Day 4 Glossop to Meriden

After the gruelling test of Day 3 follows the longest day on The Road To Lisbon measuring over 101 miles.

I had a plan ........ Knowing that my legs would be very heavy in the morning and looking at the route to navigate us out of The Peak District I decided to "Go Solo". My plan was to go at a very gentle pace and conserve some energy as well as giving my system a chance to come back to life.

Once out of the hills I planned to put the hammer down for the rest of the day.

The climbing started immediately and my usual riding companions vanished into the distance. "Pacin' yursel the day big man" was heard from behind. It was Vinny riding with Zuzy. They joined me for a spell of climbing and descending until Vinny missed a left turn whilst bombing out in front. We tried to stop him but it was no use. It was decided that Zuzy would wait for him to return and that I should carry on. The photo of Vinny & I was taken as we cleared The Peak District and entered Staffordshire.

Back on my own again and with good weather and flat (ish) roads I started to put some power into the pedal stroke and arrived at lunch in no time. After refuelling quickly I announced I was off and invited the guys that were there to join me but they weren't ready. Some of them were being attended by Jill (the massage therapist) and the others were still resting.

Some of the previous strugglers were back on their bikes today which was nice to see but I'm afraid another two needed picking up. That makes a total of 8 different cyclists that for one reason or another have spent some time in the support vehicle.

This is proving to be every bit as difficult as I imagined.

I was feeling a bit sore in my hands from the climbing and my rear end was also hurting but the roads were very quiet as it was Sunday, the surfaces excellent and the terrain superb for going fast on a bike so I ignored my sore bits and pushed on. Soon I was in Warwickshire and after a quick refuelling stop with 33 Km to go I set my sights on Meriden.

I got to the hotel early around 17:40h, checked in before cleaning Grace, then showered before a much needed massage and recovery drink.

Soothing cream was then applied to the sore bits before dinner.

Distance covered 162.6 Km

Climbing 2,179 M

Moving time 08:06:34

You can see a graphic reconstruction of the route here https://www.relive.cc/view/986331141

Summary:

Very slow start due to tough climbing with heavy legs but made up for it in the 2nd part of the day. Was very happy to see the hotel in the end.

Difficulty rating 8/10