So, it's three days after deciding to cycle to London and i can officially check that one off the list. A part of me still can't believe we did it! We started with a bit of a set-back as my cycling buddy had punctured his bike tire, while still in Cambridge. Might as well get all of the bad luck out of the way, eh? After deciding to use a mountain bike rather than the punctured road bike (we couldn't get the back wheel re-centered) we set off, around 11am. It was a bit cheeky to decide on the mountain bike since the gears didn't shift correctly, and the brakes weren't in top form, but a good cyclist on a bad bike and a bad cyclist on a good bike, and we were almost evenly matched (i ended up walking up some of the steeper hills rather than riding up them, my legs just gave up on me!) We had thought it would take us quite a while to get to London, but even with me continually slowing the pace we made it before nightfall, around 5 or 5:30ish. We're actually not sure where the official "London" area starts, as we didn't make it to the center of the city where all the touristy things are, but the greater London area is quite large. Regardless, we ended at what turned up to be our final destination ) a little over 6 hours after we left Cambridge (a 40 mile ride rather than a 50 mile ride--we just couldn't imagine riding on for another 10 miles!). It was a gorgeous day for the trip, and we saw the most adorable english villages and farmland, which i of course took no pictures of. I even forgot that i had my camera until jeremy asked if we were going to document the trip at all! So, here are some of the very few pictures that i took (i really wish i had taken more!). The adrenaline rush from the ride has gone down, but that feeling of being able to do anything still survives. I can't wait til we decide on the next epic adventure.
This is actually going backwards, I'm not sure what's wrong with this website! it's uploading my pictures all weird. anyway, the end of our journey, tired, sweaty, and absolutely exhilarated. (and yes mom, we wore helmets). About time for a Sunday Roast and a cold pint. what a great way to end the ride..
and this is the turn where we got lost. We were supposed to turn left after we passed this farm, but we went about a mile to far past it before we realized that we weren't on the right trail anymore--oops! But, really, it wouldn't have been a decent adventure without getting a bit lost at least once :) this was a little over 1/2 way to london, we think.
This is looking back on a small detour we took into a field for a bit of a rest and stretching our legs, we've gone about 1/3 of the way . . . only about 27 miles left to go!This is a gorgeous lake that we rode by, it's not quite springtime, but you can tell that once the trees start getting their leaves this place will be beautiful.
