So on the 24th I had my pack done & was ready to go, handing over was completed and there was a heatwave so weather was perfect. I did a last check of the bicycle, topped up the tyre pressures and off I was. I was wearing normal clothes and got going but soon I realised I need to change to biking gear as it was getting really hot. Luckily I had a 3litre bladder & 0.5ltr bottle that I could rehydrate from. As it was still partial lockdown hardly anything was open except supermarkets.
I put on my google maps to find a way down south and it took me to national cycling ways which was much better than public roads (in UK they're very narrow). I started down the Wirral south coast and ended almost to Chester where I then ventured a bit into Wales. It was getting hotter and hotter and I was really sweating my 'nads off.
Sometime around 7pm I was having enough of it and thought to stop somewhere for the night but I was in the middle of nowhere in the Welsh countryside so I thought that I'll rough it and found a quiet field (or so I thought) where I could nod off. I did not have any sleeping bag but a rainponcho and some warmer clothes. Little did I know that the night was not going to be very pleasant, after the sun set the humidity came up and the temperature went down so I was getting colder and colder, the field was not soft and I was tossing and turning. In the middle of the night a car drove into the field and a man discharged garden cuttings and later on early morning another car raced through it to an unknown destination. Also the nightly sounds of sheep and cows were coming over from the distance.
I managed a bit of sleep but as the dawn was showing at the horizon I was getting ready to go because I was cold and hungry. The morning was not getting any better as I found the front tyre flat. I pumped it up and after 5minutes it was empty again. So it was off walking. As I was hiking along I passed some houses after a couple hours and there was a man that saw my predicament and I asked it they knew of any repair shops nearby open. He did not know but he had a repair bottle that could be sprayed into the tyre making it airtight until I could get to the next village. I was very grateful and tried to offer some payment but he would not have it.
Having my front tyre fixed I got going and I was still hungry so next task was getting some food, I next passed Bangor on Dee age and got some energy drinks, energy bars and sandwiches to go. I continued through and stopped in a small park by river Dee to enjoy a late breakfast and it was warm and sunny I fell asleep for awhile. When I woke up I started again on my trek towards Ellesmere. As I was approaching Ellesmere the front tyre gave up again and I was on foot, luckily google showed a repair shop there but indicated it closed.
I was descending by foot into Ellesmere a car stopped by me as he saw my flat tyre, the driver told me to go few hundred meters forward and stop at his house as he had all gear to fix my problem. I did so and it turned out the gent was a bicycle enthusiast himself and he dismantled my bicycle front and started looking for what was leaking, in the end it turned out that the inner tube had ruptured just by the filling vent. Unfortunately I did not have a spare inner tube (sop much so he gave me an old one until I got to the next village that had a bicycle shop. Chatted awhile with the man and it turned out he was a furloughed tourist bus driver so he had all the time on his hands while waiting for the lockdown to lift. Again I tried to offer payment for the work he did for me but he would not have it, I couldn't even offer a pint at the local as everything was shut.
Meanwhile he was putting the tube & tyre back on I looked for a place to stay as the day was coming to an end. I managed to get a room at the Red Lion inn near the centre. Having had a nice shower and eaten the rest of my sandwiches from Bangor it was lights out for me.
Next day I stopped by a breakfast place and bought a set of sandwiches to go and continued more south towards Shrewsbury. It was not long before I reached Shrewsbury where I bought a spare inner tube & gloves, my hands were killing me and I started realizing that the cycling position I was in was probably a bit too long outreach. Anyway, I kept on going along the Severn river, lovely scenery & I stopped at a field next to the cyclepath for lunch.
Afternoon brought a more hillier scenery and as the day wore on I had to walk up the hills, my pack was just too heavy and my energies were exhausted but I kept going as I had booked a room at Bulls Head in Chelmarsh. Again it was after a shower and sandwich lights out.
My nights sleep was restless I think because the TV was on standby and it emitted a tinny noise, too bad I discovered it only in the morning. Again I was really hungry & packed up and started cycling to closest Co-op for more sandwiches.
Grabbed a quick feed at a parking lot & got going, was still having hilly scenery and I stopped later in afternoon for lunch in a field. Then I kept going, it was still sunny and hot and I kept sweating like a pig. As I was going I crossed a set of train tracks and there was a station next to the crossing. I stopped and checked the timetable and there was a train coming in 15mins.
That was it, I had had enough of sandwiches so I decided I'll train the rest of the way into London, after all I had reached over halfway from Birkenhead so boarded in Hartlebury. The train backtracked a bit into Birmingham where I changed trains and got all the way into Watford junction, there I changed onto another train to Harlesden station. My brother met me at the station and then we cycled to his pad at Shepherds Bush.
It was a nice way to travel but would have been nicer had there been some proper food & lodgings available as all pubs and restaurants were still closed and not many hotels were open either. I also realized that weight of pack is important, I was carrying a lot of unnecessary gear. Anyway, you live and you learn, I hope I'll be able to bike tour soon again... I decided not to push onwards onto Europe as I was not in a very good shape and I didn't have the time either so I left the bicycle into my brothers care...
