Day 8: Shrewsbury to Cardiff

Day 8- Death by incline

Today started in Nescliffe Camp, Shrewsbury where we had had a relatively quiet night before the next segment of the challenge. It was an unexciting night, with the girls joining the boys in their room to watch a film, and in the meantime Katie was once again receiving a sports massage from Louisa. She is extremely ticklish, to the point that when Louisa was working on her calves she managed to give herself a nosebleed from trying not to laugh too much.

The night progressed into early bed-time which was definitely necessary for taking on Wales, and the day dawned on Monday bright and cold which seemed to make for an ideal cycling day. Once again this stage began on camp so it gave everyone a little more time to make themselves ready with stretches, warm ups and in Mike’s case an excessive amount of cereal. It seemed no time at all before the girls were wheeling their bikes to the boys accommodation to begin the race, and there was once again a carried over sense of optimism from yesterday.

Then they shot off outside the camp, with Katie and Trev leading the group. It fell to the support team to establish the RV point today, which unfortunately today did not include any nice pub car parks. Anna had gone to the nearest supermarket for cakes, this time chocolate, lemon and small pink cupcakes with tiny flowers on top. We realised that the cyclists appreciate the small details when they have a milliseconds to eat on their breaks. At the first RV we were in a small lay by with a few interested drivers especially a tractor pulling a trailer full of potatoes. It felt somewhat odd to be honked at for being an odd group when it was a strange sight to behold in the first place!  

Then the riders arrived it was a flurry of activity; filling up water bottle with water and maximuscle powders, Clif bars and bananas with the aforementioned cupcakes. Once they had been wolfed down they were off again. It seemed like a relentless pace but they seemed unfazed by it, whilst still smiling and pacing up the hills that descended into Wales. We could tell when we’d moved into another country, not because of any significant barrier or passport control but because suddenly everything was in two languages. Some of this was confusing but mostly it made an exciting change from the road.

We followed the rider for a time, blasting out some music to motivate them up and down the rolling hills. Anything from hiphop to random music the RSM seemed overly fond of from the radio. The hills were challenging and yet they were pushing on.

The second RV was more challenging as it sat up the top of a large hill- an incentive for the riders to keep going as they saw us waving from the bottom. The incentive was increased by flapjacks as provided by Emma’s mum and some left over cupcakes from this morning. It was another rapid turn around, requiring only a few water bottle changes and a refuel of bananas and bagels. Then it was onto the pick up point which was a petrol station with a man who I’m pretty sure spoke English but preferred Welsh as his means of communication. ting us. Sitting now in the accommodation all we grateful for their beds, and even more so the food (Alex was heard to exclaim “They’ve got CHIPS!”) so it begins to start an early night to prepare for Day 9.

The riders all old hands at their 100 mile rides, so please donate to make all their effort worthwhile.

Thanks goes to CSM Tuffs who is leaving us tomorrow for family commitments and we’re subbing in a new van driver.