Day 4 done: Taunton to Bristol

The end of day 4 is the first of our mini-milestones as Ian passes the navigation and team lead baton over to me. This marks the end of our first sector and it would be amiss of me not to single out a few of Ian's achievements over the last 5 days:
- successful train trip to Penzance with our bikes. If you have ever booked using Great Western customer services then you will know why this has to be noted as a major achieve.
- 5 nights perfectly comfortable accomodation with the highlight of Week Farm - see day 2 blog
- generally calm and accurate map reading. Obviously there were a few exceptions. The A366 around Launceston and another gem I will tell you about later in the blog.
- his truly unique cockney poetry. The best to share was when halfway up a tough Devon hill Ian turned around to Paul and I to proclaim 'remember lads, this all adds to the tapestry of the ride'. Just brilliant! I am sure we will be able to share more classic over the comig days.

We also feel like today is momentous us as we reach the top of the long leg of the south-west and tomorrow will see us start to make some serious progress north.

Now to the report from today. We got a great early start and each opted for our first non-full English. Obviously it was still a cooked breakfast but a slightly lighter start to the day. 1.5 laps of the Taunton one way system saw us eventually find the south-easterly route out and we were on our way. We had a pleasant first hour meandering through the narrow lanes of the Somerset flats. All was going well until we hit a sudden dead end in the tiny hamlet of Isle Abbots. On consultation with Ian's route we quickly discovered that an overexcitable highlighting mistake had linked a mile section of lane that was in fact separated by a rather substantial river. Thinking on his feet as ever, Ian spotted a footpath that signed a small village 1 mile away that would get us back on track. The first 500meters of the path were fine. We the hit the first sty that was negotiated with reasonable ease. I am sure there are many of you wondering why we didn't decide turn back at this stage, however, three stubborn men is all the answer you need. The next sty crossing saw us enter an electrified field. The alarm bells began to ring. However, atbthis point Paul decided that the bull field would be the perfect location for a bit of bike maintenance. By this stage we were attracting attention. Ian stepped up the the mark and quite literally took the bull by the horns and set off across the field accompanied with his bright red panniers. The story ends after a further 3 sty crossings. All in all, our 1 mile detour to get back on track was timed in at 38minutes.

Sense finally prevailed and Ian did a bit of replanning, taking the direct route on to Cheddar via Street and the Glastonbury Tor. A quick cheeseboard in Cheddar refuelled us for the challenge of the climb through the gorge. it was a fantastic ride up through the towering cliffs and within 20 minutes or so we were on the top of the mindip hills. Everyone thought the hard work of the day was done and we faced a pleasant 15 or so miles cruising down into Bristol. How wrong we were. The views down the chew valley were breathtaking. Only now did we start to realise that Bristol was not yet in sight and the Chew Hill lay beyond the Chew Valley. The final two climbs of the day were nothing if not sheer hell and we finally rolled down the hill into Bristol at about 5. A quick stop at Evans to restock the energy supplements and we arrived at our B&b in Clifton.

After a shower and a celebratory beer, Paul and I took 10 mins to review the route for tomorrow. Ian was given the task of seeking out a local Italian to carbo-load. He seemed very pleased with himself when he announced he had found a place only half a mile from us and had booked a table for 8. So we wondered down the road and entered a nice looking place called casamia. The penny started to fall when the maitre'd asked Ian if he would like her to hang his jacket (hoodie). We realised we were a little underdressed for their usual clientele. Only after sampling their five course tasting menu did we realise that we were in a one star Michelin restaurant that won last years Gordon Ramsey's best restaurant tv show. The food was fantastic and the portions were minute, hence we had to follow it up in the pub with a pint of bitter and a pack of pork scratchings.

Richard Finn Beer Appreciation Trophy update:
- potholder in Cheddar scored a 7.5 and was a smooth real ale
That was our last Somerset entry and after consultation the real Hatcher's medium cider romps through as county champion
Unfortunately no entries from Bristol as yet.

Local food consumed, cheddar in cheddar, to state the bleeding obvious!

So to stats of the day:
- 75 miles cycled
- 256 miles
- best funny town names, curry mallet and beercrocombe
- 0 falls for the second day running
- Michelin stars consumed = 1

Tomorrow takes us pretty much due north up to Clun. The first big mileage test measured out at 90miles. Hopefully another good day will be had and the transition to new management will go smoothly!

TTFN