Pedalling time: 6hrs 32mins
Weather: Dull and mild
Weather: Dull and mild
Total distance: 126 miles
After what Alex described as a 'reasonable' breakfast and having waved goodbye to Vincent, the friendly YHA warden, we set off for what was to be a gruelling 71 miles. The flatness of the fens helped whizz us along up through Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, but after cycling on what were Roman Roads for 5 miles in a straight line, it became somewhat trance-like as that landmark you thought was just a mile away seemed to taunt you by never gettting any closer. The cycle routes in and around Cambridge were fantastic and we'd like to thank the planners of Cambridgeshire County Council for being so thoughtful. We stopped outside Kings College to sup lemonade in the glorious sunshine and rest our warped legs.
Outside the fenland hovell of Whittlesey, a very kind chap screeched to a halt in a cloud of dust at the side of the road, leaped out, thrust £10 in our sweaty hands and tore off again towards some godforsaken fenland town. Everyone seems to look mutated in some way around here.
Arriving under darkness into Thurlby we were ecstatic to still be alive, but were struck with the horrific news upon entering the hostel that the only pub in the village didn't serve food that evening, and the hostel wasn't liable for death!* We were left however, with the hope of a takeaway menu and selected a respectable looking Italian Pizzeria - this turned out to be an Indian Takeaway serving pizzas that didn't even understand their own menu. After much handwaving in the dark to flag down the delivery man on a housing estate the monstrous food arrived - little did we know what a treat we were in for...
*The sign at reception read "YHA is not liable for death caused by any means other than by YHA negligence" (We took this to include not serving food and starvation and therefore our parents would not get any compensation!)
No comments:
Post a Comment