LEJOG 5 Westward Ho! To North Molton 53 km, 637 m.

A bit anxious about the big hill after Barnstaple but before then there was a real problem; the ferry from Appledore across the estuary didn’t start running until 4:15 pm because of the tide! No water for it at 8:30 am.

Back up the hill, back to Bideford, down the cycle track to Barnstaple all with an extra 8 km (approx) courtesy of the ferry. All good, I had arranged a tailwind for the day.

Shopped at ASDA Superstore and got bike lights and chain lube at Halfords in Barnstaple. Again much dicking around trying to find our way out of Barnstaple we hit the big hill. Not too bad – about 3 km long, 1:20 gradient. Not unpleasant. Then it was up’n’down the Downs to the Poltimor Inn in North Molton. Dinner at the pub and bed (spilt my pint of Best when looking at what appeared to be an underground house but turned out to be a factory unit with a curved roof to mimic the hills and blend in. Very nicely done. Bar lady replaced my pint free of charge.)