London! We made it. It was actually a really great ride today with perfect weather. May have been the easiest arrival into a major city we have ever had.
763 miles total. They weren’t all easy but I guess if they were it wouldn’t feel like such an accomplishment. All of the friendly folks we met and everything we got to see and do along the way made it well worth it.
Going to enjoy London for a few days.
Camped just a few miles away, it was a quick ride over to Stonehenge! We had been looking forward to this and it was great to finally see this iconic site. Got to ride the bikes from the visitor center all the way to the stones.
While there we chatted up a fellow cycle tourist named Juergen who we had met the night before at the campground. When we were done taking it all in, we took a backroad (mostly gravel) out of the site. Apparently google maps saw this and thought we loved gravel roads and we spent the rest of the day trying to negotiating some pretty rough terrain.
The 47 miles felt a lot longer and we were glad to get the tent set up as the rain was starting. We were so exhausted we were glad to eat dinner in the tent.
Pro Tip: When you don’t want to carry a heavy glass jar of jelly, this works just as well (and is probably healthier).
Short one today and great weather. It’s a good thing because there was a bit of a hiccup with the google map directions routing us through an active military artillarly range! Also, the 20 mi of bike path we thought we had was all gravel. It was still cool though as it ran along a canal in which there were many narrow boat houses. We watched a few navigate a lock. We are finally back to camping and this place is great. Just a few miles away from an historic site…
The weather still does not want to cooperate so we are taking a rain day and only rode 17 miles down a bike path to Bath. Lots to see (and eat) here so it was a great place to spend the day. First we of course found food. This may have been our only cooked breakfast since the trip began.
Then, we went to the Roman Baths, a bath house built by the romans in the 1st century CE. They had been buried until they were rediscovered by the victorians who had their own spin on restoration.
After a bit more exploration of the city, We had some great Indian food for dinner. Fingers crossed but the weather is looking good for the next couple of days.
Another great day of riding. When I suggested making it to a vegan restaurant 65 mi away when we first started it seemed crazy. It was supposed to start raining in the early afternoon, so we had several hotel options marked out along the way (we learned our lesson). But the first 25 mi were easy riding and done pretty quickly. Then, we had open road with very little directions to follow for the next 20, while crossing into England. By the time our last hotel option came around we were 17 mi from the restaurant and hadn’t felt a drop of rain. We decided to go for it and rode like the wind. Made it with plenty of time. Bingeing on junk food is guilt free when you are riding this much.
While we ate we found a hotel just one mile away. It started raining before we left but out spirits were sky high. Topping the day of at an English pub that has been around since 1500. Not bad.
A change in plans today. We decided we needed a hotel for a night so we headed in a more direct route. It turned out to be a really great day with lots of paths and although it was cloudy not a drop of rain! All the signs here are in Welsh and English.
While we had stopped for a moment to check directions, we noticed that google maps listed a primate sanctuary that was only 0.3 mi from where we were at that moment. It didn’t take us long to decide to take the detour. All of the animals there came from really terrible circumstances. Its always sad to see any animal in a cage but they seemed well cared for in their current home. We recommend a trip to the Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary. This is Toto.
Made it to our hotel in time for a shower and dinner than went immediately to bed. It was great.
After a short ride we caught the ferry to Wales. By the time we got off the boat there was a light rain but we pushed on toward our planned stop. Our route went through Pembrokeshire Nathional Park. The hills were an insane 20% grade up and down, over and over. On top of that the weather never cooperated.
We decided to look for any alternative. But finding nothing we eventually made it to our campground. Luckily they were nice enough to let us set up the tent under some cover.
Less of a shoulder and more traffic than we would like but drivers have been very courteous.
Google Maps cycling directions have been pretty good to us. Although, today we found a little stretch of sand that Google thought would be good for riding.
Creative tacos on the menu for dinner tonight. It’s been pretty easy to find good dinner options from the grocery stores around here thankfully.
A short ride to the ferry in the morning. Leaving for Wales. It’s sad to be leaving Ireland but we will certainly be back.