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Sunday 16th May 2010 Leominster to Ellesmere Oh, I was weary at the end of this leg; 66 miles is a lot even though I was hardening up a bit by now. Still the day was lovely and the hills gentle and few so I couldn’t complain. Once again there were a lot of insects flying around, however, and I think the total swallowed on this trip had now risen to four.
I had lunch at the Inn on the Green, in Wentnor. I was feeling hungry and was in the middle of nowhere on back roads where there were few cafes so there was little choice about the venue. Unfortunately it was a ‘carvery’ lunch today which basically means meat, but when I persisted they softened and agreed to make a cheese sandwich for me. It turned out to be a very nice one with soft rye grain bread and a morsel of side salad. That plus a cup of tea came to a rather hefty £6.10 but I suppose as I was starving with no other option, and as it was nice, the price was bearable.
From Wentnor I carried on and reached Ellesmere at about 4.30, just starting to feel a bit tired. As a general point about the ride I should definitely have snacked and drunk more as I went along but I tended to just forget and bash on, probably ending up a tad underfed and dehydrated. Today I had ridden 65 miles to get to Ellesmere and I then spent another mile looking in vain for a B&B before resorting to pubs. The Red Lion is a big, pleasant-looking coaching inn on the way into town as you approach from the south. It was quite a busy place and did a roaring food trade but the rooms were a bit run down. Still at £30 for a non-en-suite, including breakfast, it was ok. The Greek barmaid spoke excellent if slightly quaint English - she had an English mother and didn’t look at all Greek. The other barmaid, who took my food order, had dark hair and a short skirt and was extremely busy. The landlord of the pub came from Liverpool and was constantly on the hop doing this and that and calling everybody ‘mate’. When everyone is your mate it always seems insincere to me but he sorted somewhere for me to leave my bike and arranged for someone to be in early to do my breakfast (they normally didn’t do it before 9.00 on Mondays) so fair enough. Distance: 66.77 miles (was 65 and a bit but added some looking for a B&B) Average speed: 11.1 mph Max speed: unknown | ||||||
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