LEJOG Day 2: Plymouth to Bristol

Metrics	Daily Total	Cumulative Total
Distance	207.52km	371.7
Ascent	2384	4532m
Riding Time	9h 06m 4	16h 0m 2
Calories Burned	6781	12398

Other Daily Stats You May Be Interested In

Average Speed: 22.8km/h

Max Speed: 80.3km/h

Average Power: 147watts

Max Power: 618watts

Average Cadence: 76rpm

Max Heart Rate: 136bpm

What a day, what a very long day. Second day of a headwind, my longest day in the challenge, and the day with the most climbing in it. Needless to say I was shattered by the time I got into the hotel yesterday evening, thus no blog. Apologies.

Coming out of Plymouth, as you can see from the profile above, it was just climbing...for the first 30km up into Dartmoor. Legs were a little tired from day 1, but not too bad, although this was certainly a test. I will admit, I did take the extra stop here and there, but too be honest, it is a beautiful area so who wouldn't.

It was a very overcast day, a couple of light showers and that was it, just that damn headwind. Heading up to near the highest point on the ride, I hit rush hour in Dartmoor.

Of course, I had to stop and take a picture or seven, but there was one stand out. Was it his horns, maybe, perhaps it is the dual strands of drool? Perhaps, but it would have to be the fringe - he was described very accurately as a rockstar.

Was very slow going in the morning, but 1500m of climbing completed within the first 100km, I hoped the tough bit was out of the way and just got my head down to work through a couple of hours. Exeter came and went, as did Taunton, as I ground through the middle section of the ride. Then I remembered...Cheddar Gorge. Ouch. Don't get me wrong, a beautiful place and must go back there without a bike, as would love to explore the area, but when you are already 150km deep into a ride, and already climbed over 2000m...it doesn't tickle.

So at nearly 7pm, and 7000 calories later, I rolled into Bristol to the Future Inn - I have booked these hotels (there is one in Plymouth and Cardiff, and have stayed at all three) as they are bike friendly and let you take the bike up to the room with you, as do the Premier Inn. The nice young man (I sound old) on reception said I looked a little tired, and then upgraded me to a bigger room (I had booked the smallest room apparently), he checked which rooms had new beds in them, and gave me the key - that is great service.

Eat now, for tomorrow I ride.