at Great Bourton because I'd forgotten wine. There wasn't one but there was at Cropredy "only a mile down the road". I unloaded and went straight there as it was likely to close soon. At Cropredy there was live music in the pub garden; it reminded me this is the place where Fairport Convention have their annual festival. It was 2 miles but it was great riding an unloaded bike.

I cooked Lamb in an onion and vin rouge jus served with new potatoes. (It was cheaper buying a bottle of red rather than 2 miniatures and I thought it best not to drink it all). Bloody marvellous.

Perfect end to a perfect day. I enjoyed the towns on the route like Stourton and Evesham and the villages; I think I've found middle England! Arse seems to be on the mend with nary a twinge today.

Thinking about my route I saw it was about 285K to Lowestoft; it seemed sensible to spend the next two days getting to within a day's ride to Lowestoft and back so I could stay at the same campsite for two days and have a day with an unloaded bike.

Distance: 120.21 k

Time: 7: 14: 44

Average: 16.6 k/hr

Max: 51.0k/hr

Height asc: 1504 m

Campsite: Barnstones Caravan Park, Main Street, Great Bourton. £7. Pleasant site with good facilities and quiet.