JOGLE Day 11 was notable for the fact that it was the first day on the tour when the sun truly shone. This was a shorter day than we have been cycling recently but it still produced its challenges.

As for me personally, my sore teeth have continued to be sore but as the day wore on the pain has begun to recede a little. So hopefully things are on the mend.

Leaving Whitchurch we followed the Tilstock Road.

This took us through Wem.

And then on to Shrewsbury where we had our morning break at the Shrewsbury Coffee House. Unusually this was without Nic and Sarah who were gamely washing all the team laundry (they really have been a truly wonderful support team!)

We left Shrewsbury via an old branch railway line.

Which took us towards Pitchford and the Shropshire hills.

Meanwhile the support vehicle was heading for Wall Under Heywood where we would be having lunch.

Before that those hills required climbing!

The views at the top were fantastic.

Lunch was at the Plough Inn at Wall Under Heywood.

It made a welcome change to be able to sit outside and eat lunch with a cool drink whilst soaking up the sunshine.

Eating at this inn also represented a first for Andy S. Prior to setting off Andy had researched all the coffee break and lunch stops, and this was the first day when they had all been open. You may notice a cunning tactic today that enabled this to be achieve though – today there were only two stops rather than the usual three!

But there was still another big hill to climb after lunch!

And more views to take in at the top …

Dropping down from the hills we followed the B4365 for awhile.

And then the A49. Unfortunately we missed a turn off at one point and stayed on this busy road for longer than we would have liked.

We finished by cycling through Ludlow and then back on to the A49 (correctly) for the last few miles. We had cycled 53 miles today and climbed approximately 2600 feet. You can view our JOGLE Day 11 route from Whitchurch to Ludlow below:

[sgpx gpx=”/wp-content/uploads/gpx/jogleday11-whitchurchtoludlow.gpx”]

Tonight we are staying at Ludlow Woofferton Travelodge. Across the road is the Salwey Arms which the guys headed to immediately after the ride for that ‘perfect pint’.

And later we went back for our evening meal.

Tomorrow is another long day as we cycle 73 miles to Portishead. We will be crossing the Severn Bridge tomorrow as well, and we feel that in doing so this will represent the beginning of the final stretch of our JOGLE