Day 11 (L) Exeter

Tonight was to be my first night of seeing a friendly face, getting to stay with my mate Frenchie in Exeter. I thought I had finally broken the back of the trip. With the idyllic towns of Wells, Glastonbury and Wellington to look forward to I set off with an optimistic outlook on the day. However the climb out of Bath was serious hard work! Having made it out of Bath the terrain became more manageable and the day became very enjoyable.

First up was Wells which was a very picturesque city. Then onto Glastonbury where I had lunch at a little place called 100 Monkeys on the High Street. It had been recommended by a lady in a little village shop 15 miles outside of Glastonbury. I ended up sitting right by the counter where I got talking to the owner. He was a really decent chap and a real cycling enthusiast! He got talking to me about my trip and the Tour de France. I ended up getting the whole meal for only £10 and must of been at least £25! The food was good and healthy, and the coffee so needed.

After this enjoyable interlude I pressed on back into the countryside on my way to Exeter. The scenery was spectacular as expected and I had by now developed a good rhythm. Unfortunately the weather began to turn again 10 miles outside of Exeter, which encouraged me to press on harder As it finally got to the outskirts of Exeter the rain started to came down really heavy. Even so I got to Frenchie's as predicted at 20:00 where I finally got to wash some of my clothes (first time since I started out!), relax, get some decent grub and catch up with an old school friend.