I woke up to rain pouring down in the parking lot right outside my window. The BBC morning show, my main source for weather news, said that the rain would stop as the day went on. As a result, I slowly ate breakfast and hung around in my room waiting for a break in the weather. The rain just didn't let up.

As it got closer to noon, I realized that if I wanted to have enough time to get to my next destination, I needed to get on the road. When I saw a mildly preceptible decrease in the rain, I packed up, put the backpack and handle bar bag in plastic bags, got on my raincoat, and retrieved the bike.

I was scared to be riding in the rain. I worried that the brakes would fail when they got wet, hoped that cars wouldn't run me over in the limited visibility, and wondered if I would be able to make any distance sweating under my rain gear.

The ride out of Bourton was quite hilly and on deserted roads. The rain was steady but not heavy and I had the right gear. I did sweat a bit more covered up but I also kept a bit warmer. I discovered that riding in the rain, uphill, against the wind is a sure way to be "in the moment," as there is little else to consider except the next turn of the crank. I kept the brakes dry by constantly squeezing them.

The views on the way down the Cottswold's western edge were over rolling green fields shrouded in mist. There were some longer vistas that occasionally appeared but they, too, were dimmed by mists. It was too wet and dark to take any pictures.

After about an hour and a half of riding, I stopped in Winchcombe for a lunch of jacket (baked) potatoes and a salad. Winchcombe is a largish town with several shop-lined streets. If it wasn't so early in the ride, it would have been a nice place to spend the night. By the time I was done with lunch, the rain had stopped!

Toward the end of the ride, the weather cleared just a bit and I managed to get a few pictures of the scenary. Here is yet another town church that I passed.

This scene was just too picturesque to pass by without a snapshot. An old mill with a waterwheel, pond, and waterfowl. It is one of those views that invokes a image of what English country side should look like.

As it turned out, I learned an important lesson this day: Don't assume that a town that looks good-sized on the map will have a place to stay. I ended up riding about 10 additional miles to find a place to stay. Eventually, I found the Forest Gate campground and B&B. The house was nice, the room a bit small, but all the amenities were there and apprciated. I ate dinner at the pub down the way and had a nice vegetarian lasagne.

Thursday, August 1: Huntley to Ross-on-Wye via the Forest of Dean
Return to Bike Tour page