Wednesday 4 May 2011

A shorter day than planned

Day 4 was always going to be tough. At 105 miles it waqs the longest day of the whole route. Mainly flat, I had hoped that it would be attainable. It started as planned, leaving Fishtoft at 08.00, I was due to meet up with fellow Geographer Richard Croft at Mablethorpe, some 30 miles ahead. But ploughing eastwards into the headwind, as well as losing the route several times, meant that I soon fell behind schedule. Eventually I met Richard at Chapel St Leonards, after he had cycled 10 miles south to meet me. At this point I was an hour and a half behind schedule. Burton-upon-Stather was already looking unlikely as the night's destination.

With the wind more or less behind us, we headed north, making Mablethorpe for lunch. Then Richard had a bright idea. Why not ride as far as the Humber Bridge, and then come back to his house for the night? He was going to Hull the next day, so could drop me off to restart my journey. He had already arranged for his daughter to pick him up at Nurton-upon-Stather, so the change wouldn't be a problem.

So we ended up at 8pm at the Humber Bridge, having travelled about 90 miles instead of the 105. Richard's daughter was waiting, so we put the bikes on the rack and back to Richard's house near Lincoln. After a hot bath, pizza and a great night's sleep, we're about to set off again in the morning. Richard will take me to Burton-upon-Stather, rather than the Bridge, as there are no ports or harbours between the two. Feel a bit guilty about missing out that stretch, but hey, needs must.

Managwd to download my photos, thanks to Richard's card reader, so hopefully I'll get time tonight to upload these to Facebook.

4 comments:

  1. Oh dear, it sounds a bit of a struggle & tougher than you thought?(character forming! ) can you make the panniers lighter, the prospect of the mountains in scotland would freak me out.
    We hope today is a better one for you after your night at Richard's.
    Keep smiling, Sue & Dick

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  2. Hi Bob, Congratulations on the good start to the ride. The Met Office are predicting the end of the Beasterly wind soon so you may have it easier soon. Remember cycle touring is fundamentally about lunch!
    Tim P.

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  3. Hi Bob
    Still going strong despite the wind! You have made a good start-keep going!
    Seems to me you could break your ride down like a chess match-opening, mid and end game parts (ports?!!).
    Rememeber when the going gets tough, the tough get going-& it ain't all hard, enjoying all that local ale!
    (Hope you are not too saddle sore!) :-)

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  4. Great day with the remarkable Bob Jones, with Twix and beer powered legs. Good luck for the next 94 days Bob we'll be following your blog with great interest

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