Day 14 – July 2, 2021

Hi guys….well it’s the tradition now. 

Except…we screwed up! We didn’t get the photo!!

We rolled in after a long day and immediately set about relaxing. We were in mid-conversations as the food order was made and the food consumed. This is getting to be a regular theme. Yesterday’s blog had a photo after the food was eaten and the plates were empty! 😂

We can tell you that we ate nachos, chicken wings, sirloin steak and pork ribs, so there’s nothing wrong with our memories! 😉

So here’s a random photo of the beers we enjoyed just after we had finished for the day. 😊

We were joined for dinner last night by an old colleague of Thomas, namely Jayde who lives in a village not 15 minutes from our resting place last night. We had a good laugh for an hour or so and it was nice once again to be supported by friends along the way. And guess what….again we forgot the photo!! 😢

Thanks Jayde….much appreciated you took the time to visit JOGLE. 😊

Not so much to report about the early part of the day. We are well used to our morning routines now and today we were ready to leave at 8:15am. The whole day was due to consist of a 67 mile total journey and a first checkpoint of three that would be at 24 miles in Wombourne.

The section passed quickly and not without a cold chill. Thankfully by the time we had been on the road for an hour the sun was fighting through the clouds and the ride, all on tarmac, became very enjoyable.

Billy was waiting for us in the planned place and we took some decisions on the route from there on. We wanted very much to avoid canal paths and be on tarmac as much as possible. So it was with a clear mind that Alan and Thomas set off for the next checkpoint at Stourport-on-Severn.

It was then that we got a message with another nice surprise. Craig’s mum-in-law who lives in the area was going to wave us by as we hit the very busy A449. 

Alyson, thanks so much for coming out to see us! It is always such a lift when people go out of their way to cheer us on. Thank you! 👍

So onwards we travelled, and guess what? All the best laid plans went to squat as we once again ended up driven by Strava to a canal toepath.

This is Thomas goofing around and trying to be like Stan Laurel. 😉

Anyway, enough was enough. We ditched Strava and jumped to Google Maps and set our remainder of the journey to follow tarmac to the next checkpoint. We even then decided to drop a third checkpoint that we had originally planned and just blast out the last 20 miles again on tarmac. By our standards, we smashed the last third of the race. Because we used the roads, the journey was 6 miles shorter at 61 miles and we were much quicker. We ended up at campsite just after 3:00pm this afternoon. And of course a well-earned beer was due. 👍

After a well-earned shower and a bit of kit washing, it was then that we got our next nice surprise of the day. Paul, Alan’s son and a key member of the JOGLE team had driven from home to meet us with Alan’s granddaughter Lacey. They had also brought fresh cream cakes and savouries. Happy days! We couldn’t resist another JOGLE photo.

People continue to see the pow21 and the OYF message.

We were light on collections today so far. We are going to eat at the local marina this evening so maybe that can generate some interest.🤞😉

But please continue to spread the word. As at a few moments ago, pow21 had raised £6,561 without Gift Aid! And we have another £176.60 in the bucket.

We couldn’t do this without you all.

Once again thanks for all your support and donations.

Tomorrows journey is from Upton-upon-Severn to Avonmouth, expected to be another 67 miles. 

We are really looking forward to the day tomorrow. We are taking the opportunity to spend the night in Newport where we will meet up with members of our families whom we haven’t seen for the last two weeks.

It’s gonna be fun!! 👍😂😎

Signing off now. More news tomorrow…