Saturday 23rd January - Hestonville

Not so sunny and not so cold this weekend but hopefully dry, so let's stretch our legs again with a 70 miler to Heston's finest.

Oversized opulent Olympic breakfasts all 'round served up by Podimore's luscious Latvian locals; and if that doesn't whet your appetite, the prospect of being shurrounded by shound of shummery sheep whilst you're having a sit (down) in the loos should do it for you.

Route out will be Puxton, Sandford, Cheddar should you want to latch on and tri-stop can be Glastonbury.

Great report from the DOL last week, just how long will this ambitious new year's resolution continue? (sweepstake anyone....?)

Gottagetback this week can be the Flavour restaurant at Palmer's Elm, conveniently situated on the road to Ashton Gate.

Great turn out on this warm dry day although the roads were still a tad damp from recent rain.

Phil was still giving his rear a hard pumping when we set off but soon caught up. There was a half hearted breakaway in Winscombe when Mark and I realised we had a gap of about 50 metres. There was discussion of working together to get to Cheddar first but I really couldn't be arsed. Then the Sidcot lights held us up so there was no hope. Or was there? Everyone else seemed really slow getting away from the lights so Mark took it up on the front. Bit by bit we shared turns on the front. I say shared, it was more like Mark doing 80% of the work as we headed down the Axebridge by-pass. With Ivan and co still out of sight we eased up to negotiate traffic leaving the petrol station. About a metre from the line there was a rush of wind and the fizz of tyres as spokes cut through the air and Ivan, fist raised in victory, shot into the forecourt.

Now I'm not bitter about it. Not even disappointed. In fact I did consider not mentioning it in my report it was that trivial. Just thought I'd include it for completeness, honest.

Onwards to Wedmore where the lightweights went up Billings Hill while the 'ard men 'o' cycling slogged up Mutton Lane. Met Sam on the flat towards Sweets where we stopped for a chat. I say we, Burns and Tony had probably made Glastonbury by the time we left Sweets.

At Podimore Tracy parked up his HGV before settling down to a truckers fry up. The Little Chef seemed lacking in Latvians this time but service was okay, unless your name is Phil, in which case your order was just forgotten altogether. My breakfast wrap looked like it was suffering from anemia as it was hard to distinguish between the white floured tortilla and the various items inside that merged together in different shades of pale yellow. Nothing a good dose of red sauce couldn't fix though.

The octopus with eight testicles made a guest appearance again while a young Jesus looked on from a nearby table. Andy realised he had a flat as soon as we left the cafe and we were delayed about fifteen minutes while he fixed it. A new tyre might be in order. There were enough stray fibres sticking out the sides to merit a cut and blow dry.

A good pace was set back to Glastonbury and across Godney Moor when Phil punctured. We waited patiently up the road while Martin and Steve Fit One helped fix it. Tracy was getting concerned as he had a VIP ticket for his favourite 'club' and did not want to be late. Last time all he got was a KitKat and a cup of Ribena.

Meanwhile Martin, Phil and Steve had disappeared into the bushes. Ever curious, Ivan decided to ride back to see if there was any roadside porn going on. Disappointed he road back to say that despite Steve using his nasal hair removing tweezers the tyre was still going flat. Burns then gave a masterclass in how to mend a puncture without tyre levers. But with tyres tighter than a celebrity face lift a tyre lever was needed to pop the rubber back where it should be. 45 minutes later we set off again and enjoyed the pleasure of Daggs Lane before following the usual route home.

About 72 miles completed with 1hr 15mins of stops.
OJC: 2
TTCR: 5/10
KFC: 7/10

fabulous again DOL.

i'm wondering just how serious you are about the long haul (it was a new year's resolution, not a new month's...) these 500-800 worders in january are all well and good, but i reckon we'll be lucky to get 80 around report writing time.

probably be a good idea to pace yourself, you don't see any of us lot punishing ourselves in an early sprint only to be knackered for the last 20 miles.