So for a while I've been wanting to do a weekend tour. I'd been thinking about it, but never actually got around to planning anything. In order to get the ball rolling I rang my brother, Tom, and asked if he wanted to come with me. He's a decent runner, but doesn't cycle much - Always one to accept a challenge, he was up for it.
The plan was to head to Llanthony, Wales. A nice location only 50 miles from our start point of Gloucester, but the distance could easily be expanded to our taste.
Neither of us had specific touring bikes, but we did have two racks and my small panniers. With the majority of the load precariously balanced on the back of my bike (think I got the rough end of the deal here), we were ready to go!
Our plan was to follow the country lanes along the southern bank of the River Severn through Frampton, then Berkley, followed by Oldbury until we reached the first Severn crossing.
Only a few miles out of Frampton I glanced over to the left to spot this massive herd of deer! I'm unsure if these were wild or not, but I found it rather amazing as I'd never seen a herd that large on the route before.
With the Severn crossing in sight, the weather was picking up and it was turning in to a gloriously sunny day. Can't complain!
I have to admit that it took us a while to work out how to get on to the bridge's cycle path, but we got there eventually!
From the bridge the Severn was flat calm, and not a breath of wind. It was the perfect day to be out on the water (or a bike). The pictures off my compact camera don't do justice to how nice of a day it was.
I asked Tom to take a picture of me on the bridge, at which point he dropped the camera, with it very nearly falling off the bridge in to the water. Ooops! It then started only taking pictures like this...
Not to worry though, the camera was build to be shock-proof, and luckily it started working after I rebooted it.
We then started ascending the very scenic Wye Valley, during which time we descended into Tintern to see the great Tintern Abbey (the picture below isn't mine, I was too busy enjoying the descent to get a nice picture).
And a couple of pictures from lower down in Tintern, in the shade of the valley.
The plan was to head to Llanthony, Wales. A nice location only 50 miles from our start point of Gloucester, but the distance could easily be expanded to our taste.
Neither of us had specific touring bikes, but we did have two racks and my small panniers. With the majority of the load precariously balanced on the back of my bike (think I got the rough end of the deal here), we were ready to go!
Our plan was to follow the country lanes along the southern bank of the River Severn through Frampton, then Berkley, followed by Oldbury until we reached the first Severn crossing.
Only a few miles out of Frampton I glanced over to the left to spot this massive herd of deer! I'm unsure if these were wild or not, but I found it rather amazing as I'd never seen a herd that large on the route before.
With the Severn crossing in sight, the weather was picking up and it was turning in to a gloriously sunny day. Can't complain!
I have to admit that it took us a while to work out how to get on to the bridge's cycle path, but we got there eventually!
From the bridge the Severn was flat calm, and not a breath of wind. It was the perfect day to be out on the water (or a bike). The pictures off my compact camera don't do justice to how nice of a day it was.
I asked Tom to take a picture of me on the bridge, at which point he dropped the camera, with it very nearly falling off the bridge in to the water. Ooops! It then started only taking pictures like this...
Not to worry though, the camera was build to be shock-proof, and luckily it started working after I rebooted it.
We then started ascending the very scenic Wye Valley, during which time we descended into Tintern to see the great Tintern Abbey (the picture below isn't mine, I was too busy enjoying the descent to get a nice picture).
And a couple of pictures from lower down in Tintern, in the shade of the valley.
