Today we left our little holiday behind and headed home to sunny (hoorah!) Somerset. I was planning on just going for a little spin when I got home, but when we passed the signs to the Forest of Dean it seemed rude not to drop in and have a play!

We were met by beautiful sunshine, which seemed like a good sign. After stopping for a rather large toasted teacake, I togged up in far less clothing than the day before and was ready to hit the trails.

I’ve visited the Forest of Dean at least 20 times now and it never fails to please. There’s a really fun blue route called the Verderer’s Trail. It is a blue, but if you push it hard, it feels like more. If you get a chance, you should definitely check it out.

Today didn’t go as planned though. On one of the optional red sections I got a little cocky, went faster than I usually do over a lip and landed all wrong on a berm. My front wheel went in entirely the wrong different direction and I ended on my side in the middle of the trail! Usually, I would get straight back on and try the section again, but today I was really quite sore. After four solid days of riding, I think my body was pretty tired. I’d twisted my ankle, my hip and properly bashed my arm. So, we made our way to the fire road and cruised back to the car park looking a bit like this:

Not an ideal day two! But don’t worry, I’m grinning again now and have just been sorting my stuff out for a cycle commute in the morning.