...into the valley......

You have to love it when the weather forecast is wrong in a good way, the forecast was for grey and cloudy but No1 and I set off into blazing sunshine and little wind. Its amazing what a positive effect a bit of sunshine has on you, No1 was positively perky as we set off towards Dunster and the ride up to Wheddon Cross. It was a cracking morning the scent of the evergreens as we passed the Dunster plantation wafted across the road and it was a bit chilly in the shade but the sun was out the sky was blue and we had every intention of having an enjoyable ride and get some miles in.

As we were intending to go a bit further today No1 rode with me as we made our way up the hill. He normally takes off because I'm a tad slow but not today, he just sat on my wheel and chatted with me. I normally stop halfway up to give me a breather but I was feeling good and tapping out a steady rhythm so manned up and rode all the way to the top. After a quick stop at Wheddon Cross we rode up to Hare cross and turned onto the road that would take us along the top of the hills towards Dulverton and the valley road. This was pastures new cycling wise, virtually flat in a Exmoor kind of way just the odd kick up and we made good progress. I even had to slow down for No1 to catch up with me, he was getting caught up in the wind ;).

Only 24 miles to Exeter.....

It was then along the valley road back to Wheddon Cross. Its a nice ride along the valley, tree lined and with the River Exe flowing along nicely down to our left. It would have been even nicer if the road had a decent surface, I imagine this is what it would be like riding the cobbled classics  it was shocking really. That aside we quite enjoyed riding somewhere new and we made our last climb up to Wheddon Cross which was full of people going to see snowdrops.

No1 rocking his new Sky jersey

After a quick stop at the shop to consume something sweet and fizzy we hit the downhill back to Minehead. It's a cracking downhill and it was head down, arse up all the way down, four miles of freewheeling at 30 mph, great fun. A quick scoot around the back of Dunster and onto home. A cracking ride with a happy teenager, happy days.

Distance:	34.82 mi
Time:	2:50:30
Avg Speed:	12.3 mph
Elevation Gain:	3,124 ft

Me and my boy...too much fizzy ;)