Given that I'm planning to more or less cross a continent in my real tour, a ride from Oxford to Lincolnshire to see Grandpa was not overambitious. With northerly headwinds and a detour through Lincoln city the ride up took two days. I was unsuccessful in arranging a WarmShowers stay for the journey up; this presented me with the opportunity to discreetly wild camp in a hidden corner of a farmer's field. Pitching at dusk and leaving by dawn meant I didn't upset anyone. There will be a lot more of that in the year to come I suspect... On the way home the winds eased considerably but I was still grateful for the boost of a tailwind. With the comforts of home acting as a magnet, I managed to return journey of 146 miles in one long day's pedalling.
I used torn out pages from my road atlas, briefly annotated, as the main navigational tool and then backed up with my smartphone for tricky points in towns. Being able to cover long stretches on the National Cycle Network was a real treat. For example, the track between Northampton and Market Harborough follows a disused railway line, is virtually flat and completely car-free. This network is a national treasure!
Lessons learnt - don't regularly cycle 146 miles in one day; I was surprisingly ache-free the next day but completely fatigued. Secondly, I may reluctantly need to invest in some padded cycling shorts. Every seam of clothing that touched the saddle became painfully imprinted on my backside - I won't provide a photo of this but trust me, it rapidly gets from slightly wearing to full on agony. I have to cross the threshold and accept lycra into my life.
