Well, this was quite an easy day, covering flat lands, main roads and short distances. I should like to have taken advantage of conditions to press on further, but I was tied by my schedule to be in Shrewsbury on Friday, when Sabine was coming up to see me. Too much progress early in the week would see me running out of road come Friday. Still, this way I'd have time to do some sightseeing.

I got up for my booked breakfast at 8.30, and had an enormous full English breakfast plus two weetabix, which was soon to become my standard B&B breakfast. It certainly provided all that I needed for a good morning's ride. I left around 10, waved off by the landlady, her young daughter, and her parents, as well as the cleaner. I had enjoyed my stay at the White Hart Inn, and wouldn't mind going back there someday. I'd certainly recommend it to others.

I had not gone a mile when I was overtaken by the parents, who waved cheerily as they went by. Just as well that they didn't see what happened next - EFN2! I hit a short, sharp incline in the road, and as I went downwards through the gears the chain went straight off the biggest cog, and I lost all forward propulsion. Before I could unclip I felt that familiar sideways tilt, and braced myself for impact. It's true that people have to be trained how to fall off their bike. I was obviously getting better at it, as I didn't hurt myself this time! Unfortunately my effort was wasted, as there was only one spectator, in front of a nearby house, and they didn't seem too interested in my antics. Naturally, I had to reattach all my luggage once again.

After this I managed to stay on Mercury all the way to Berkeley, where I intended to visit the castle. A brief inspection of this attractive village led me to the castle which dominated it. The admission price was quite steep (and it's in private hands, so my English heritage membership didn't help here), but, having come here, that wasn't going to deter me. The woman in the ticket kiosk was very friendly and chatty, and agreed to keep an eye on Mercury for me.

The castle proved to be a bit of a disappointment, and they were filming some BBC children's programme, which got in the way of things a little. It was interesting to see the cell where Edward II had a red hot poker inserted in his intestines though. Shoehorned in through a cow horn, apparently, to avoid external scorch marks. How ingenious. Not that any of this was alluded to in the castle. Aside from this, only the great hall was really of any note, and the large hole in the curtain wall left by Cromwell to make sure the castle couldn't be used as a royalist stronghold in future. This is not to say that the rest was of no interest, there were some fine furnishings and fittings, it's just that they were of no greater note than those in many other castles and country houses.

My next port of call was Gloucester for lunch. I had intended to get a photo of the castle from a wee way down the road, supposedly the best view of the place. Naturally, I forgot this until I had gone too far, and despite having no time constraints, I couldn't be bothered to go back, so you'll just have to do with a scanned image instead. The A38 to Gloucester is a great cycling road, as it was built as a major trunk road, but now most traffic uses the parallel M5, leaving the A38 pleasantly quiet. Once in Gloucester I had a look around the docks area, but found little of interest, so I headed for the town centre, where I found a nice little sandwich place, and then had lunch on a bench in the sun.

After lunch I had only a little way to go, to Tewkesbury. The Gloucester ring road was quite nasty to ride around, especially as roadworks reduced the dual carriageway to single file, and I suspect the cars behind me didn't want to travel at my 12mph over some stretches. Tough. Back on the A38 to Tewkesbury things improved, and soon I was in Tewkesbury. In the centre I found signs to a campsite, which I followed to find a Caravan Club site which took non-members (and non-caravans!). Surely this was better than trailing 2 more miles north of Tewkesbury to find the sites I had originally earmarked, only to have to come back into town for dinner and drinks.

So I checked in, and promptly pitched my tent in the wrong area. The woman had said there was a grassy expanse behind the upper shower block. I found such an expanse, but I think it was the wrong shower block. So I ended up pitching my tent in a field which was roped off to vehicles on account of the soft ground due to recent flooding. Well, it's the obvious place to place a tent then, isn't it? Not taking away potential caravan space. OK, Mercury's wheels did leave deep grooves in the turf…Only the following morning did I discover the correct shower block, and the small bit of grass adjacent to the gents' toilets. Lovely. I was glad I'd pitched on the wrong site! I especially enjoyed all the sad little caravaners cramped in tiny spaces while I had an entire 400m² field to myself!

Vive la Difference.

There are few things I hate more than caravans. But caravaners really take the biscuit. I reached this conclusion as I sat cooking in front of my tent at the Caravan Club site in Tewkesbury. What a ghastly way of spending one's holidays - they take with them the same routine as they have at home, the same surroundings in fact. The furniture from their garden, the dog, the works. All they do is hitch up their suburban lives and tow them to some godforsaken site, where they live cramped next to fellow inmates. They join an organisation in which everyone is so superficially friendly, just because they suffer from the same affliction. They go to the shower block in dressing gowns and slippers. They spend the evening sat in front of their cars, and then, when it gets too cold out, they retire to watch TV. GET A LIFE!

Next I went to look at the Abbey, which my guide book claims has the largest Norman tower in the world, which is odd, as it looks smaller than that of St Albans Abbey, which is also Norman. And what about the White Tower at the tower of London? OK, that's a keep, technically speaking. Nonetheless, it's an attractive and imposing building. I particularly liked the Yorkist suns placed on the tower ceiling by Edward IV's people after the final defeat of Henry VI's forces.

After sightseeing came shopping. I picked up the hearty combination of pasta and sauce for dinner and bacon and rolls for breakfast. Back at the campsite I picked up Mercury. More sightseeing. About 4 miles South of Tewkesbury lies Deerhurst, one of two places in the country to possess both a Saxon church and a Saxon chapel. Alas, I can't remember the other place. On my way there I noticed how twitchy and agile Mercury was without all that luggage weighing him down! Odda's Chapel, which dates from 1056, was a bit bare, but had an interesting history, and many of its features could be picked out quite easily with the help of the laminated English Heritage guides lying about the place. Parts of St Mary's church date back to the 8^th century, and it contains some interesting Saxon features, such as triangular niches in the walls, which to the Saxons represented the eyes of God. There is also a 9^th century Saxon font, the intricate carving in which are unique for that period.

I made my way back to the campsite for dinner, and then went to the pub. I tried a couple of the traditional places, and ended up in the Faust and Firkin, which was remarkably friendly and comfortable. Then back to bed.

Other pet hats of the day: Traffic islands. Whoever popularised them should be taken out and buried alive under one. I don't know whether or not they do slow down traffic. But I am in no doubt that they are a hazard to cyclists, as motor traffic no longer can overtake normally and ends up behaving unpredictably around them. I don't mind taking the lane at 15mph in a 30 zone. But it's less fun to do it at 10mph in a 60 zone.

And while I'm at it, a quick note to highway engineers: cyclists don't necessarily travel at 3mph, nor do we all have eyesight like hawks. So why do you make cycle route signs about 3 inches across, and place them at junctions? What's wrong with giving advance notice? And what's the point in putting on the route number but not the destination? Do road signs just give road numbers at junctions? I think not. Just apply a tiny bit of thought in future please. Thank you.