Thunder Road

Dan and I set off from Queen’s Park on Friday afternoon (18^th July) and headed north out of London. I hadn’t eaten any breakfast – too busy packing in the morning; tweaking my trailer to discard as much unnecessary weight as possible. I discarded my waterproofs, but chucked them back in at the end. Anyway, we both decided we just wanted to get going and crack on, so Gabor, who works at my college in Queen’s Park snapped this photo of us and we set off. G­abor also told us there would be a light shower in the evening….

Not having a substantial meal before we set off was a big mistake, and by Edmonton we were starving. We stopped by a Tesco to have a couple of sandwiches each. It was nice to set down after a frustrating slow crawl through North London’s bus-heavy traffic.  Obligatory bike photos were taken.

Some nice stencil graffiti was spotted on the way out of Edmonton, and over the course of a few miles more Beatles lyrics appeared. This one is my favourite Beatles lyric; possibly favourite lyric of all time. Certainly I think it’s true.

We headed North out of London and it was HOT, 32 celcius. Before Harlow there were a lot of hills and we both had to stop at the top of one of them to find some shade. We took some clothes off down and just lay on the grass. I felt I might have to stop for some time as I was feeling really dizzy, my face felt like it was wobbling. At the main road a lorry hit a family car, and it was a reminder to us  both to be careful and make sure we were cool and clearheaded enough to maintain a straight line when cycling.

Down into Harlow and further along the route became very flat, and as night began to fade, about 70 miles from London we decided to stop for a bite to eat at the White Hart in Coggeshall. They’d stopped serving but luckily agreed to do us a couple of Ultimate Burgers. I won’t go into too much detail because I am not in the business of making people feel jealous. But I will say that there were many tasty ingredients and it was fucking yummy. We got chatting to “Tricky Dickie From Billericay” and his friends, and they were really enthusiastic about our trip.  They clubbed together and threw us £20 for beer and  £35 sponsorship for the charities I am fundraising for here http://www.charitychoice.co.uk/fundraiser/madnewtrides

Here’s a photo of Tricky Dicky and chums at the White Hart in Coggeshall, Essex. Tricky Dicky is on the far right.

Their kindness really touched me, and didn’t end there. A storm had started and it was becoming quite serious: forked lightning lit the sky up and was striking very close to us. The rain was heavy and the wind was strong. Pushing on agter dinner didn’t seem like an option. Tricky Dickie had a word with the barman, and he agreed to turn a blind eye to us sheltering in their carport for the night. We set up a makeshift camp there. It was late, midnight, and with 32 miles yet to go I didn’t fancy setting up my tent, so I made a make shift shelter by tying my groundsheet to my trailer and a chair. It worked and I managed to get a good 4 hours sleep. It was nice to sleep outside without a tent. I hadn’t done it before.  Here’s a photo of Camp Matthew in the Carpark of the White Hart.

We woke at 4, taking a leisurely if slightly wet ride to Harwich through country lanes and backroads, arriving at Harwich at 8am, and rolling straight onto the ferry. I was glad that I took my waterproofs afterall. Desperate for a shower we paid £24 for a cabin, and now it’s time to catch up on some sleep, wash myself and my clothes and prepare for the road ahead to Istanbul. Tonight we will camp in Rotterdam and I’m looking forward to meeting up with my mate Marc for a few drinks at the campsite.