Company

Day 22 & 23 Kirkby Underwood - Lincoln - Doncaster. 44.53 & 49.92 miles

For the first time on this tour I was going to be cycling with someone for part of the day. I left Kirkby Underwood and cycled for about 10 miles to a prearranged place to meet Christie and Jeremy.

Jeremy was going to cycle with me on his electric Brompton, while Christie would follow in the car and meet us for coffee, or not as it happened she had stopped else where and had underestimated how quickly we would cycle.

The ride was a joy after the previous day across the fens. The road was gently rolling along the edge of the fens so there were trees, hedges and villages with huge churches built of stone so different from the flint churches of Norfolk.

Lincoln Cathedral detail

Christie had gone ahead after our coffee stop to find somewhere in Branston where we could have lunch. Branston is a reasonable size village about 5 or 6 miles from Lincoln and turned out to have just one cafe. It had been a lovely sunny day but started to rain just as we arrived and continued while we ate our bacon butties but stopped just before I set off again.

We parted company after lunch. It had been lovely having someone to cycle with for a few miles. While Christie and Jeremy headed home I headed for

Lincoln. Pete my Warm Showers host had told me about a cycle route alongside the river that would take me all the way to Lincoln. It didn't take long to find and I was soon there at the bottom of Steep Hill, a cobbled street that would take me up to the cathedral. I decided this was not the place to try out my new gears!

Four Points cake made by Cathy

When I arrived at the cathedral there was a service in progress so I sat on the steps and listened to the singing of Jerusalem. I then headed off to find Ben and Ruth's house on the north edge of the city. As luck would have it I had cycled out on the correct road and was soon knocking on their door.

Ben, Ruth and baby Odin were lovely hosts. After I’d had my shower and changed I came downstairs to find Ben making pasta for our dinner. Once again we found plenty to talk about and not just about bikes!

The following day I was going to be joined once again but this time with John (my brother) and Gerry. Having talked about routes with Ben who had told me there was only about three places to cross the River Trent, I had decided to take a cycle trail along an old railway line for about 10 miles. It was great to be cycling traffic free and best of all Gerry had found a cafe not far from the end of the trail. It was a pop up cafe that opened at weekends and this was only the third weekend. It was easy to find as it was well signposted. Once again I had a bacon buttie and a coffee.

Cycle track for thin people

The rest of our route to Doncaster was on roads that became increasingly busy as we approached the city. John had booked us into a bed and breakfast that was close to the hospital, so it was easy to find. This area is a maze of busy A roads and the route to York will be on busy roads for a good part of the way, at least it will be Sunday.