Cake and culture

So here we are in the Midlands in a place called Shifnal, about 5 miles outside Telford.  The day started with a bit of sun on a chilly morning but the day was mainly cloudy although mercifully dry. We did 75 miles, working our way almost due north through Herefordshire and Shropshire on mainly very quiet undulating roads - probably the easiest day so far in terms of terrain / weather / wind and lack of mechanical issues.  It was a buffet breakfast so no fisticuffs with the OAPs, especially as it was open from 6.30am.  We got on the road early as rain was forecast for late afternoon. The first (and really only) issue came when we got entangled in a humongous traffic jam in the village of Mordiford. Sitting behind cars belching fumes was not a great experience but we later saw a poster protesting about gridlock in the village due to the closure of a parallel 'A' road. They weren't wrong.

We were soon back on small lanes and were making good progress so we pushed on to Ludlow for a slightly late cake and coffee stop near the castle.  The cakes were substantial but probably wouldn't have won any awards at the Gourmet Food Festival starting tomorrow - the town was heaving with people who didn't want to miss a minute of the three day event. To try and fit in I bought Brioche burger buns to have with bananas for lunch as they sounded quite posh (and were the only rolls in a small pack!!).  The next few miles were basically flat with a slight tail wind on reasonably well surfaced quiet lanes - what's not to like??  It got a bit hillier before Much Wenlock and then again before Ironbridge.  We stopped in Ironbridge for a bit of a look round and were going to have a tea, but looking behind us the clouds were gathering so we made a run for the hotel - arriving as the first spots of rain started to fall.  The luggage had just arrived so we were able to crack on with washing the kit, ourselves and charging up batteries etc.  Holidays like this can be quite full-on at times.....

So why am I feeling inferior when it comes to food??  Well, one lady on the tour makes everything herself apparently - bread, pasta, you name it. Another never uses anything tinned, packaged or frozen (unless she froze some of her own home cooking for later consumption), while a third grows all her own vegetables, makes ten cakes at a time and either gives them to neighbours or freezes them. A fourth (and her husband is as bad) don't really like to eat out as you don't know exactly what has gone into the meal - although we did catch them scoffing cheesy chips in a cafe yesterday!  One of the blokes will eat no carbs, but appears to eat enough fat to block every artery in every rider on the tour while another (a food and exercise zealot) only eats 'healthy' food - which appears to include 3 boiled eggs plus scrambled eggs for breakfast after porridge and followed by mountains of toast with butter and jam.  To my mind it you can't eat cake on a bike ride of over 1,000 miles what is the point of life??

Photos include Chepstow Castle from yesterday, the Ironbridge, our stop in Ludlow and some other shots on the route

Note for Ken and Jeff: having been on the route of the Wellingtom Boot on Tuesday and the Wye Forest 50 yesterday, today we covered 3 hundred routes - Marches 1990 and 1995 plus the Houseman in 2011. At least 2 more in the next day or so