{"id":14877,"date":"2014-08-11T15:13:47","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T19:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=14877"},"modified":"2014-08-11T15:21:43","modified_gmt":"2014-08-11T19:21:43","slug":"day-45-monday-august-11-shrewsbury-to-dunhampton-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=14877","title":{"rendered":"Day 45. Monday, August 11 – Shrewsbury to Dunhampton, England"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunny, 60\u00b0 and a feisty wind as we bike out of our darling town,\"DSCN1912\"<\/a> we’ll take it. \u00a0Thankfully the 20 mph winds were SSW and we were predominantly going southeast; though every deviation was noticeable. \u00a0We rolled up and down through beautiful countryside.\"DSCN1921\"<\/a> \u00a0An hour later, for the first time since Scotland we see the dreaded\u00a0“motorists use low gear” sign. \"DSCN1966\"<\/a>\u00a0It was a mean uphill (18% grade),\"DSCN1939\"<\/a> taking\u00a0several stops to get to the top. \u00a0Deep ravines and spectacular vistas\"DSCN1947\"<\/a>\u00a0were\u00a0missed by the camera due to the steep uphills or glorious downs. The climbing seemed to never\u00a0stop,\"DSCN1930\"<\/a> but thankfully the grades were not as horrendous as the first one.\"DSCN1942\"<\/a>\u00a0At one roundabout, trying to decided if we should take a quieter road, a local pulled up in his car. \u00a0He suggested our quieter road was beautiful, but “lumpy” (British have such<\/em> a way with words), \u00a0After 25 miles we took a break from the climbing and to add some extra energy to conquer the rest of the day;\"DSCN1956\"<\/a>a bowl of soup you could swim in\u00a0should do it.\"DSCN1952\"<\/a>The stop took much longer than expected, but the socialization with fellow (motor)bikers\"DSCN1957\"<\/a>\u00a0and hug from the owner\"photo-2\"<\/a>was worth it. \u00a0The climbing\u00a0was nonstop. the views incredible but the already strong wind had picked up and were\u00a0gusting. \"DSCN1973\"<\/a>\u00a0As much as we were enjoying the sunshine, we were working for every precious pedal stroke. \u00a0Our last seven miles was particularly tough. \u00a0The traffic was heavy and we thought we would never get a downhill. \u00a0Not sure we ever found the downhill, but we did find our hotel. \"DSCN1975\"<\/a>\u00a0We are out in the middle of nowhere, so (thankfully) there was no touring to be done, just rest. \u00a0Of course, what better way to refresh than with a bit of pat\u00e9 \"DSCN1977\"<\/a>and steak and ale pie.\"DSCN1980\"<\/a>Our 47 miles worked us hard today, but we did it without the rain. \u00a0However, an hour after checking in, it poured while the sun shone. \u00a0That’s okay, today still counts as a NON-rain day!<\/p>\n\n\t\t