Day 2 - Liskeard to Taunton

Wash, rinse, repeat. Today carried on where yesterday left off. I woke at 5:30 to try to get away as early as possible. Unfortunately as soon as I woke up both my knees were killing me. A bit of a walk around later and they were at least manageable although standing up was still painful.
Nevertheless I managed to get away at 7am (another healthy breakfast, this time with porridge).

Immediately I was faced with the same hills as yesterday. Progress was slow, not helped by my knees but at least they weren't preventing me from cycling which makes me hopeful that they are adjusting and will eventually subside.
Hill after hill after hill. And then I went into Dartmoor. Up until now the weather had been overcast with showers but this all changed. The mist came down and the temperature dropped. On with the waterproofs and overshoes. Grit my teeth and carry on. It was a penetrating wet that the photo below can only hint at.


To be honest Dartmoor in the sunshine just wouldn't be the same. I'm a big Sherlock Holmes fan and the thought of Baskerville Hall existing here seemed a very real possibility.

I eventually exited Dartmoor and peddled my way to my lunch stop in Exeter.

Then a miracle happened! The hills melted away and I was finally able to cycle on the flat for miles at a time. Taunton was 30 miles away, so I put my head down and tried to get there as soon as I could.

It was now late in the afternoon and my body was aching, I was cold, wet and tired. I put on some Neil Diamond to help me along. I don't know if it was the music or the flatter roads of Somerset but before I knew it I passed the Welcome To Taunton sign when I thought I still had about 10 miles to go. Result! Cracklin' Rosie kicked in and I was beaming. After a total of 10 hours in the saddle (hills and bad knees to blame for today's poor speed) I found my hotel for the night, a Travelodge, and headed out for food and a pint.

No breakfast here tomorrow so I popped into Sainsbury's for bananas, juice, some instant porridge in a pot and some flapjacks for lunch.

I am hoping that tomorrow will be flatter than the last two days (they say the first two are the worst). Also I'm looking forward to cycling over the old Severn Bridge to get back into Wales (no guesses on which top I'll be wearing).

Day 2 route:

View Day 2 in a larger map

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Location:Hankridge Way,Taunton,United Kingdom