Day 45 - Portland to Exeter - ride total 3,417 k, 21,123 m

There was a Plan A, and Plan B then I called a special general meeting which the rules of the ride allow for and offered a Plan C.

Formal meeting procedure blew across the adjacent motorway as there was a majority show of hands and raising of voices strongly supporting the yet to be put motion (Plan C).

As I was chairing the meeting had I exercised my right to the casting vote I realised it was still not possible to oppose those who had already spoken and so, Plan C was adopted there and then. 

At Portland, Weymouth where we stopped last night the only eatery open last night was the Kebab place and so this morning there was nothing open for any sort of breakfast which mwant we simply carried on with the ride, thinking (knowing) that before too long we will come across something that will satisfy our need for food. At 10 km we veered off Plan B and o and see if there was a likely coffee stop, but no the locals told us there was no Cafe.

I was okay as I had, had a good feed of blackberries along the way and have no need for that magical "caffine" fix like some do.

So now back to Plan A?

Plan A, was to ride 111 km and 1,500 m of hill climbing direct to Exeter.

However as I had planned to visit John and Pat along the way I was going to only ride 60 km and catch a train to allow me some time for a catch up and lunch before riding on another 30 km to Exeter.

So, Plan B (6o km and 880 m) was that we would all catch the train at Axminister with me hopping off at Honiton and the Boys carrying on to Exeter.

However as Stephen was not feeling too flash and the research now showed a coffee stop on the way to Axminister was unlikely made me come up with Plan C which was simply to ride into Dorchester, have breakfast there and catch the tran through to Exeter. That was the plan that a was adopted as I mentioned.

Unfortunately John who I was going to visit had unscheduled visit to hospit tal on Friday and now my visit to see them had to be called off. While I was disappointed not getting to visit them it was good to hear that he was in the best place for him at this time.

As I have mentioned before, travelling other than on the bike undr my own steam is very stressful and it was no different today as part way through breakfast we checked on our new "Train Pal" app the timetable and saw a train was leaving in 20 minutes! SO we quickly finished our breakfast, found out which station we needed to get to and headed off. First up once at the station getting to the other side and correct platform appeared to only offer "up and over" stairs, but then a "kind-of" local mentioed a way across but didn't know whether it was this way or that! We headed off "this way" only to find we should have gone "that way", so that's the way we did and once at the platform began to use our new App to buy the tickets. You guessed it something went wrong! While I got right through to the payment screen it didn't like the travel card I had loaded for payment and I couldn't then upload my normal credit card! Then the train arrived, so bugger it I thought I'm not waiting another two hours for the next one and hopped on. All three of us had to be in separate carriages as this traiin did not have a dedicated bike space. In due course the conductor came around and I was able to play the hard luck, first time App use story and buy the ticket directly from her without incurring the penalty of not purchasing before getting on.

After that kerfuffle we managed the change of train and arrived in Exeter at lunch time which we had at a Cafe in the main street before riding off and checking out our accommodation which happended to be open and accepting of early arrivals. We checked in, off loaded our gear and then went out for a walk exploring this lovely, very old city that dates back to the Roman times. Stephen and i went off in search of the "Medical" museum while Peter went to have a tour of the Cathedral. In our search for the Museum we came across the Priory which was open and the folk there were very keen to show us around, it was here in the bedroom when our personal guide was telling us all about the very original four poster bed that we learnt the meaning of our everyday expression "Sleep tight" came from. Way back in Medieval times the beds had rope criss-crossing underneath the mattress to support the mattress. Every so often the rope lattice work needed to be re-tightened to stop the bed sagging and there was a special tool for doing that job. Hence the expression "Sleep tight".

We then did the free quick look inside the Cathedral and exited before being asked for the ten pound and carried on trying to find the Medical Museum, so after heading back almost to where we started we learnt that there is no Medical museum as such and what we saw at the Priory was as good as it gets (all the other exhibits are in storeage).

We did learn though that the Gardens (the first public open space in Britain) are worth a walk as is the Quay after that so that's what we set off to do.

All in all today shows that on these trips one doesn't get too bogged down on sticking totally to the set route but to have an open mind and prepare to be flexible and when you do so things as per usual always work out. 

Today has been another good day on our ride.