After a restful night, and not having to pack away a wet tent, I was away at 8, just after it had got light, and onto the A5 straight away. This was the only practical option to get out of Milton Keynes and I had lots of possibilities to get onto quieter roads when a few miles out, but the road was not very busy and had a good shoulder in places, so I stayed on it until Lutterworth by which time my stomach insisted going to find somewhere for something to eat.

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The riding was fairly uneventful, apart from an 8 wheeled tipper lorry with an obvious distaste for cyclists whom I emptied the air horn on. In England these lorries have by far the worst attitude towards cyclists, and I am cut up by them far more than any other type of vehicle. The temperature has droppped noticeably since yesterday, and the jacket and gloves stayed on all day. Maybe the "Arctic weather" my mother warned me about is coming (that's a probable frost and possible snow).

My saddle had developed quite a sag today, and when I stopped to tension it noticed that the tensioning bolt had cracked. The crack got worse as the day progressed, and expecting it to break I repositioned the saddle and got lots of cable ties attached so that if it did snap it would hopefully not injure me. Fortunately I was able to limp to Just Bikes in Ashby, a well stocked independant bike shop with a very helpful owner that some roadies had told me about, and buy a replacement brooks B17 saddle.

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I am now at the National Forest Youth Hostel at Moira, a very well appointed and modern hostel where I will spend my last night before riding back into Sheffield tomorrow with a rock hard and not broken in saddle. I expect to bring a little piece of Canada back, and be walking like a cowboy on Thursday.