If I knew then...

Day 8 Friday 4th September Taunton to Bath

More Loos That Need Twinning

Having been provided by Sara with a cycle route map of Taunton it made my exit very easy. I loved her cycle routes and was soon following the canal, enjoying it so much that I nearly missed my turn off.

A lady in the village asked me where I was going, so I told her the road I was taking and that I would stop at the Wetlands Centre (baskets) for coffee. She exclaimed saying that it was a very steep road and was called 13 bends road. I replied that it couldn't be as bad as Cornwall!!  She obviously thought otherwise. I made it up the hill with relative ease.

At the coffee shop I had a coffee, and as the brownie was dairy free I asked for the largest and bought some sandwiches to take with me. An added bonus was that cyclists got a 10% discount.

If I had known then what lay ahead maybe I wouldn't have hung around for so long.

The ride over the Somerset levels was lovely, it was hard to imagine that not long ago the whole area was under water.

I continued to Glastonbury but managed to bypass the town on the cycle routes. At one point a tree had fallen across the path which was too large to move so I had a choice, to risk life and limb on the busy, very narrow road which would mean turning back, or unload the bike, lift it over and then reload. I choose the latter.

I Love Baskety Stuff

I turned off the cycle path onto what should have been a quiet single track road. Unfortunately the main road was blocked so cars were using the route as a cut through. This meant I had to keep stopping as there was nowhere for the cars to pass.

I arrived in Wells by about 4 o’clock. I had a quick cup of tea and then continued up and over the Mendip hills (a very long drag).

At Radstock I picked up cycle route 24 which would take me all the way to Bath, about another 12 miles. Some of this was easy going and flat, while other bits were rough and hilly. On the approach to Bath there were two tunnels the first of which was was about  a mile long.

Having arrived in Bath I had to go down into the city centre then up again to my bed for the night, which was not the easiest place to find. It must have been about 8 o’clock before I walked through the door. I had cycled 67.68miles and was shattered!