A sure sign of a tough ride is when I start my chorus of “What’s the distance now?” “How much further?” “How far have we got left?” I’ve only sung that chorus once before since being in England and that was a day early on when it was freezing cold and we had pouring rain,... Continue Reading →

Farewell, goodbye, safe travels… This was our absolute final farewell to Len and Pauline, Steve’s parents, as they headed towards Manchester and then their flight home to Tassie. It’s been wonderful to have been able to catch up with them three times now, in three different countries - France, Scotland and England. We have rendezvoused... Continue Reading →

Tuesday, July 14 Oh, Market Rasen, you are not giving us the best of greetings or farewells. Come on now! We arrived in town in the rain and as we prepared to leave this morning, it was, once again, raining! The  continual grey skies, mist and drizzle are, on the one hand, a little bit... Continue Reading →

On your marks…get set…GO! And they're off, the two cyclists have set off at a cracking pace, they take the bend, and they’re round the corner, ooh they’re slowing down, but no, they’ve regained momentum and they’re taking the hill, they’ve left the peloton behind them and they’re powering ahead. Oh, what a swift tactical... Continue Reading →

Saturday, July 11 Today was the day! Time to get back in the saddle and back on the bikes and hit the pedals once more. Yay! The day dawned warm and sunny and we packed up our gear, loaded up, mounted our steeds, got a feel for them again and prepared to ride out of... Continue Reading →

To the tune of ‘The Grand Old Duke of York’…   The grand ol’ town of York It rates ten out of ten I walked the walls, the streets and the parks And I walked them ‘round again   When I walked on the wall I was up When I walked by the river I... Continue Reading →

OK, enough of the TV references now, time to get some history and culture back into my system. Oh, before I do, I’ll just give a brief weather report, since that seems to have been such an ongoing part of this blog. The report for the day is…sunshine! Yes indeedy-do…SUNSHINE! Shining of the sun…all day!... Continue Reading →

Yes, your powers of observation are accurate, that is indeed rain! That was the start to our day once again and in fact, it was our entire day…pouring rain (with the occasional very, very brief break), wind and the Met Office had forecast “12C feels like 9C” and they were spot on! That’s the summer... Continue Reading →

Mmmm, comfy bed! I wish we could have stayed a few days at the nice hotel in Windermere, just so I could have a few more night’s sleep in that bed! I reckon that would break my 4:30 am wake up pattern, because after just one night I made it through to 5:30, so a... Continue Reading →

Today we saw some scenery that was absolutely breathtaking. Simply stunning in its beauty and grandeur. First a Steve moment…you may remember a while ago I mentioned a few indiscreet and amusing encounters I’d had with men in unisex toilets? Well, it turns out Steve is potentially one of those men! We had been sitting... Continue Reading →