2022.04.27 – Bristol ==> Glastonbury (62 kms | Total: 351 kms)

We left the comfort of our hotel and carefully navigated through the morning rush of pedestrian/cyclist commuters. We shortly reached the EuroVelo Route 1 (also known locally as National Cycle Network Route 3) which was meant to lead us to Plymouth for our ferry crossing to France. Naturally since we had enjoyed coasting down into Bristol over several kms the other previous day, this morning we were now tasked with cycling up a gentle slope over several kms. Once in the countryside, we cycled on enjoyable narrow winding roads. So far, we had been amazed by the politeness of the UK drivers. Regardless from which direction they were coming from, they would yield to us until it was safe for them to pass us on the narrow roads. Half way on our route, we had the pleasure of reminiscing about our experience with the hills in NZ as we pushed the tandem up a 200m hill elevation. When we cycled into the town of Wells and saw lots of pedestrians, we quickly understood why our hotel chain in this town was sold out. We stopped for some coffee and snacks while warming up a bit before continuing our route to the next nearby town with rooms available – some 18kms further. Although our hotel was on the edge of town, we had a Tesco grocery store and a restaurant nearby.

On a footnote, less than two weeks after leaving our home, we learned that a bird had found shelter above our front door. The squatter was invited to move on!

2022.04.28 – Glastonbury ==> Bridgwater (35 kms | Total: 386 kms)

As we cycled further than planned yesterday, our journey today was to be that much shorter. We left our hotel an hour later than usual. The cycling was very pleasant along countryside road and cycling paths. We arrived in Bridgwater shortly after 12:00pm. We found refuge for two hours at the local Wetherspoon Pub where we had a few snacks and drank lattes/cappuccinos for less than the price of single latte in a Bristol cafe. Our Premier Inn hotel was once again on the edge of town, but we found a M&S grocery store and a few restaurants nearby.

2022.04.29 – Bridgwater ==> Tiverton (60 kms | Total: 445 kms)

The sun was shining as we left our hotel in the morning. That in itself seemed to give us more energy for tackling the road ahead. We cycled along canals in the morning and later in the day. In fact, we were expecting the road to be relatively flat today, but we were fairly tired upon our arrival at our hotel. It seemed like we spent quite a bit of time going up gentle inclines along country roads. We stumbled on our first unfriendly hotel manager who could not be bothered storing our tandem on the ground floor. We had no choice, but to bring it on the small hotel lift to our room on the 3rd floor. We expected to eat our evening meal at the local Wetherspoon bar but when we showed up every table was overflowing with guests. We were reminded that it’s Friday, the start of a long weekend. We opted for some Chinese take-away instead.

2022.04.30 – Tiverton ==> Tiverton (0 kms | Total: 445 kms)

We had another great night of sleep and lazied in bed until 9:30am. Later we made our way back to the Wetherspoon Pub in hope to have their good value breakfasts. Base on our visit the previous evening, we expected the place to be already crowded, but it was not the case. We had a large choice of free tables. After breakfast, we took a short walk and returned to the hotel for a rest and some tandem maintenance. In the afternoon, we took another longer walk to catch views of the Tiverton Castle. We also bought some next morning food supplies along the way. We returned to our favorite pub for our evening meal. Overall – a very relaxing day of rest.

2022.05.01 – Tiverton ==> Barnstaple (53 kms | Total: 498 kms)

So far we were very lucky with the weather, but it was inevitable that we would encounter rain during UK cycling segment. Given the rain forecast we opted for a more direct route to Barnstaple saving up 20 kms from our original EV Route 1 itinerary. We left our hotel under a light rain drizzle that continued until we got to our hotel in Barnstaple. Although the first 5kms had the most elevation gain, we continued to cycle up and down hills for the rest of the day. As we arrived at our hotel an hour before check-in, we had a Sunday Turkey roast in the Pub next to our hotel. The hotel staff were very helpful and allowed us to check-in earlier. While Jenny washed our wet clothes, I went to buy some breakfast supplies at the nearby Tesco. We went back to the same pub for our dinner.

