Day 4

Its fair to say we had a challenging start to Day 4. It started wet again and almost from the beginning Alex was complaining of the knee problems which had plagued him on previous days. After a short way cross country we picked up the Bristol to Bath cycle path at Saltford and took it to Warmley.
At Warmely we went to Webbs cycle shop and picked up some essential supplies like brake pads, energy gels and a lairy orange cycle jersery for me, then went to the chemist and got some stuff for Alex's knee. Turned out the chemist was a keen cyclist and had recently done a 500k ride in South Africa.
Cross country and over the M4 and we had our first two punctures in quick succession then a bit of a slog in the wind and rain (it had not stopped raining) to the Severn Bridge. Even in spite of the rain it is a special treat to cross the bridge with cars roaring by on one side, a drop to the muddy waters of the Severn on the other and the new Severn crossing in the distance.
We ate lunch standing up outside a Spar store in Chepstow then headed up the Wye valley. By this stage the weather had brightened up and it was great zooming down the long hill to Tintern.
Sadly I had not studied the route in advance. I imagined a long leisurely afternoon following the Wye to Ross, but no. Shortly after Tintern we crossed the Wye and went up the longest steepest hill I have ever seen in my life. After that there was a lot of rolling countryside through the Forest of Dean to Ross and eventually on to our B&B at How Caple.
I was more tired today than any other day to date. At the end I was struggling with every turn of the pedals. And had a bit of muscle pain in my right thigh.
But to round off the day we had a treat, Andy's friend Steve who has been providing a support service for the first few days of the ride took us out for a steak near Ross - superb!