Sunday 28th November 2010 – I set off from Bridport to St Helens today. The ride started wonderfully, passing through lots of lilac poppy fields and gentle rolling hills topped with whisping clouds. But as soon as I left Scottsdale the road started winding its way up into the cloud base and before I knew it, I was riding in a downpour. I’d entered a beautiful rainforest but due to the fact that the road had turned into 25km of continuous hairpin bends and I could hardly see through my visor as it was covered in rain and kept fogging up (even my mirrors fogged up!), I hardly dared take my eyes off the road. I did notice some huge green ferns though.

At the end of the pass was a long clearing with nothing in it but a roadhouse. As I was completely drenched by this time, I stopped to warm up. I was so wet my boots had completely filled with water! After a warming cup of tea and an all day breakfast, I stepped back outside to discover the rain was off, so I filled up the tank and continued on to St Helens.

The hostel I had hoped to stay in wasn’t going to open for 3 hours, so, as I was still soaked, I decided to book into a nearby holiday unit as they had a bath available. Oh the bliss of sinking into a hot pool of water. Funny how water can blind you or heal you just depending on the circumstances!