The Road to Paignton

The Wet & Windy crew decided to take a break from Ireland, which was still pretty inaccessible owing to lockdown rules.  We had a lot of fun trying to book train tickets from Shrewsbury to Plymouth, because cycle reservations were not available from Arriva Trains for the first leg bookings until all the reservations for the Bristol to Plymouth leg had been taken.  As a result we had to travel by car and had a back-up vehicle to manoeuvre every day.  Derek was very pleased about this as it would allow him some days off for sightseeing; pleased that is, until I pranged his car on the second morning, trying to get it out of the B&B car park.  The other car owner was not as forgiving as Derek and I picked up a  £300 tab as a result, but at least my precious new bike didn’t suffer any damage in the process.  

Den also had his usual train issues getting to the starting line so we were well behind the clock before setting off.  In our smart new tour attire, we almost looked  like an organised group of cyclists as we enjoyed the sights of Plymouth Hoe.  But we were soon a bedraggled lot, as the route out of Plymouth turned horrible and the hills took their toll.  We had a nice tea in South Brent but the final two miles was a painful struggle up and over a diversion into Paignton and then another climb to the hotel.  We met up with an old pal, Gordon, and enjoyed a curry before a few more beers outside on the front, where England played out a drab 0-0 Euros draw with Scotland on a big screen that, thankfully, was barely visible from our vantage point.

The Road to Sidmouth

Next morning, after a late start (and then the car incident) we met up with another old lag, Rhys, in Starcross before enjoying some pasties in Topsham, where some remedial bike purchases were also made.  We got to our Airbnb in Sidmouth just before the heavens opened and, as it was too wet even to make it to the pub, we ordered some pizzas and got by on a few tins of John Smiths, neither of which can be recommended.

Weymouth