Saturday 10th July - 100 Miles!!

Following our disasterous attempt at the Devon Delight route and our all day effort to reach a total of 70 miles, I logged into my blog to discover that Kate, our fellow London to Paris participator, had done 103 miles that day. Oh dear! Feeling rather inadequate I immediately decided that the following weekend we would have to do 100 miles ourselves...and so it was that we set out on Saturday to do just that.

We planned out a route that predominantly covered routes we already knew to minimise getting lost and stopping to check directions all the time. To give ourselves a chance, we aimed to leave at 6am and actually set out at 6:20am.

Our morning route took us down to Exmouth (where I was delighted to discover the toilets were open nice and early!) out to Budleigh and up to Otterton. The coffee shop was still not open, so we sat on the village green to eat some oatcakes (another recommendation of Kate's) and take a quick breather. Ant had a strict timetable he wanted us to keep to, so we were soon heading off again following the lanes up to Tipton St John and out to Ottery St Mary. From there we headed to Feniton and up (yes, very up!) to Talaton. From there we cut across to Broadclyst and out to Killerton. This time the coffee shop had just opened, but with 46 miles under our belts we were getting hungry and ate our sarnies instead of going for coffee and cake. I couldn't quite believe we'd done nearly 50 miles and it was still only just gone 11am! I wished I'd discovered early morning riding earlier on in our training, as it means the roads are much quieter and you can do 50 miles before lunch and still have an afternoon to spare. Not today though...From Killerton we found our way to Silverton, where we stopped to re-stock on water supplies and then back into Exeter. Round 1 done!

For the second part of our route we decided to retrace our steps on the Devon Delight and see if we could do a better job this week! We were cutting out the busy section into Newton Abbot, but other than that we'd be doing the same as before. Heading up over Longdown was just as much of a struggle as the previous week, but at least this time I knew that once we'd made it and if I could survive the rapid descent down the other side, we'd have a nice long stretch of flat riding. It was good to get to the Teign Valley, but I was getting tired again and starting to realise that although we'd made great progress in the morning, we still had a long way to go. We tried to stop at a Garden Nurseries we'd spotted the week before, but on closer inspection, the Nestle sign outside only led us to a tiny shop with an ice cream freezer in the corner. No cafe and no toilets...ah well. Instead, we carried on to our picnic stop from the week before and had a break there again. Ant spotted a water snake in the river and I was glad to be safely up on the bank away from him!

Moving on, we followed the road all the way to Kingsteignton. This was again a very long sretch and although it was flat, the wind was getting up and it seemed like ages before we got to the roundabout where we could turn off. Coming past a quarry was particularly unpleasant as the wind whipped up around us. At last we found ourselves heading towards Gappah and the infamous cross we'd visited so many times the previous week! Luckily the gravelly lane had settled down a bit and made the riding much easier - and we only had to do it once this time! Heading up over the hill and along by the big wall, the cheery cyclist from the previous week went sailing past us again with a smile and a wave. I'd not remembered this section being such a long climb and found it much tougher this week. Although we did it twice the previous week, this week we had done a much longer route in the morning and it was starting to take it's toll. I called to Ant and took an impromptu stop by a gateway to have a quick rest and some more snacks. The cows watched us intently from where they stood, but didn't come any closer. The wonderful views down over the valley were a testament to how high we'd climbed - but I knew there was another climb ahead just after the junction.

We attacked the next hill as best we could, but we were both tired and ended up getting off our bikes and walking the last little section before we turned off towards Ashcombe. Back on the bikes again we soon found ourselves heading into Ashcombe, where we had to dismount again to go down the steep twisty hill. It was nice to be off the bikes again - and this time we knew we were nearly back at Dawlish and that our route would be much easier than laast weeks adventure! Down in the village, we came across a lovely friendly black and white cat who I fussed over for a little while before getting back on the bike again. From here we followed the road into Dawlish, marvelling at what an easy route it was and looking up across the hill we had climbed the previous week...we won't do that again! Arriving from a different direction, I was momentarily confused about which way to go when we got to Dawlish, but Ant recognised the turning and there we were in Dawlish. Wow! By this stage I was really excited. It suddenly sank in that we were nearly home and we were going to manage the 100 miles!

Outside the Co-op I bumped into an old work colleague who has recently retired. We had a quick natter and it felt very odd to say we'd cycled over 80 miles and would have done 100 when we got home again. Checking my watch I realised that if we cracked on with the final section, we could make it home within 12 hours from when we set off. So - after a quick stop to use the facilities (I'd not found any since Killerton!), re-stocking on water and cramming in several squares of chocolate (Cadburys chocolate with shortbread and cranberries in, if you've not tried it yet, you must - it's very yummy indeed!) we set off for home. Although I was feeling tired, adrenalin really kicked in at this stage and I was so excited about reaching 100 miles, I couldn't stop grinning all the way!

This week we followed the directions and took the road behind Powderham. This was nice and flat and much quieter than the main road. It seemed to take ages to reach the crossing over to Exminster and once we got there, the nice flat route finished and we were presented with some unexpected rather nasty hills! My smile started to fade as we dropped the gears and slogged up the hills...but finally we were back on familiar territory and heading through Exminster. From here it was flat quick riding all the way home and checking my watch again, I knew we could make it within the twelve hours. Grinning once more, I pedalled as fast as my tired legs would allow until we made it back up our drive. Time check: 11 hours and 55 minutes! Yay!!

Back at home, we enjoyed our recovery shakes we had been prepared in advance and were waiting in the fridge for us. Then I hopped in the shower and got ready to go out to the firework finale of the festival. Walking into to town I wondered what on earth we were doing, but I was still grinning from ear to ear as we met up with friends and impressed them with our stories of the day! I got increasingly tired as the night went on, but was amazed at how few aches and pains I had. For the first time ever I started to believe we might actually be able to manage our London to Paris ride...and if I'm this emotional after a one day ride, I'm not sure whether I'll be laughing or crying for a week after we get to Paris!