Day 35- Telford to Stourport-on-Severn
Actual distance 56.27Km or 34.97miles
Total Ascent 748m
Staying at Rhydd Covert Scout Campsite
It was day two of operation catch up today so another early start. We started with a hearty breakfast of sausage sandwiches but unfortunately Ollie wasn’t feeling too well and turned down breakfast (always a bad sign with Ollie!) We encouraged some water and convinced him to come with us to the start point at least hoping he would perk up with some fluid following a hot, long one yesterday.
We again had the luxury of Dan sorting the aftermath of our stay and managed to get to the start by 09:30. Ollie reluctantly got onto his bike and started cycling with us with a plan to get to the next spot where he could be picked up if required.
We started out through the surprisingly hilly Telford until we reached Town Park where Bethan, Hattie and Ollie all decided that a park stop was essential, so after only 5km we stopped! 10 minutes later we managed to persuade Ollie to sit down and eat a banana and then we restarted following the Silkin Trail- one of the nicest cycle paths yet along a disused railway line. We did well and managed to reach Bridgnorth for lunch as the skies darkened and it started raining lightly. Ollie diverted in to a barbers as he was desperate for a haircut. The rest of us ducked into a pub to find some food and whilst we recuperated amazingly the clouds cleared and the sun came out.
Buoyed by this unexpected change in the weather we restarted our journey only to be faced with a hard climb out of Bridgnorth followed by a short decent and then a really hard climb which extended onto a poor gravel road. We continued following cycle route 45 hoping things would get better but parts were very difficult riding through overgrown footpaths meaning we had no choice but to push the bikes.
We were briefly back on road, before reaching a lovely path to the side of the Great Western steam railway. The path was good fun to ride and luckily we even saw a steam come past! Ice cream came next at the Severn Valley Country Park just as the skies opened (for all of about 2 minutes!) and the kids headed for cover.
A final push of 18km against some still headwinds and, against all odds, we as made it to the car at then end- a ride well done.
Arriving at the campsite we met the lovely Kathy who showed us to the tented village- a beautiful sub camp with pre-erected tents, a kitchen and even electricity- such a luxury!
Bethan, Hattie Ollie, Abi (and Sarah and Phil) got treated to a climbing session on the tower after tea- obviously almost 60km wasn’t enough to wear the children out!
