Cycling John o'Groats to Lands End
End2End : 14th June - 23rd June 2014 (c950 miles, unsupported)
Day 8 - Hereford to Taunton
Today was going to be a long day, +100 miles to do and the Severn river to cross. We had many comments about crossing the Severn and which bridge to cross, it seemed the smart way was to cross the old bridge (the easterly one) as that way you avoided some significant hills by not taking the westerly route, that was therefore the plan as we prepared to set off.
We were up at 06:00 for breakfast and it was a 'help yourself' situation as everyone else was still in bed. This is where John decided to have muesli topped with smarties, so either he was beginning to go mad or there was some method in his madness?
Another beautiful day as we set off to cross Hereford in the early morning haze and head south for the Wye Valley region and onward to the Severn Bridge (the old one). We couldnt have imagined at this point how the day would end up but we were relatively fresh as we set off.
Route: Day8
Activity: Cycle
Started: 21 Jun 2014 06:22:04
Ride Time: 8:27:36
Stopped Time: 4:01:47
Distance: 105 miles (108miles to hospital)
Average Speed: 12.87 mph
Fastest Speed: 49.50 mph
Ascent: 9245 feet
Descent: 9464 feet
Calories: 6478
Temperature - 19oC
Weather - Mostly Sunny
Wind - 6mph WNW
Humidity - 88%
Sunrise - 04:44
Sunset - 21:33
My hands were still a problem but still managing the pain by different handlebar positions and the trusty sponge which was working well. Hereford isnt that big so 3 miles later we popped out in to the countryside again and left the A49 as quickly as possible on to the A466 which took us through the Wye Valley which can't be described as anything other than stunning. The skies were clear blue and the sun shone through the trees as the road followed the very picturesque River Wye. Plenty of stopping opportunities for photographs whilst bearing in mind that the Severn bridge was only 40 miles in to a long day so we couldn't be too relaxed about it. Of course this route took us back in to Wales for the second time of the trip. We stopped at Tintern Abbey for a look, again a stunning backdrop amongst the forested hills, you could only imagine what it would have been like to have lived here in those days.
The picture to the left was crossing the River Wye, the scene tells everything of how good a day it was, probably 23oC by that point. Heading past Chepstow Race Course we went in to the town centre for a coffee and a sandwich, a busy medieval looking town set on a steep hill (great!) but we had a pleasant fuel stop. A bit of a mistake happened as we left which was my fault as we headed downhill on the A48 instead of uphill, not realising until we reached the 'Welcome to England' sign. A few expletives and then a 2 mile steep hill climb back up to the top of the road where a left turn on the roundabout would take us to the bridge crossing.
The crossing itself is well catered for with a wide cycle path so no problems there, again another stop to take in the views and photo opportunities before we headed forward out of Wales (again!) but for the last time on this trip. The feeling as we came off the bridge and effectively turned right for the home straight was great, we had pretty much covered the length of Britain, all that was left was the last leg to Lands End. It is worthwhile saying that I reached my fastest downhill speed on this day of the trip at 49.5mph, can't say I remember it though. From here to Taunton though the road was flat, so the next 60 miles or so should have been fairly straight forward.
It made sense that a straight forward 60 mile run to Taunton just wasnt going to end up that way. As we cycled the 9 miles along the river passing all of the industrial estates and support systems for shipping, gas, oil and other heavy indutsry it was pretty baron, built up and completely the opposite of the Wye valley we had experienced earlier, bit drab, but a short stop for an energy bar, a drink and a natural break in a rather public bush and we finally reached the River Avon crossing.
Most people i'm sure would say this was easy but a lesson learnt here, do your reserach on how to reach the cycle paths across key bridges! John was leading and we were having an on bike conversation about which way it was to access the M5 cycle lane across the Avon. To cut a long story short (and to avoid proving who was right) we ended up on a flyover crossing the M5, quickly realising that we were in fact on the entrance slip to the M5 (it was marked the M4 on the map). The stark choice was, go back along the carriageway the wrong way (err no!...) cross the central reservation of the motorway and head back to the roundabout (err no!...) or carry on across the bridge (err no!.....) alternatively we could have called for help (self incriminating! .....). I'll leave it that we got out of our predicament ........... one to remember though.
Shortly after our escape, we stopped to catch a breath, re-live what could have been a tricky situation and then got back on our way toward Taunton. We had travelled 750miles without incident, it wasn't unexpected I suppose there would be a few issues along the way.
