Which one is mine?

Days 14-15 Aylesbury - Papworth - Thurston 58.84 & 52.28 miles

I am back on the road.

Oh crikey! Which one is mine?

I left Aylesbury at about 8 o'clock minus my panniers and dry bag and a much lighter bike! Aoiffe was going to meet me on route for my coffee break, so was lightening my load until we met. We arranged to meet in Ampthill. I passed through a lot of places today ending in hill! We found a lovely vintage cafe called Cakestand and Crumb where they had some wonderful cakes, though I had a coffee and cookie. Once refreshed I reloaded my bike and headed off for Biggleswade.

More twinning required.

Biggleswade was my favourite place name of the day. It is lovely and once had 54 pubs, though it now only has 10. As I approached the town I stopped to check my map. A lady also on a bike pulled in behind me and asked me about my Toilet Twinning shirt. After I had explained and we had chatted for a while she gave me a generous donation. Thank you.

I arrived in Papworth Everard by about 5.30 and spent the night at Alasdair and Salman house. We talked about the route I would take the following day and  Alasdair convinced me that it would be easy to get through Cambridge.

The M11. It's better by bike.

At 9 o’clock I headed east out of Papworth Everard towards Cambridge. After about a mile I reached the cycle route. It was a very easy ride, well signposted and I got through Cambridge without any problems, taking me alongside the River Cam. I was now on cycle route 51 and was cycling off roads for about 6 miles. Route 51 would take me all the from Cambridge to Thurston were I would be staying for the night.

Oh crikey! Which one is mine?

Following a cycle route is a bit like being on a very long treasure hunt, the clues being the little blue signs, these were often hidden in hedges, sometimes they came every 100 yards and at other times not appearing for miles. Through the towns and cities they are great and could even make whole towns completely disappear, but though the lanes they took magical mystery tours and added too many extra miles!

Today although not as many miles was a very hard day, the wind was blowing from the east and so I had a head wind all day. I started this tour in the South in the hope of having tail winds but so far have only had cross winds or head winds hopefully this will change when I start to head north.

Route 51 sign

Thank you to everyone who is following this blog it's lovely receiving your comments and emails. I'm sorry if I'm not always able to reply.

Sorry to hear about your accident Pam, I hope you are now on the mend and will be on your bike again soon.

The Great British Bike Off!

Day whatever (I've lost track!) 9th September

Today I had intended to ride to Bedford, but things seemed to be conspiring against me. Firstly I couldn't find anywhere to stay, but decided to head there anyway and sort it out when I arrived.

I was very slow packing up and loading my bike. The thought of not having a bed for the night made me feel uneasy. By about 10.15 I was finally ready to leave.

I always check my tyres and brakes before I set off and this time discovered that my front tyre was flat. Before leaving Exeter the valve had been damaged but the tyre seemed to stay inflated so I had carried on but had been keeping an eye on it. I now needed to sort it and decided to  change the tube. At least I wasn't by the side of the road!

I found my tools and a spare inner tube took the wheel off then got the new tube out of the box only to discover it wouldn't fit. Fortunately before I left Mull I had been given a gift that included another tube with the correct valve (thanks everyone at MICT). Once replaced and re-inflated  I went to put the wheel back on the bike only to discover that I had put the tyre on the wrong way round so needed to change it again! By this time I had cycled 0 miles and had no bed to look forward to so decided not to cycle to Bedford today. It was more important to go into town and buy two new spare inner tubes. Tomorrow I will cycle to Papworth and by pass Bedford altogether!

Still I do like to look on the bright side of life. I could now watch The Great British Bake Off!

Across the fields

Days 10 & 11 6th & 7th September. Malmesbury-Oxford-Aylesbury

I woke up to another lovely sunny morning. The plan was to leave Malmesbury by 8.30 as Oxford was my next destination and over 50 miles away. Having said goodbye to Jean I hoped we would be able to meet up again but maybe not leave it for another 30 years.

