Today, we decided we would try the bike trail and get off the busy road.  We started off on a beautiful path lined with wild flowers and the wind at our back; nothing wrong with that, except our direction.  We backtracked two miles and found our route along the canal (that leads to the River Severn)passing the Kaskelot, significance below.It was not long before we were out on delightful country roads.  With the high hedges, we were temporarily protected from the “in your face” winds.  As we came around a corner, we noticed a crowd gathering and guys donning wet suits and carting surfboards down to the River Severn.  All were awaiting”The Severn Bore; with less than a half hour to the big event, we decided to wait as well.  It was crazy to see a tidal wave drive up a river, not to mention guys surfing it.  Though it was only a two foot tide, it has been known to be as large as nine feet (third largest in the World).  As we waited for the “big” event, we learned a lot about the local lore as well and the “story” of May Hill; a clump of 99 trees in a perfect square on top of this hill.  According to our storyteller, the devil keeps the 100th tree from reaching maturity!  We think the devil also had a hand in the wind in our face, today.

Our country road continued past country churches and through small villages.  Our wonderful paved road ended as we crossed a pretty canal and dropped onto a roughly graveled and narrow trail.  We tried to embrace the peaceful scenery, but it was 11:00, three hours after we’d left and we had only gone 18 miles.  We gave up our flat, scenic, albeit, very poor road for the main road.  Though we had a bike lane, traffic was heavy, wind was in our face and the climbing increased, so a picture of the dark clouds heading our way and that was it.  At 1:30 and 33 miles, we took a break from the climbing for lunch.  It was a nice and needed rest.  Back out on the busy road, the wind and climbing continued and was non-stop.  The next 20 miles was an intense mixture of suburbs, city and exhaust as we made our way to and through Bristol.  Managed only one picture, when we stopped in the city to verify directions, but it perfectly depicted how we were feeling about our afternoon ride.  Amazingly, we made it through the city with no mistakes or backtracks but still had eight more miles. We climbed and climbed and finally with nothing left to give, found our stop for the night.  It was a tough fought 55 miles, but a nice stop and a tasty appetizer to get us back to begin our food replenishment.  We should sleep well tonight.