Day 5 - Sorry for the silence so far, we've only just managed to get the blog link to work from a mobile, and the small towns of the south west have either not caught up with Internet cafes or they've moved way past them - you decide.
Still on course with the itinerary at this point. The one sentence version of progress is: bodies in better states than bikes. Tom's had to have a new one altogether - the one he was sentimentally attached to (the Rattlesnake), turned out to be, er, not quite up to the task. He ended up with the one almost suitable bike that Bodmin Bikes could sell us. Adam had two punctures and a broken spoke on day 3 and had to stop in Okehampton on day 4 to get sorted out. Martin has so far escaped with nothing more than replaced brake blocks in Launceston, but James had a spectacular tumble yesterday (degree of difficulty 8.5), which did for his back wheel. It was only three miles from the end of the (80 mile) day. The brilliant landlord of our B&B, Mr. Salmon, came out to collect James and the bike. His wife cooked us a quite brilliant meal, which would have been outstanding under any circumstances, but after yesterday, well... They deserve a plug - if you're ever near Street, check out the Old Orchard House B&B.
So we'll start today in a bike shop. Again. They're all brilliant down here. Family owned, friendly, give you cups of tea, and superbly positioned to attract woefully unprepared End to End chancers like us.
More soon. Solid rain today, but a short ride to Bristol. We could do with an easier day - partly for the sake of James' bruises and stiff knee and elbow and just generally after the brutal hills of Bodmin and Dartmoor.
Oh, finally, for any devotees of civic branding, ever seen a better one than Okehampton - the town with moor? Genius.
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