29 May 2014 (cloudy, mild, late rain) 70 km

Had a fantastic sleep in our cosy room at the Counting House and admit it would be lovely if we could afford to bed and breakfast it every night.  The luxury of a hot shower, clean linen, internet access, a tv and a kettle to make a hot drink whenever you feel like it is much appreciated after a day’s riding.  Even though we only wanted to do between 40-50 km yesterday to keep the strain off my knee, we ended up doing 63 km as we couldn’t find anywhere to stop before then without going miles out of our way.  I only felt twinges for the last twenty km so hopefully it will be fine today.

Lyn with the adorable Daley

One of the great things about travelling is the people you meet.  Lyn, her daughter Sharron and husband Tony and even little dog Daley were all extremely welcoming and staying at their b&b was an absolute joy.  We each had another fantastic shower this morning and agree that English showers have come a long way in the last twenty-five years. We haven’t struck a bad one yet.

At 9.00am we went downstairs for a delicious full English breakfast and a lovely chat with Lyn.  Then it was onto google maps to get directions for the day, pack up all our now dry belongings and we finally hit the road at 11.15am.  It was cloudy and dull and the weather could have done anything but one thing it was not, was cold.  So by midday we were in tank tops and even getting the odd patch of sunshine.

Pete here….And did those feet………in ancient times……..walk upon Englands mountains green……….

And did the holy lamb of God……Okay….Okay….. lets not get too carried away…….

Yes the cycling today was fantastic……..the roads for most of the ride were just what you want as a cycle tourer………the scenery was divine and even the cloud cover was perfect for good riding……..but as anyone who knows me will know, words like holy and God aren’t really applicable in my writing, so lets get back to the adventure !

Towcester is famous for horse racing and not too far down the road is Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix.

Began by leaving Towcester by crossing the A 43 which as anyone familiar with the British roading system will know,  A roads are very busy roads.  Got across there safely and headed to Abthorpe, Wappenham and Syresham.  

Weather looking dodgy but we managed to stay
dry for most pf the day.

Travelling along these roads was steady and peaceful with very few vehicles to worry about.  A sign at Syresham informed us that it was voted best village in 2008 2009 2010 2013. Wow ! That’s impressive…….. In fact, the sign was the most impressive part. We are seeing villages to die for everyday and they all have something to offer, but this one was very plain.

We figured that someone on the village council had put through all the paperwork to nominate their village whilst the other more deserving hamlets, probably didn’t even know there was a competition on. Through Biddleston and Westbury (who both could have won the best village award as well) passing lovely thatched cottages, gorgeous cottage gardens and the odd manor house along the way.  At around 1.00pm we stopped for lunch in Fringford at The Butchers Arms.

Lunch stop for today

There we were once again the talk of the pub, who couldn’t believe we were cycling so far.

Enjoyed a lovely lunch over drinks and had a nice chat with Pat the owner before taking off under sunny skies heading toward Stratton Audley where we were taking shots of the manor house, when a lady pulled up to enquire what we were doing. Turned out she was the owner’s sister who lived across the road in her own variety of manor house. Talk about MINTED !!!   Anyway she told us it wouldn’t be a problem, but she would ring her sister to let her know.

Through Launton, turned left over the A41 to Ambrosden. From here the roads became busier and as we went through Merton the clouds by now were threatening. Pulled over under a large tree to put our jackets on as by now the rain was falling steadily. We’d done so well to evade the rain today but it was coming in hard and fast by now and our huge tree wasn’t having much effect keeping us dry. With a drop in rain intensity we took off for Islip heading for Oxford. Unfortunately the deterioration in weather coincided with knock off time and the road was busy with cars splashing through the puddles beside us.  Mercifully the English are very patient drivers in general, so it was just noisy and wet rather than dangerous. Turned onto the B4027 briefly which was even busier and then turned off for Woodeaton with a big sigh of relief.  Woodeaton was yet another picturesque village but still raining so we didn’t stop for any photos.  As we got closer to Oxford it did stop raining but the roads got even busier.  We reached the suburbs and went looking for a track by the Cherwell River we had seen on google maps.  After being directed by a man in a suit we found ourselves following this very muddy track with stinging nettles growing either side.  It was a case of déjà vu but we kept persevering hoping this section would be over soon, but instead came upon a kissing gate which we had no hope of getting the bikes through.  So we had to turn round and retrace our muddy wheel ruts.  Found our way to a sealed cycle path to Summertown and decided to b&b it again as we were wet and muddy and did not relish the thought of putting up a tent in the wet and having to pack up a wet tent in the morning.  The weather is supposed to clear tomorrow so we can camp then we reckon.

Came across Burlington House which is a five star b&b which was a bit beyond what we wanted but by now it was 7.00pm and we’d done 70km and we just wanted to stop cycling, so we booked a room.  My knee had been reminding me all day that I needed to take it easy – thank goodness it was mostly flat today.  It was with great relief we had yet another great English shower and then walked down the road to Sainsbury’s to buy a cheap sandwich and pork pie dinner.  Returned to our room to eat them along with a  nice hot cuppa, wrote about the day’s events, then bed.