Another early start for the cyclists, setting off from Gloucester at 06:30 this morning, leaving driver Howard and hurty knee man Chick to have a lie in for a while. The driving team caught the guys up at Bristol, they were in good form and had made good time in the morning in spite of spending half an hour getting lost and circling the hotel and the hills they had encountered in the morning. We were scouting for somewhere for breakfast and managed to find a great little cafe in a converted bus. It claims to have the best cream tea you will ever have, but as it was a breakfast stop we were forced into having a full English.

Billy and Josh told us the tale of traffic controller Sparks. Annoyed at the density of traffic in rush hour Bristol and seemingly unaware of the danger of cars Sparks simply put his hand out in a 'stop there!' gesture and manoeuvred to where he wanted to be. Billy was surprised Sparks made it through the city alive! Fed and watered with a gallon of tea the brave cyclists carried on their merry way. The landscape was not in their favour and threw more hills at them. Sparks was finding the going tough but carried on with great resolve. The team did, however, achieve a new record speed. Both Billy and Josh were amazed at how slow Sparks could go and still keep the bike upright. Apparently at one point Josh was astonished at the sight of a local snail speeding past!

Chick and Howard went ahead to find a cream tea stop and found a great one at a cider farm just outside Taunton. It had real leaf tea, 2 scones, clotted Devon cream and homemade jam. It looked fantastic and Chick was as impressed as Sparks at the sight of another hill when Bill broke the news that the cyclists were skipping the lunch stop and pushing on. Josh was seemingly as impressed as Chick with the lack of cream tea and, at the next water filling stop with the car, was in danger of a bonk. This had nothing to do with the glint in Room mate Bills eye and is a cycling term equivalent to hitting the wall while running! The wind was getting stronger but the sun was out and it didn't take too long for the guys to get to the Holiday Inn, 117 miles later just 12 hours after setting off. Billy looks like he has been on holiday, arriving at the hotel suitably bronzed having caught the sun, Sparks had a knee trembler in the back of the trailer having caught the snail and Josh was even darker than Bill having decided to rub grease all over his forehead. Later that night while having dinner Sparks was horrified to look at the route and discover in the first 20 miles road names such as Pork Hill, Farrants Hill and then Six Mile Hill!!! He also claimed that he could have gone even slower today! So tomorrow they face the final day, more hills than any other day and another 120 miles in the saddle to get to the end of what has been and epic adventure!