Day 67- Bath to Cirencester

Funny when I am writing this blog as it is the last blog where we had a full day of riding on this trip!

…. So it is with a bit of sadness mixed with joy of completing the ride that I write today!

We started the day a little later as we were to meet a riding friend from the LEJOG ride a few years ago at 10.30 am in Bath. Steve Bawtree is his BBM name and he loves in Cirencester where we ended today’s ride. As we were ready to go a little earlier than the meeting time we took the opportunity to visit a few of the tourist spots in Bath which were very good. There is no doubt that the landed gentry certainly had great accommodation in the vast townhouse blocks in Bath. They were complimented by lovely gardens which were beautifully laid out and even today are well maintained.

After meeting Steve Bawtree we went on a great sightseeing adventure on the way to Cirencester. We went through a number of beautiful postcard like villages in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. There were almost too many to name but the lovely houses an village type feeling was outstanding.

Steve B was a great guide, stopping frequently to give us bits of local information. We even rode past Highgrove which is King Charles retreat….it had a high fence so we could not see much. Steve B did show us the working farm gate but was not sure how this relates to Highgrove.

We had a lovely coffee and jam scones at Sherston which was great…. And the scones were great too!

We arrived at our destination at about 3.30 pm and we are in a delightful youth hostel which has good facilities which all work. Sharp contrast to the facilities in Bath which were very poor.

Tonight we have dinner with Sarah and Steve in their home which should be a highlight and a great way to finish the riding adventure.

Tomorrow we do a bit of sightseeing by car which should be an interesting change.

It is interesting to see how far we have travelled on the 51 days we have cycled. Noting that we have been travelling for a total of 67 days from when I left Melbourne. I have travelled 3864 kms and climbed 24,903 metres…. There will be a bit more riding to add to these statistics as we travel to the train station and out to Steve’s place for dinner.

I will give a fuller reflection on the trip in later blogs but my initial reaction is as I said at the start of this blog.

The photos today are:

The route

3 pictures of the apartment complex’s built in the 1700’s

Me outside Jane Austin’s home

Rocks signifying the intersection of 3 counties in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset

The farm gate at Highgrove …. Or at least that’s what we were told…a next door there is a serious security presence.

A lovely garden in a small village we passed through

All of us at the end of the day… and the end of the serious riding

Our home for the night