From the River Avon crossing we headed down the B3124 to Clevedon then the B3133 to Langford before joining the A38. Then off of the A38 and headed over the hill to Cheddar (of 'Gorge' fame) where we put the bikes against the railings and had lunch in a cafe. The town was very busy, it was about 25oC so everyone was walking about with an ice cream wondering why you would be out cycling in this heat? We finished our lunch and headed back out toward the A38 which would take us all the way in to Taunton. We knew that Emma and Chris would be waiting for us at the hotel so we were keen to get there as Emma had to drive back to Exeter that evening.
This I guess is where it went wrong, the road was busy but no more busy than we had experienced along the rest of England's roads. We were just approaching the outskirts of Taunton heading on a shallow decline, probably doing about 20-25mph. John was in front of me and was crouched over his tri-bars, we were 104 miles in to the day but pretty fresh considering.
We were cycling from right to left on the picture opposite, a car (something like a Vauxhall Estate) was driving left to right and intending to turn right (across us), we were well positioned in the road so should have been easily noticable.
Sadly the driver saw fit to not slow down and swerve across the road to turn right, I can only describe the driving style as that of some chav in his Fiat Punto 'S' with an exhaust that is more expensive than the car, taking a corner like he has no brakes. John (remember he is crouched down) went straight in to the side of the car, there was no time for deviation. I swerved right and missed the back of the moving car by no more than a foot or two, I remember one of John's pannier bags hitting my left leg, clearly it had departed his bike with the impact. Had I not had the filter lane to give me some room to swerve I'd most probably have hit something coming the other way. As for John, he hit the side of the car and slid down like a cartoon character. In hindsight, this may well have saved him as if he had gone over the car and skidded down the road at 20 odd mph, it wouldn't have been pretty. All I can say is that it was lucky John bought those tri-bars I ridiculed him about fitting for a touring trip! - He would have been more upright otherwise and would have had more chance of going over the car.
I'm not sure I knew how to react, I knew he was concious because I could hear him swearing but having had a birds eye view of the impact, it was clear he wasn't going to get up and walk away. It's strange how time slows down in these situations as by the time I swerved and came to a stop (where the red car is on the picture) I looked round and the two things that hit me were there was already 3 people crouched over John (how did they get there so quick?) and the car involved was still moving to the bottom of the picture. My instant thought was he wasnt going to stop and i'm not sure to this day he would have other than there were just too many witnesses so he wouldn't have got away with it. The car was a good 100 yards down the road before it stopped, an indication of the speed he was travelling through the turn.
John on the other hand was going to be ok which was the main thing, but not before an ambulance trip to Taunton hospital for us both. The medics were brilliant and the people who stopped to help were brilliant. Our bikes were neatly packed in to the ambulance, to be fair Johns bike could fit in to a drawer as it was in bits. The stem that holds the wheel and handlebars had snapped clean off both ends of the stem joint (you can see it in the picture below right) John in the end had alot of bruising consistent with your organs hitting your rib cage at 25mph and a few cracked ribs thrown in to the bargain, which were only diagnosed a week or so later. Needless to say it gave everyone something to think about.
'
The irony is it was only 3 miles to the hospital which by coincedence was 200 yards from the hotel where Emma and Chris were waiting on us. I called forward and they met us at the hospital. I don't remember much after that, other than I didn't see John for about 2 hours as I was held up talking to the police and giving a statement. When I did go to see him I picked up his helmet which was split in two and we reminded ourselves of the conversation we had a day earlier about why you wear helmets! Had he not been wearing one it would have been a different outcome - I hope everyone is listening to that, I see far too many people without them.
At about 22:00, 4 hours or so after the accident John was released from hospital. I had gone back to the hotel an hour earlier and my first words to the reception was 'a pint of Carling please', my first on this trip but I put it down to medicinal need. I think we were unclear at this point if myself and Chris would actually carry on or just abondon the ride but John was ok (more pissed off than anything else) so Chris and I decided to carry on. I didnt sleep that night, my mind was racing, not helped by the heat.
So it seems you can do all the planning you want and stay as safe as you can but you just can't legislate for when other people are going to do something stupid. I look at the picture of the road and think, I wonder if the shadow of the two trees stopped the driver seeing us properly, but I know deep down that he was just not paying attention, turning the corner with one hand on the wheel and a cigarette in the other hand. In the end he was charged with driving without due care and attention based on witness reports and appeared in court months later. Had I been the judge it would have been worse!
I can only hope he realises the slim margin between a fine and points on your license and a long jail term but on reflection thankfully he was only fined otherwise we would have been dealing with a different outcome.
