Shock News…….Support Driver Geoff has been replaced by Papa Smurf!!

Holiday Inn Express Bristol North provided excellent accommodation for us, and even let us put our bikes in a vacant conference room overnight. After a great nights sleep (having sensibly booked 2 rooms for the team) we rose at 7.45am and enjoyed a large breakfast, making several trips to the buffet offering. Once the car was packed and bikes racked we drove back to last nights finish point and set off at 9.58am. Quickly negotiating Bath we slogged our way out of the city, quite a start for tired legs. By now we were warmed up and made good progress up the second long climb out of Chewton Mendip, after which Andy once again gave Jon a lesson in swift descending topping 42 mph on the drop into Wells. Reaching Glastonbury by lunchtime we met up with Geoff for coffee and cake. The strange mystical powers of the Tor had obviously taken effect on our support driver and it appeared that he had been replaced by Papa Smurf (see photos for evidence of this). Next we continued onto Wellington and it dawned on us that on this trip just about every village we have passed through from our start in John O’Groats has at sometime won a Britain in Bloom award! According to Andy every 3^rd village has a least one Dog Grooming shop as well, the best one we’ve found so far being called “Wallace and Groomit”. After an elongated refuelling stop in Wellington we eventually met up with Papa Smurf who had been sightseeing in Wells. Next it was the rolling countryside of Devon we had to contend with, and so we went up and down and up and down for the next couple of hours for a quick meet up in Crediton (who incidentally & unsurprisingly didn’t appear to have been bestowed a Britain in Bloom award). With the last 17 miles ahead of us, we took a handful of midget gems from the car (Many thanks Andy’s Mum) and set off to our finish for the day at Okehampton. Despite signs advising us that the road ahead was closed, we continued on the planned route and found every other local driver was ignoring the signs as well. Needless to say the road wasn’t closed to traffic at all but obviously they weren’t encouraging “tourists” to use the route whilst the roadworks were undertaken. Cycling up the final few hills took some effort but we eventually made it to Okehampton. Amazing a whole day and no punctures!! 107 miles completed today, total distance to date 981 miles. We’re on the last page of the road at last!!