Day 10 Bristol to Okehampton

Day 10 started with a flapjack and a nice cup of coffee made by a guy who was camping in a roof tent on top of his 4x4, Adie was very impressed by this and I think there may be one added to his pickup truck sooner rather than later. We headed towards Bridgwater along the A38. It was several miles before we passed the campsite we had planned to stay at. We were on a roll this morning and the average speed before breakfast was nearly 16 mph, not bad with the luggage we were carrying. We were on a mission to make it to another Premier Inn for their superb all you can eat breakfasts. Donna came along to visit us at breakfast and it was a real morale boost to see her friendly smile. The Premier was mobbed and it took nearly 1 ½ hours to have breakfast, which put us behind target a little.
We rode past my work and down towards Taunton and onto Wellington, the weather was okay and there was a slight headwind. After Taunton the roads started to climb and that was the theme for the rest of the day. This was especially true of the road between Torrington and to Crediton, if you decide to do this route, take another road!!. On the way it started to rain and the rain coats came out. The climbing was tiring and the weather was starting to take its toll. About 6 miles from Okehampton we were starting to wonder if we were going to be able to camp that evening. Adie talked about just carrying on riding to try and make the next day a bit easier, we had seen Tuesdays’ forecast and we needed to complete the ride on Monday now. We decided to ring ahead to the campsite t see if they had somewhere to eat and perhaps alternative accommodation. There was no reply, well it was Sunday evening. Going straight to the campsite meant bypassing Okehampton, so we made the decision to go to Okehampton, find somewhere to eat and get warm and make a decision on the next step. Afetr talking to some helpful people in the main street we had a few options, there was a hostel at the top of a long hill, we could look for B&B and there was still the original campsite. We went to the Fountain pub in the main street, which one of locals recommended for food. Ot was a really friendly place and the food was excellent. Adie asked if they had any rooms, we were cold and wet by this time. After a lot of negotiation and a cal to the manager, Adie managed to whittle the price down for a twin room, to be far it was still too much for the standard of the room, but we had somewhere dry to stay, a shower and somewhere to dry our things. Not to mention the comfy bed and good night sleep.
Stats
95.59 Miles
7.36 Hours Riding
11.5 MPH Average
31.2 Max MPH
6012 Calories burnt
4016 Feet of climbing
Camping
B&B at the Volunteer, Okehampton, £50. Good food and great breakfast.