Day 4 - Ross on Wye to Market Drayton

23/5 - Another big day similar to yesterday 87 miles. Up for an 8.00 breakfast of porridge and toast. Yes we are all eating healthily. During breakfast we had £45 donated from guests and the landlady. Many thanks to these people for their generosity.
Before setting out we again reminded GOF of his mantra - "bum cream then muscle rub" We did have a painful experience a couple of days ago but a lesson was learned!
Saying Adios to Ross we departed at 9.08 after collecting our bikes from the cellar which CFE remarked was the safest place he had stored his bike. 
A bit of an unwelcome climb out of Ross caused us to have moaning muscles to Market Drayton however we passed some of the early miles with a group of End to Enders we met yesterday on the Severn bridge. Their intention was to complete the ride in 16 days and only had 50 miles today.
Whilst the first couple of days were relatively uninteresting from a scenery point of view (mainly due to high hedges) other than a few old tin miles on Bodmin Moor today was different passing through many towns steeped in history. Ross itself, Leominster where we stopped for a subway lunch, Ludlow and Much Wenlock where we stopped for a coffe and carrot cake and more donations were collected. Some cash was handed to us by an old lady who had her 104 year old mother with her!  We passed through Ludlow where there was a 1335 pub. My only regret was that we passed so close to the Ironbridge at Telford and due to our time constraints we were not able to go.
The weather was again very hot and as all cyclists know rain and wind are not pleasant. Oh for some today. During the afternoon we stopped and asked a guy if he would mind re-filling our water bottles and a little later it was too inviting not to ask s lady watering her garden to hose down our heads. She did mot refuse. Most refreshing. She did comment "mad dogs and Englishmen" I did point out that I was with a couple of my colonial cousins from north of the border! She obviously was not a racist and offered us all a cold drink but we were satisfied with just topping up our bottles from her hose pipe.
The route today was scenic and flowing along very quiet country roads so the meandering miles to Market Drayton were met manfully although this little soldier began with a sore left knee/leg which is probably a sore hamstring. Aches and sore muscles were making themselves known to us all but we accept this as part of the challenge.
After 9 hours 38 minutes we reached Market Drayton and clocked up another 88.5 miles and climbed 1345 metres. 346.6 miles from Land's End