Ludlow to Stroud
Distance Today: 52.01 Miles
Total Distance: 669 Miles
Average Speed: 14.0 MPH
Maximum Speed: 34.3 MPH
Time in Saddle: 3 hours 41 Minutes
We popped across to the Little Chef for Breakfast. It wasn't long before Dad was telling us that we needed to "get cracking"
We hadn't got a big day today and as you can tell from our stats, we only spent just over 3 and a half hours in the saddle.
We enjoyed a good pace and we also clocked up our fastest daily average speed. Our day started on the A49, not the most cycle friendly routes we have taken. We planned to head out towards Leominster and then out towards Gloucester, breaking for lunch at Newent. We were relieved to see that Dan's Knee and Ankle seemed to be holding up.
We arrived at Newent only to find it closed. All of it. We looked but every eatery seemed to be closed. Dad reckoned we should get cracking, and so we did.
We approached Gloucester desperately looking for somewhere to eat. Our quiet road was heading for a busy looking dual carriageway (according to the map) the A40, but fortunately I spotted a cycle route into the town centre. However, Matt had decided on his pace and wasn't slowing for anything, so he shot passed the cycle lane and on to what was indeed a very busy dual carriageway. It had little in the way of protection and the traffic was very heavy. A couple of motorists found it difficult not to run us down, cutting by us very finely indeed. The thought of slowing down didn't seem to cross their mind.
The good news is that we found a pub on this road and they served us to a fine Ploughman's Lunch.
After lunch, we got back onto the dual carriageway but we soon picked up a cycle lane in to Gloucester Town Centre.
It seems Gloucester had been expecting us and they'd closed the centre for a parade. For a short time we joined the carnival as we pushed our bikes (Police orders, they let us through but asked us to dismount) for a quarter of a mile through the centre.
Jumping back on our bikes we headed down the A38 towards Stroud. The A38 isn't much fun to cycle down and it has the most useless cycle lanes in the country. They appear just before traffic islands, and then throw you back into the flow of traffic once you've passed it, but only after putting us across each exit of the island.
We arrived in Stroud at the Travelodge just as it started to rain, not long after 3pm. This was our earliest finish. We got showered and changed, then headed for a pub recommended by a member of staff at the hotel called the Old Forge Inn. It turned out to be a good recommendation, food and beer being rather good.