My last day, but no hope of a quiet one. Around 10:00am I got a call to pick up some blood samples from Minehead, which is a lovely town on the West Somerset coast. As I left home the sun was shining and the forecast was for heavy showers. Like a fool I though I wouldn't wear my waterproof over trousers but would instead put them on as and when they were needed. Within 400 yards of home the heavens opened and I got drenched. Two miles later and I'm back into blue skies and sunshine. It carried on like this for the next ten miles until, in the middle of the heaviest hail storm I've seen for a long time, I finally relented and put a pristine pair of dry over trousers on top of very soggy leathers trousers. I also began to regret my decision to wear leather gloves instead of Goretex. By the time I reached the coast the weather front had passed through and I was treated to the most glorious view all the way across the Bristol Channel to South Wales. It made up for being wet and very cold.
Close to Minehead an idiot out on a Sunday afternoon drive in her car pulled straight out in front of me forcing me to make a very hard emergency stop. I did it, but not before scaring myself rigid at the lack of brakes on the bike. They were fine for slowing down at junctions but when used hard they seemed ineffective. On arrival at Minehead I told the co-ordinator that I was taking the bike off the road once I got home to Cheddar. A careful but thankfully uneventful journey followed, from Minehead to Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton and then home. I waited at home until 5:00pm, when I was able to ride over to Weston-super-Mare and pick up our spare bike - one that had much better brakes and as a bonus heated grips that actually work. One last job - picking up blood samples from the NHS treatment centre at Shepton Mallet bound for Musgrove Park then that's me finished. From Taunton I rode to the next rota rider's house, dropped off the bike and got a lift home to a warm house, dinner and a cold glass (or three) of Viognier/Chardonnay.
Total time on the road 5h10m. Distance covered 187 miles.