Crossing the Thames via a lock gate

The ride to Oxford was lovely, along rolling country lanes, passing through pretty Cotswold villages with the sun shining all the time.

My routes are becoming increasingly difficult as I prefer to stay on the quiet country roads, but as I am now crossing over to the East there are lots of motorways and busy roads to cross. At Cricklade I had to cycle about a mile north to cross over the A419 and then a mile south before I could pick up the road I was on again.

During the afternoon I passed a pub and in need of a cup of tea I decided to stop. I joined two couples who were out for a Sunday cycle ride and after a while started to discussing my route. I was told that the road I was on didn't actually cross the Thames as I had thought. It was possible to cross via a couple of fields and then down to a lock. They kindly offered to show me the route, which I am very grateful for as I'm sure I'd never have found my way and would probably still been wandering around the fields now! So a big thank you for your help and generous donation for Toilet Twinning.

I soon arrived on the outskirts of Oxford, but managed to take a wrong turn which took me down a long hill, which I then had to come back up again. I soon found Tom and Ella's house. I didn't need to look for the number, when I saw the bikes I knew I was at the correct address.

I was made very welcome and shared a lovely meal with the family, in fact I was made so comfortable they were in danger of me not moving on!

But the next morning was sunny again and I headed of for Aylesbury which was a fairly short ride. Ella and her son were heading off at the same time as me so we cycled together for a short while before we waved goodbye.

Ooooo...lovely maps!

For the first part of this journey I have been using map pages cut from Richard's road map book (sorry Richard) as I didn't have the O.S.  Travelmaster for the South West. I had only cut out pages as far as Oxford and was now using the O.S. map. I soon realised that the map book pages were much easier to use as the scale was 2 ½ miles to the inch which was clear enough to read while I cycled. So once I arrived in Aylesbury and had been fed and watered I headed for town on the bus to buy a map book and some lip balm (no one  told me how sore my lips might get). 

Tuesday is a day off so I will spend my time cutting the pages I need from the map book.

Home from home

Day 9 Saturday 5th September Bath to Malmesbury

Malmesbury Abbey

My intention was to ride to Cirencester, about 33 miles and then find a place to stay when I arrived. As I would be passing through Malmesbury I decided to phone a friend who I had worked with many years ago and suggest meeting for a coffee. But she was going to Bath for the day and I was heading out of Bath. When I told her what I was doing she offered me a bed for the night, such a generous offer, and why would I refuse? This would mean an easy day, something that really appealed to me after such a long ride yesterday.

Getting out of Bath wasn't going to be easy. Route finding was not the problem, but which ever way you leave Bath it’s up hill!

Once at the top it was a pleasant ride along part of the Fosse Way. I even stopped for tea and lunch at a farm that was in the middle of nowhere. I took the opportunity to use the toilet and wow what a toilet, a very old porcelain toilet that was  decorated inside and out with blue flowers, the wash basin was an antique bowl and a jug of water. Sorry no picture of this loo.

It's just like being at home!

Journeys end for the day was in Malmesbury a lovely town with an abbey that had a fantastic Norman archway.  When I arrived at Jean's house I unloading my bike, had a quick cup of tea and then headed back with my friends to the town as it was carnival. The Scottish pipers in kilts, made me think of home and all the children at Lochdon Primary school. I have included this picture especially for you all. Perhaps you can find Malmesbury on your map.

If I knew then...

Day 8 Friday 4th September Taunton to Bath

More Loos That Need Twinning

Having been provided by Sara with a cycle route map of Taunton it made my exit very easy. I loved her cycle routes and was soon following the canal, enjoying it so much that I nearly missed my turn off.

A lady in the village asked me where I was going, so I told her the road I was taking and that I would stop at the Wetlands Centre (baskets) for coffee. She exclaimed saying that it was a very steep road and was called 13 bends road. I replied that it couldn't be as bad as Cornwall!!  She obviously thought otherwise. I made it up the hill with relative ease.

