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Saturday 6th June 2015 Home to Aylesford Well I finally got under way, having grown increasingly nervous over the preceding two days, checking lists, checking and rechecking packing and so on. This time the panniers weighed in at 8.6 kilograms (19lb) which was a healthy improvement on the 10 kg of the LeJog trip, plus I wasn't carrying a sleeping mattress and bivvy bag this time, just trusting to luck that I'd find somewhere to stay each night.
The day was warm and sunny with a few cumulus clouds drifting along to break up the heat of the sun's rays. Trisha was away at a WI trip to Centre Parcs so there was only Amber here to give me a hug, take my start photo and wave me goodbye this morning.
I set off at 8.50 and expected today's leg of the journey to be 55 miles but I was out by about 10 miles, some of that down, no doubt, to wandering off course a few times - the bright, sunny conditions made reading the GPS screen difficult. From Ware I rode down the River Lea towpath to Stansted Abbots then along the road to Roydon, arcing east and south until I reached the Thames crossing at Tilbury. That last stretch to Tilbury seemed to take forever, on and on it went, but I finally got to the ferry landing at about 2.45 and then had to wait till about 3.10 to get the ferry (£3).
The crossing was straightforward but according to the bike computer I'd already done a stonking 48 miles at this point, compared to the modest 40 miles I'd expected it to be. Time rolled on and I passed through Rochester untroubled then finally made it to the Lower Bell pub at Aylesford by about 6.00.
The pub was having a private function that night and was going to close to the public at 7.00 so I had to order my food right there and then with no time even to get showered or changed. I ordered a veggy-burger and chips with apple pie and custard to follow then sat there in the bar in my sweaty, smelly cycling gear until the food came.
My phone had died by this time so I couldn't contact Trisha till I got to my room and plugged it in via the charger. I washed my underpants, socks and cycle shirt in the sink but there was no hair-drier to help me get them dry - in the end I employed the tried and tested towel-twisting technique and supplemented it by boiling a kettle and wrapping the socks and underpants round it to benefit from the heat generated. That worked slowly but well enough - you have to improvise on these trips. After eating and showering there was nothing really to do, not with the pub being closed, so it was an early night for me. Bike computer: 64.6 miles GPS: 66.3 miles 9.2 mph avg 29.6 mph max 3284 ft ascent | |||||||
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