Day 2: Southam to Hungerford, UK. 74.4 miles, 2982 feet of climbing. Some headwinds

Still heading South.  Picking up some headwinds (coming from Europe?).   Jesse is already checking out side villages along the route.  He's a natural!

Although it wasn't as long a day today, and we had less climbing, it felt like a much harder day today.  It might have been the higher temperatures.  It might have been the speed.  It might have been the two VERY steep hills late in the afternoon.  Or...it could have been a combination of all three.

As Merry and Pippin would say in Lord of the Rings, "Isn't it time for second breakfast?"  James had been teasing us about tea & crumpets, so we took him up on the idea.  This stop in Witney turned out to be our "light" lunch:  Scones & tea.  

We got out of the hotel and on the road by 9 am and immediately set a very fast tempo for today's ride.  Much of the morning, we were all in a pace line (riding close to each other in single file) to increase our speed.  I'm still not ready to maintain that level of speed over the long-term, but I was able to keep up, mostly in the flats and short elevations.  It was the hills (12% and 14%) that got me by the end of the day.  As a result, although I hung in there in following the group, I was spent when we got to those two hills.  I made it up both, but had little left in my tank to get to the hotel.

About ten miles down the road from our scones stop, we checked out Ye Olde Swan pub, situated along the Thames.  Check out the tents in the background.  The ones with the top hats are designated for glamping.

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse.
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes.

So goes the old British nursery rhyme.

We did have a number of nice sights along the way, including some lovely villages, the Thames and, of course a stop for scones and tea (after all, it is Sunday!).

Not sure how well this will come out.  I was very tired when I looked up to see all those horses frolicking along the ridge line.  After riding in and out a a number of quaint villages, it was nice to see something other than sheep or cattle in the pastures.

Tomorrow, we head to the South coast in Poole, not all that far west of Southampton.  Along the way, we'll be in Salisbury.  Jesse is already trying to figure out how we can get to Stonehenge, only about 9 miles away from our first SAG stop.

I'll let you know how that all turns out tomorrow.