A tale of two railway lines

Breakfast was as good as had been promised and Edith sent me on my way with a bulging bag of cheese and pickle sandwiches. She and Ian have been fantastic hosts. "Take us as you find us", Ian had said. But as it turned out, they were all kindness and generosity.

Today's ride included some 30 miles along old railway tracks, routes closed by Beeching in the 60s. First, from Hull to Hornsea, and towards the end of the day, Scarborough to Robin Hood's Bay. The surface of these old tracks is pretty rough, and I feel as if I've been riding a Boneshaker. Houses have been built across the routes in a number of places, and in Scarborough the start of the trail goes through Sainsbury's car park!

I met a guy coming the other way, near Ravenscar (the summit of the line to Whitby at 631 feet). I passed the comment that his bike was as loaded up as mine. Nonchantly he said, (he has probably said this a thousand times), "I'm doing John O'Groats to Colchester". My rather obvious retort left him somewhat stunned.

Spent (wasted?) rather too much time today at the delightful harbours in Bridlington abd Scarborough. But it didn't matter, because I had a following wind, and made good time, arriving at 7pm.

It has just started raining as I sit here in my tent, which is a pity, because the view across Robin Hood's Bay is stunning. That's the first rain in six days.

Technology back in action

Meant to say that my Satnav is now working fine. The people at Satmap Systems in Leatherhead told me how to 'unfreeze' my unit. I'd mistakenly uploaded all the daily stage maps to the internal memory, rather than to the SD card. That meant that there was no room left for anything else. Once I'd deleted the files from the memory, and reloaded them to the card, it all worked perfectly. Richard Croft will be pleased to hear that, as he's thinking of buying one. This is a good moment to thank Satmap Systems, who very kindly gave me an Active 10 Bike unit, complete with full UK 1:50,000 mapping, at a huge (75%) discount. Well done to them, especially for the after-service.

I've been able to use card readers at both Richard's and Ian's, so my photos are now safely on the computer. The next task, probably on Friday when I'm staying at a B&B in Seaham, is to upload them to Facebook.

Whenever I can, I have to charge four devices: camera, netbook, phone and satnav. That's OK when I'm staying with friends; at other times I'll have to ask at a friendly pub.

Kindness everywhere

Yesterday it was Richard Croft who provided overnight accommodation, as well as excellent company for some 70 miles of the ride. Today it was Ian Sykes, who not only warned me well in advance that the Boothferry Bridge would be closed for repairs (which would have necessitated a 20+ mile detour via Selby), but also arranged for a friend of his (John) to meet me at the south side of the bridge, and transport me and the bike across the M62.

Ian and John were waiting for me as planned and deposited me safely on the north side. I then followed the river bank, under the M62, as far as the Port of Howden.

Just before that, I'd had a phone call from the Times - the Goole and Selby Times, that is - who wanted a photo of me. I met the photographer at Goole Docks, eventually. When she phoned and asked me where I was. I said, on the A161, just south of Goole. She replied, "I don't know where that is; we don't use road numbers round here". My response isn't printable.

Ian had also offered me accommodation, in Hull. The astute amongst my 'followers' will realise I should have finished up today at Withernsea, on the east coast. But that's not essential, as there's no harbour there, and anyway, the campsite I tried to contact had never replied. So tomorrow it's over to Hornsea, along the old railway line from Hull (another Beeching axed line).

Arriving at Ian's house I found my 'smellies' already washed and ironed and laid out on the bed. Thank you Edith! After a hot bath, a wonderful meal was laid out, which the three of us enjoyed. Tomorrow, I'm assured, there'll be a cooked breakfast. What a wonderful camaraderie there is amongst Geograph members!

Today was mainly about the Trent Wharves, King's Ferry, Flixborough, Neap House, Grove Wharf, Gunness, Althorpe and Keadby. Photos soon on Facebook, hopefully!

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.

A good day for harbours

Yesterday - Day 3 - was great for picturesque harbours, especially those along the North Norfolk coast. Things started well, with a following wind, making King's Lynn for lunch. But then I took the advice of a 'keen cyclist', who suggested I should btake National Cycle Route 1 to Boiston. What he didn't tell me wasjavascript:void(0) that it went via Wisbech. Being without a map or Satnav, I've tried to commit the route to memory. Stupidly, I didn't follow my own memorised map, but took his advice. Too late, I chickened out and headed off the signed route towards Sutton Bridge. Probably did an extra ten miles, making yesterday's route more like 96 miles!

Arrived as planned in Fishtoft, but left it late - it was nearly 8pm and the sun would soon be setting.

The wind is getting to me. Three days of unrelenting near-gale. It seemed to be coming at me every time the twisting route headed towards The Wash. Perhaps it will veer to the south-east and help me up the Lincolnshire coast today (some hope).

Cooked a great pasta and bacon last night, downed with a free cup of coffee from the camp site owner. Now it's 06.30 on Day 4 and time for porridge!

A really long day today at 105 miles, the longest on my route. It's mainly flat, so the winbd is the only problem. Feeling good with no aches or pains, just a little leg-weary.

Me v. The Bike

Training on a bike with no panniers is one thing. Trying to ride it with two huge panniers, plus associated gear on the back is something different. It's much harder to steer and even the slightest hill seems like a mountain. Trying to wipe your nose whilst riding along is extremely dangerous; you need both hands firmly gripping the handlebars to maintain full control.

On Day 1 the weight of the panniers meant that the bike had to be unloaded before getting on to the two passenger ferries at Bawdsey and Butley River. More hassle and time lost.

Anyway, arrived safely in Blakeney at 6.30 yesterday evening. After a meal and ONE pint at the King's Arms, got back to the tent and was too tired to blog. It's now 6.30 on Day 3 and after my bowl of porridge and a coffee I plan to set off early.

I seem to have forgotten to bring the connector that enables photos to be downloaded to the computer from the camera. So no photos for the time being. I'll try and get this sent on to my first B&B in Seaham.

Soutthwold - eventually

What a bugger - a north-easterly gale all day. Ploughing into a strong headwind certainly wasn't on my agenda. Anyway, finally got to Southwold at 7pm after taking the wrong route twice (Satnav isn't working, that's my excuse) and an enforced diversion becaue the coastal path from Dunwich to Walberswick is under repair. So probably 70 miles in total. Then couldn't connect to the Internet last night, so I'm writing this on Sunday morning.

Had a great chilli con carne at the Harbour Inn on Southwold Harbour last evening - and TWO pints of Adnams.

So it's off to Blakeney today. I';ll be looking forward to turning westwards after Great Yarmouth and have that dreaded wind behind me!

Hope to upload some photos to Facebook tonight.