My life seems to consist of training and sleeping and on the days when we have a day off from training I feel too tired to do anything! Last week we spent two evenings in the gym trying to build up our fitness and then on Saturday it was back on the bikes.

After a late night leaving do on Friday night, we finally set off at midday on Saturday armed with Pippa's directions for her Madhatter ride. We had no intention of getting round the whole route as we just wouldn't have time to complete it, but we hoped to get a good few miles in before home time. The first section of the route was really lovely and we had quiet roads and wide lanes to cycle through and I felt like I was coping comfortably with the hills, which was great! I hadn't realised that we would cross the top of Woodbury Common on the route to Otterton Mill and the climb up to the Common was the first to make me dig in and I was really beginning to look forward to our lunch stop. The views from the top of the Common were glorious and it was a great quick stretch to ride along. However, I was rather terrified by the time we came down to our turning for Otterton Mill. I'd been going faster and faster down the road and it felt like the bike was really sliding around beneath me. I'm not good at going fast! It was a relief to turn off the main road, but we were soon confronted by another steep downhill section. As we turned a corner we could see flood signs and water across the road at the bottom of the hill and despite braking as hard as I could, there was no way I could have stopped. Luckily when we got there it was only a very shallow stretch of water across the road and we passed through perfectly safely, but I'd had visions of ending up in a soggy heap at the bottom. A narrow escape and a clear sign that my brakes still need a bit more adjusting!

From there we followed signs to Otterton Mill where we stopped for a fantastic lunch. I've never seen such a huge jacket potato and with all the side salads too, it would have easily fed both of us! After refuelling and resisting the temptation to stock up on chocolate brownies (due to the fact that we had a perfectly good packed lunch in our panniers!) we headed back out to the bikes. When I rejoined Ant after using the facilities, he had just been chatting to a chap who'd turned up on the same bike as his...who turned out to be my tutor from University! It's a small world and it seems that everyone cycles these days!

From Otterton Mill we had a good run to Ottery St Mary and both still felt ok, but as time was ticking on and we needed to be home for guests in the evening, we decided to consult the map and plan our route home. We couldn't quite work out all the different roads leaving Ottery (which my old work colleagues will laugh at, as I could never find the route back to Exeter through the one way system!) so we decided to stick with Pippa's directions up to Feniton and to cut across to Talaton from there. Finding the way was easy enough, but the hill up into Talaton came close to defeating us. There were a couple of occasions where I really thought I'd have to get off and walk, but somehow we both managed to push through and make it up to Talaton. We stopped briefly outside the pub to check the map before making our way over to Broadclyst. The route to Broadclyst was surprisingly tiring and the wind was determined to slow us down! After another quick stop in Broadclyst to apologise to our guests and let them know we'd be a bit late back, we continued on our way back. We were both tired and hungry by now and the hills combined with the battering wind as we headed into Exeter were wearing us down. The relief of seeing our road was dampened when a car went to pull out at the bottom and I struggled to brake in time. I've tried my brakes on our hill many times before and usually it's fine, but after a full day of cycling my hands were tired and aching and I just didn't have the strength. Luckily the car saw me coming and stopped, but it was another tense moment and a final reminder to do something more drastic about the brakes.

On Sunday we joined Don for the CTC ride out to Bickleigh. Lyndsay joined us at Stoke Canon and we found we had lots to chat about as she teaches at the school I used to go to. We had a nice leisurely ride through the lanes chatting to one another, but as we joined the main road, we were also joined by rain and we all made a beeline for the dry and the promise of a nice cup of tea at Bickleigh. I made up for the previous day with a well-deserved chocolate brownie! We had a rather extended coffee stop, possibly due to the weather and possibly due to lots of people deciding to drive and not being in a hurry to get back on their bikes! It wasn't quite such a leisurely ride back to Exeter. Don set a fast pace and as I struggled to keep up, I began to fear that our imminent trip to Britanny may be rather beyond me! We said goodbye to Don on the Quay and headed home for lunch. Phew! I was relieved to learn on Monday that after leaving us, Don had been tired too and had caught the bus the rest of the way home...perhaps there's some hope for us after all!