17th July 91km

A bad start lead to a better day. 

As the more perceptive of you may have noticed, occasionally my distances are a little 'round'. This has been the fault of my unreliable bicycle co-op computer. The magnet needs to almost touch the sensor for it to work and unless you turn it on, it ignores you. I bought it 'cause it was cheep. Lesson learned. 

This morning the thing started racking up the kilometres even when I was still. It was going crazy speeds and only stopped when out of range. As soon as it even hinted at being near the sensor it started racking up the miles again. I took out the battery. I took the battery out of the sensor. I thought about stamping on it. In the end it sort of died a death. It refused to acknowledge any miles. It had probably worn itself out. 

Now, I have said many a time that cycling is a head game. I can't cope without a computer. It helps me keep going knowing how far I've come and how far I've got to go. Knowing what speed I'm going stops me dawdling.  Heading off without one wasn't much of an option. So, I bought a new one. I took the time to set up the wheel size but apart from that I'm going to have to sort the rest later. 

After all that hassle I didn't set off until almost one. Then. Of course, I followed the wrong canal out of town. Not once but twice. 

When I finally got it right I found a cycle super highway along the correct canal. I'm not kidding when I say hundreds of cyclists. Most do a double take when they see me. Some say hello and occasionally I have a chat. 

I love seeing the people on motorised bikes. They glide along and look serene. Like a swan without the furious paddling. 

The canal took me three quarters of the way here. I did start to worry when I was running out of water but a cafe popped up, I had a waffle and then continued on my merry way. 

The last 20km were fairly tough. Firstly because I was tired and it was late but really because I was on a long straight road facing into the wind. There was even a few hills. 

A bit of bland pop with a good pace got me here (I'd been listening to a book but that tends to make me day dream rather than pedal). I've set up my tent and used the automatic check in. It gives you a pass card for the not really worth the effort facilities. Now, I'm going to have tea. 

Gallery 

Timely sustenance