London to Cambridge - Day 14

Date: September 1st, 2009
Distance: 62 miles
Country: England
Song of the Day: Pretend - Ellen Says No

Woke up late. Jay and I had been up talking and looking up weird stuff on the internet. So it was noon before I got out of bed. From there we went to have breakfast. Eggs and bacon, mmmmmm. It took me a little while after that to get all my stuff ready. So we didn't leave Jay's place until after 3:00. So that was a bit of a mistake.

He showed me the path along the canal. This would take me about half way to Cambridge. After that we said goodbye. Jay, thanks for everything. The route along the canal was pretty amazing. I promise to post some pictures of it soon. The scenerey was pretty. Every few miles they had a set of man powered locks. Really cool. And other than that it was a nice peacful ride. Though the side you were supposed to be on kept switching. Other than that it was great.

I did have one big disaster along the canal though. I lost my hat. I loved that hat. It was cheap, only $6 in L.A. But I got more compliments on that then just about any other clothing I have ever owned. Farewell good friend.

From there on things didn't get much better. I think I pulled something in my knee the last day in Iceland. It tends to hurt a bit when I go stoping around on my bike. So I have been trying to give that a rest. I don't feel anything when I am spinning. But at the same time spinning all day made me a bit saddle sore towards then in.

I also had a flat in a small town. First one of the trip. Turns out my tire wore through exposing the metal part to catch the rim. So that cut through the innertube like butter. I had to create a boot for it so that it wouldn't cut the new one. But that took an hour. By that point it was getting pretty dark.

I really don't like riding on dark country roads at night. Plus I forgot my giant red tail light in S. I also meant to pick up a front light before I left but things got rushed. So I was riding at night with no lights. The bags and my bike do have good reflectors though. At the same time I didn't trust a person to always see them. So when I would hear a car coming (a mile away) I would just pull over and let them pass. This wasn't actually too bad. There were probably less than a dozen cars going by. I also got a little help on the best route from a gas station attendant and customer. Thanks.

When I did get in to the camping site, the manager was very helpful. Plus I was able to get a nice warm shower before crawling into my tent. Tomorrow off to find a bike shop. Need a new tire, some tubes and a light or two. Also, I will try to get some pictures up.

-Dravis