On Sunday 28th August five optimistic Spinners set off from Honiton Railway station.
This was always going to be a challenging route as the first major climb was out of
Gittisham up to Putts Corner. The route then took us down to Sidford before we
tackled the second major climb which brought us out on a crossroads down into
Branscombe. From here it was the third major climb over to Beer, before stopping at
Seaton Hoe for coffee, cake, cokes, bacon & egg bap and a toasted tuna and
cheese sandwich. I’ll let you decide who you think had what!
From here it was through Seaton to Colyton before heading towards Whitford and
Musbury. This is where we then went through a farmyard and turned a corner to see
the awesome sight of the viaduct: an impressive structure to say the least. Passing
under it and looking up was brilliant. From here we ended up in Uplyme where the
fourth major climb was Concorde. We then crossed at Raymond’s Hill and then it
was a left down to the tea room for an ice-cream. From here we dropped down into
Axminster, then onto Whitford and back to Colyton. This left us the fifth major climb
of the day from Colyton to Honiton golf club. From here it was down into Honiton
were we split for our homes and a rest. Many thanks to Claire Barrow, Jennie
Sleeman, Mark Griffin and Nick Gregson for joining me today. It was a tough
challenging route, but we were pleased to have done it: a tick off the bucket list.
Never again.
Next time John Burgess changes his mind after looking at the route I will be taking
notice.
50 miles with nearly 5000 ft of climb.
