Where to begin ? After several days in the saddle I woke up in Exeter looking forward to a slightly shorter day on cycling to see my brother, nephew and later my mum and dad who live in the east Devon and west Dorset area.

The Oakcliffe B & B in Exeter was really comfortable, and after a lovely veggie breakfast I packed up, filled my water bottles and set up satnav for the first leg of my journey towards south east Devon, heading towards Sidmouth and on towards Seaton. After the challenges satnav , Buble and I encountered on the previous day I was a little apprehensive as I headed out of the city and into the countryside.

Sadly my fears came true with the first few miles after going under the M5 were on a pretty major road, but this soon became a left turn onto a quieter country road. Quaint village names are plentiful in this part of the country; I'd heard of Newton Poppleford before my visit (but seeing the name on a bus was uplifting), but a number of Otter related village names and a Budleigh or two punctuated the morning nicely.

This part of Devon still had a few hills , but the days ride was going to be shorter and any chance to spend time with my brother and young nephew was motivation enough for the morning ride. Before I knew it I arrived in Sidmouth and soon wound my way to the seafront where I witnessed a few tourists attempting to get themselves washed away by the sea (probably accidentally of course) and I appeared to be ahead of schedule.

Extra time meant I had time to find a coffee and cake, the fuel of any good bike ride, and somehow I found a great coffee, lovely flapjack accompanied by the worst service I've experienced for a long time. I'm not going to name and shame, but its a real struggle to understand how this transaction of good quality coffee and yummy oat based food could be so poor.

Refuelled (topped up might be more accurate, it wasn't that long since I'd enjoyed  my excellent breakfast at the B & B) I got back on the bike and re-joined the National Cycle Network route 2. I meandered through the streets of Sidmouth being directed by now familiar blue National Cycle Network signage and satnav handily suggesting the way to go, and whilst I felt the literal pain of the hills I had already endured on this adventure, I was comforted by the official nature of the cycle route taking me on what was likely to be the flattest, most traffic free route eastwards.

How wrong could I be! The first walkers I passed as I started the climb out of Sidmouth wished me luck, which was nice, they must have been aware of the adventure I was on cycling back from Lands End. The second family I passed also wished me luck (coincidence ?) and as I continued up what was becoming an increasingly long and very steep climb I realised why.

National Cycle Network route 2 coming out of Sidmouth is up a road which is very, very steep. Granted there were very few cars, I'm sure the view behind me would have been lovely but crickey the hill was steep. I took a couple of minutes out from riding to push the bike uphill and try and get my breath back, then got back on to complete the ride up the hill.....the flapjack energy had been burnt off before I'd even got out of site of the cafe!

However once I reached the top of this hill to my absolute amazement it was virtually a gentle down hill for the next 22 miles of the ride to Musbury to meet my brother and young nephew for lunch. On reflection I think another 22 miles of hill climbing might have been enough to break me (ok, maybe it would have been a challenge.....and not one I would have necessarily enjoyed!) but the now rolling downhill stretches of road that skirted around Seaton and down into the Ax valley were a welcome change.

Lunch and a chance to catch up with my nephew (a chance to play some Lego) and my brother was perfect, and whilst I could have stayed longer I knew I needed to progress on the bike heading towards my parents in west Dorset. Heading northwards I took the main road up to Axminster, but from the outskirts of this town I was guided back onto more minor roads, the NCN route 2, more hills of course, but progress now eastwards was being made.

Before I knew it I'd passed between Devon into Dorset, the last county of this cycle adventure (although my destination was literally the eastern most part of the county of Dorset) but the next few miles were relatively uneventful. I say this but for the previous few hours I was conscious that I was getting less and less bite from my rear brakes, and things came to a head as I trundled down yet another hill and found I had virtually no ability to stop.

The disc brakes on my bike had simply run out of bite on the brake pads, hardly a surprise after a fair bit of use, but as I somehow managed to come to a stop without ploughing into the first pedestrian I had seen for at least an hour, and avoided falling off the bike or cycling into a hedge or worse, I took the opportunity to make any adjustment I could to give me some braking power.

Running repairs complete I continued on through lovely lush countryside towards Bridport, the further east I travelled the fewer really steep hills I encountered, and as I was guided through Bridport itself on onwards to Burton Bradstock I realised how much fun I was having. As I rolled into the cul-de-sac where my parents live to be greeted by my mum and dad waiting for me to capture the moment on film (their iPhone camera, not an actual BBC camera crew...) I had finished another leg of my journey.

Day four complete I had ridden 218.93 miles, cycled 4939 metres of elevation, approximately 55.81% of Mount Everest with one more full day of riding to complete the journey home. With my bike put away in my mum and dads garage (childhood throwback!) I enjoyed a bath and a lovely catch up over dinner to start the reset / recovery for one more day of cycling effort.