Day 7. Cheltenham to Telford. 80 miles. Another long day. We
didn't roll out of Cheltenham until about 930. This was because
the hotel didn't serve breakfast until 8am and had nothing to do
with staying out late drinking beer with Phil.
And none of that has anything to do with this picture.
Quickly we were in the countryside. Notice that the hedges here in
Gloucestershire are not nearly as frightening as those
we've seen elsewhere. They still bite though--both of us were
stung by nettles today.
After a while we rolled into Worcester. There was a big horse
racing shindig going on and the city was crowded with revelers and
tourists. And there was a river.
Worcester has the largest concentration of swans I have ever seen
in one place. Ever.
We wandered around the city center and shambles looking for a bike
shop. No luck.
So back to the country. Mr. Balint cracked his head on this branch
when he was tricked into looking down by his GPS. He had some
choice words
for both inanimate objects.
After many more miles we stopped in Kidderminster for lunch.
It was already after 3pm.
It took us about a half hour to find our way back to the trail
after lunch. No wonder these days are so long.
But we did get to see this canal and church combo.
Sometimes the GPS really doesn't know what it's doing and you have
to improvise.
After many more hours we arrived at Ironbridge, where there is an
iron bridge. Possibly the first one. After several more miles of
climbing
we reached the Holiday Inn and the end of another absurdly long
day. Tomorrow; another absurdly long day.