2022.05.02 – Barnstaple ==> Okehampton (70 kms | Total: 568 kms)

We were pleased to find all of our clothes had dried up overnight – thanks in good part to our use of a pedestal fan in our room. We enjoyed riding on a level cycling path along the river for our first 25 kms. We later discovered that it was a re-purposed train track which steadily climbed over 20 kms. The path was quite busy with cyclists and walkers as this was one of UK’s Bank holiday. When the cycling path ended after 50kms, our route was marked with uphills and downhills. We were quite tired by the time we reached the town of Okehampton. Unfortunately, we still needed to ride other 7kms further to reach our hotel located at service area along a highway. We completed our day journey on a repurposed train track just like the way we started our day. Our evening meal was limited to Subway take-away from one of the service area food outlets. This was our longest cycling day at 70kms.

2022.05.03 – Okehampton ==> Plymouth (55 kms | Total: 623 kms)

Before we left our hotel, the manager informed us that they were annulling our room charge for our stay as their reservation system was still out of order. We started on cycling day with a clear understanding of Google’s Maps elevation profile showing a downward incline route towards Plymouth. Unfortunately, it seemed like Google folks did not cycle in this area. We spent more time walking hills on the first half of our day than any other cycling days to-date. On a few occasions, the Cycle Network Route 27 (aka EV Route 1) led us walking through rocky farmland and some small single tracks. It was only on our last 12 kms that we finally enjoyed a gentle downhill into town along another repurposed train track. As we cycled along the waterfront to reach our hotel, we found the town of Plymouth very vibrant and enjoyable. We left our hotel later than usual in the morning as to not have to wait for our 3:00pm check-in. Today’s challenging route made us arrive at 3:30pm. Staff at hotel were particularly friendly and helpful. Later we stocked up on snack supplies and enjoyed our evening meal at a nearby delightful Portuguese restaurant.

2022.05.04 – Plymouth ==> Plymouth (0 kms | Total: 623 kms)

This morning we started to expand on our next cycling segment itinerary by booking our first two stop overs. After a light breakfast in our room, we walked to the nearby ferry terminal to inquire about tomorrow night’s English Channel crossing. With all of our questions answered, we took a stroll along the same waterfront we had cycled by the previous day. Along the way, we stopped at a bank to exchange some old currency bills by new ones. Jenny was amazed by the bank’s excellent service level . The agents greeted customers in the line and personally accompanied them to the counter to serve them. That service level was a far cry from the usual 2-hour wait time when calling the TD bank in Canada. After purchasing a backup patch kit at bicycle shop, we stopped at Pastry cafe for lattes and snacks. During our break there, we had a delightful and informative chat with Kelvin. Being in a coastal town, we had to try out the fish and chip for our dinner.

2022.05.05 – Plymouth ==> Brittany Ferries (1 kms | Total: 624 kms)

We had our last relaxing traditional breakfast at a nearby local Wetherspoon pub. After checking out of our room just before noon, we left our bicycle panniers with the hotel staff and officially became homeless until our 11pm ferry to France. We spent 1.5 hours on park bench enjoying the view – overlooking the English Channel. In order to kill more time, we went to the cinema to watch a movie “Downtown Abbey – A new era”. It was our first cinema visit together since the pandemic. We returned to the same Portuguese restaurant as our first evening in Plymouth. Later we returned to the hotel to retrieve our tandem and luggage and then cycled 1 km to the ferry loading area. Although we arrived 20 minutes earlier than the ferry processing booth opened, there were a number of cars and RV already waiting in line. The registration process was very smooth while our vaccination documents appeared all in order. The maritime inspection was a bit more hectic, but in the end everything worked out. We waited for 1.5 hours before boarding the ferry. Jenny was running out clothes to wear by then. Once the ferry unloaded its vehicles from France, we rolled up onto the ferry with about 10 other cyclists – most of them would be on short trips. Our cabin was compact, but quite comfortable and modern. We were both eager to have a good night sleep.