At the coffee shop I had a coffee, and as the brownie was dairy free I asked for the largest and bought some sandwiches to take with me. An added bonus was that cyclists got a 10% discount.

If I had known then what lay ahead maybe I wouldn't have hung around for so long.

The ride over the Somerset levels was lovely, it was hard to imagine that not long ago the whole area was under water.

I continued to Glastonbury but managed to bypass the town on the cycle routes. At one point a tree had fallen across the path which was too large to move so I had a choice, to risk life and limb on the busy, very narrow road which would mean turning back, or unload the bike, lift it over and then reload. I choose the latter.

I Love Baskety Stuff

I turned off the cycle path onto what should have been a quiet single track road. Unfortunately the main road was blocked so cars were using the route as a cut through. This meant I had to keep stopping as there was nowhere for the cars to pass.

I arrived in Wells by about 4 o’clock. I had a quick cup of tea and then continued up and over the Mendip hills (a very long drag).

At Radstock I picked up cycle route 24 which would take me all the way to Bath, about another 12 miles. Some of this was easy going and flat, while other bits were rough and hilly. On the approach to Bath there were two tunnels the first of which was was about  a mile long.

Having arrived in Bath I had to go down into the city centre then up again to my bed for the night, which was not the easiest place to find. It must have been about 8 o’clock before I walked through the door. I had cycled 67.68miles and was shattered!

What? No coffee!

Day 7. Exeter to Taunton

Do It Yourself Coffee

I left Exeter along cycle paths which should have been easy and they probably are if you know where you’re going. I knew I was heading for Taunton but had get out of the city first. After about an hour I reached the countryside.

Once on my way I finally started to enjoy the ride and decided to stop for coffee in Cullompton,  but as there where no coffee shops I had to resort to the flask. Refreshed I headed on.

I dropped down a long hill into Taunton and according to Google maps it should have been easy to find Sara’s house (my Warm Showers host). Having asked  a post man who sent me around the houses I asked a man with a phone and it wasn't long before I arrived at Sara’s house, parked the bike and had a nice cup of hot tea in my hand.

Sara and Moss

We had a lovely evening and I heard all about Sara's travels on her bike, far more adventurous than mine (maybe next year!)

Once again I was provided with a lovely meal and spent a little time catching up with emails and sorting the next days route. Sara was a great help and provided me with a cycle route map of Taunton and showed me a good route to cycle to Bath my next destination.

Minions in Bodmin

Day 7 Wednesday 2nd September

Two days blog to catch up on and I am still pushing the bike!

Left my Snoozebox at the Eden Project to head Callington via Bodmin moor. At least it was easier to find my way out than it was in. I wove my way through the lanes which were quiet but needless to say they were hilly with high hedges. After I had been riding for a couple of hours I saw a sign for a nursery which had a cafe so I decided that when I reached it I would have a coffee but first I had to get to the top of the hill. When I got there it was a small nursery in someone's garden where coffee was served with wonderful homemade cakes, just what I needed.

End to Enders

Refreshed I headed on over the moor, to the top at Minions and then down (well most of it was down) all the way to Callington. Where I was having my first night with a Warm Shower host. Ian was great once I had had a cup of tea and a shower he cooked me some supper and went over the following days route and reasured me that it would be the last of the difficult days in Cornwall by Thursday I would be in Devon. He also took me to an acoustic night at a pub.

Not quite at the top.

This morning after breakfast Ian checked and then put some air in my tires and I was on my way heading for Dartmoor. First stop was to be Tavistock where I would have a coffee. When I arrived I met a group of End to Enders having a break, they had the right idea, all were on road bike and there tea waggon was carrying all there luggage. They were surprised at the weight of the gear I was carrying on my bike, and no back up. I was given a cup of tea and a banana had some photos taken and then I headed off up the hill. They soon caught me up and passed me when I was pushing again!

The rest of the day was a mixture of long rides up and down with lovely views. It was a relief when I was finally dropping down into Exeter, Stuart had kindly cycled out to meet me to guide me to his house avoiding the rush hour traffic.