York to Redford 58 miles

Apparantly, YHA breakfasts are a proper breakfast. I think SYHA should take note. There were eggs and beans and sausages and bacon and toast and tea and coffee and juice and cereal and fruit and yogurt. I left feeling quite full.

I took my time and had a look around York (buying some new trainers) before going to the station to meet dad. After a game of phone tig compounded by poor reception we found each other, loaded our bikes and set off. Meeting someone else (I have been on one ride with another person in the past 10 years) through me a little. I had forgotten to buy my usual flapjack and juice but had remembered the important things, a new pair of trainers.

Dad had picked out a route to Selby following the river and then on to Retford avoiding Doncaster and Scunthorp. Dad had bought with him the good weather and for once, the sun was shining.

The path to Selby was pleasant but it was also our first encounter with the dreaded corn flies. I didn't take a picture at the time and have trawled the internet for something to indicate how horrible these pesky little buggers are. They are tiny black flies that stick to your skin, get in your mouth, up your nose, down your top and crawl around on your glasses. They don't bite or sting, they simply sit there and irritate. By the time we got to Selby (not a lovely town) we were covered. Sunshine: good. Associated wildlife: bad.

There were no avoiding the flies so we carried on along the straight flat roads. It's amazing, having never spent much time in that part of the country I don't think I grasped quite how flat it was. And, it looks so English. All cornfields and hedgerows, the occasional grazing cow. Who knew.

However, in that part of the country people don't eat. This is the only conclusion I can draw. After Selby we had aimed to stop again for a sit down and a cuppa but, there was no where. No super markets, no pubs, not even a petrol station. We passed lots of funeral directors, an immigrant removal centre and several dog breeders but places to provide sustenance, no.

Eventually we found a cost cutters, apparently a destination most people drove to as it was the only shop for miles around and got ourselves something to eat. We spent most of the day on long straight flat roads and eventually arrived at our destination, Retford Travel Lodge. We put our bikes in the room and went out for tea.