After only 6 miles while going down a steep descent into Woolacombe there was a deafening bang from Peter's bike - like a gunshot. The front tyre had had a catastrophic failure leaving the inner tube in shreds and a 4cm long tear in the sidewall. It looked like "game over" but after replacing the inner tube, tucking the torn sidewall into the rim and not over-inflating it seemed to be rideable.
A passing cyclist told us it was 8 miles to the nearest bike shop in Braunton. We managed to limp there but being distracted Peter missed a turning with the result that we had an unexpected 25% hill to negotiate. The bike shop South Fork in Braunton was brilliant and soon had us on our way again.
The rest of the day was lovely with easy cycling along the Tarka Trail and some nasty hills in the last 5 miles before Hatherleigh where we are staying in a fantastic B&B (Raymont House)
Peter
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