May 4, 2014

We’re hoping for a better experience today with less traffic. With it being Sunday there should at least be less lorries.  As we set off we are joined by dozens of club cyclists who are taking part in a race – safety in numbers? After a few kilometres we leave the route of the race and we’re on our own again.

The sun is shining and it’s even a bit warmer than it has been.  The terrain is undulating again through similar countryside to yesterday – not difficult cycling and even the traffic is behaving much better today.  We’re making good progress towards Bristol.  Tonight we will be staying with our cycling friends, Dave and Anne, so we need to find our way through the centre of Bristol and find their house.  As we get nearer to the city we spot the sign for a cycle route to the city centre, which takes us all around the houses, literally.  We can see Clifton suspension bridge in the distance, as the cycle path follows the bank of the river Avon down into the quayside area of the city.  The place is heaving with people, with all kinds of May Day festivities going on, making route finding a bit tricky.  Still, the paper map and compass did not let us down (no cheating here with GPS).  Bristol is a pretty big place, but nevertheless, we manage to cross from the south to the northwest part of the city and after getting directions from one or two people, we’re there.  Of course, when describing our route to Dave and Anne, we discover that we’ve done a big loop of the city, but still, at least we’ve seen some of Bristol.

We have our most pampered evening of the trip – home cooked food, a glass or two of wine and a washing machine – what more could we want?