June 14, 2024 to June 19, 2024
Lincoln and London
pubs and sightseeing
Debbie's getting to become as familiar with the cycle path into Lincoln almost as well as me. The alternative is a busy road.
Since I was in Lincoln two years ago, a small road bridge over the river at the end of the route has been closed as it needs some repairs. My brother says it's privately owned and is unlikely to be reopened for a long time, and it means we have to lug our bikes over an old footbridge which has steps at either end, then double back a bit to get to the east or north of Lincoln. We do that a few times after riding along the path to meet up with friends and look around the shops.
There's a coffee shop I take Debbie to near the center that I've been frequenting since I arrived, as I like to sit outside at one of four small tables and people watch. One day we after coffee we make our way to the top part of Lincoln, riding through the Arboretum, a large park created back in the 1870s. When I was a child, it was where my friends and I would often walk, and play hide and seek or whatever - it's just at the top of the street where I lived. Ball games were not allowed and park wardens would trail after us to make sure we obeyed the rules, but I don't see any wardens now. The city council probably can't afford them. CCTV is cheaper. I'm not sure cycling is actually allowed, but there are few people to worry about... and no wardens to shout at us.
Debbie wants to buy cheap gifts for family and friends and searches for England T-shirts in a few different supermarkets, but without any luck. We also hit various charity shops to see if we can get any bargains, but don't find anything. One has a bunch of cycling shirts that seem to have come from a maker that had surplus stock. Unfortunately they're all too small for me.
And of course there are pubs to relax in and beer to be drunk with friends and my younger brother.
On Saturday, we buy train tickets for a journey down to London for Sunday and the bikes get left at Dave's. It's a fast journey and we've booked two nights in a hotel just north of Hyde Park, which we end up walking though after getting frustrated on the Tube - one line we want to take is closed for some reason. It's actually a nice stroll with the weather being much better than forecast, but when we see rental bikes available, we wish that we'd downloaded the app. Riding would help us cover a lot more ground.
England play in the Euros on Sunday night and there's a pub with a TV not too far from the hotel. The next couple of days are spent sightseeing. We walk across to Portabello market on Monday morning then hang around Covent Garden before seeing The Mousetrap at night.
The stay in the capital feels just as tiring as cycling up hills, as we trek around the various places. We'll see how we get on in Wales, which is where we plan to ride for about a week once we're back in Lincoln. Timing just depends on the weather forecast being decent.
Back along the cycle path and over the footbridge into Lincoln, we spot a few old mirrors in a charity shop, and I know Ruby is looking for some for an upcoming wedding, so text her and send a snap. Rather than meet at the cafe, she drives over to buy them and we then meet up for lunch.
The fourth and last cycle trip is in England/Wales, and as the forecast is good, we buy train tickets and book the bikes on one leaving tomorrow - Thursday. We'll start cycling from a town called Wellington and ride to Shrewsbury. It'll get hilly.
Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 711 km (442 miles)
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