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As luck would have it our house near Boroughbridge is almost exactly half way between Land’s End and John O’Groats. This made it a very convenient place to factor in a rest day, and as I sit here in my study typing between sips of beer it feels like remarkably good planning!
The first 20 miles today was all about hills. There was a big descent from Eyam to Grindleford. Then a nasty climb out of Grindleford to Fox House which, although long was never actually that steep so I was able to plod up it. I certainly didn’t find it as easy as the chap who passed me on an E-Bike; those things definitely have a future in getting people into cycling. After Fox House came the long (and fun) drop into Sheffield, which I did at pace stopping just to have a look at my old flat in Sharrow Vale road for old time’s sake.
Heading north from Meadowhall I joined the Trans Pennine cycle route. Whilst it is a great route in its own right, my love/hate relationship with cycle paths culminated today and the conclusion wasn’t positive! The time wasted navigating, lifting the bike over gates (often every half mile) and the limited speed that can be achieved on poor surfaces is just too much a price to pay. I abandoned the cycle path and followed road signs for Garforth, where I met up with Jim and Helen who bought me a drink to boost my morale with 25 miles to go.
I did notice that everywhere I went today it looked as if there had just been a tremendous downpour; standing water, wet cars and the like. Despite this I didn’t get rained on at all. It is clearly too early in the journey to call me ‘lucky’ as it could all go wrong next week, but I was very pleased to escape the rain today.
Tomorrow – A well earned rest day, during which I’m looking forward to spending time with my girls and eating lots!