ANOTHER GREAT DAY.

I woke up shortly before 8 am then a knock on the door and Carolyne brought up a cup of tea. I lay there until I was awake then went down for a fantastic breakfast. Last night I'd asked not to have an egg and it was a nice break.

Mervyn was on his way out to work but he showed me how to use the information channels on the TV. You can select sheets of information about anything you could imagine.. I got the weather for the area then got the top LPs and singles in the US. It seems I'll have to pick up a few albums!

By 9:30 I was ready to leave but the weather looked menacing. I went on my way hoping the rain would wait. As I moved along the edge of the Cotswolds, it was so beautiful that I didn't notice when all of a sudden the sun was out. The wind was to my right so the going wasn't too bad. I just stayed in sixth gear and flew into Woodstock.

I went straight to tourist information then headed to Blenheim Palace - home of Sir Winston Churchill. I couldn't believe it, but it was even better than every other. The other nice thing was that I put all the bags into a locked room so I was free once I'd locked the bike to a fence.

I did the wrong thing - I went along with the tour guide so I didn't spend as much time as I'd wished in each room. We were just sort of whisked through. The palace is home to the 11th Duke of Marlborough. As it was, I spent 2-1/2 hours here. The gardens were beautiful, too, but I'm not as interested in them. Much of the furniture is Louis XIV as he and the Duke were friends. The library was a light pastel yellow with white moldings. In other rooms were guilt-covered ceiling pieces.

Once I was out I got lunch at a grocery store and just sat and ate then I headed to Oxford. The road was very busy so I was relieved when I found a bike path right into the city. I think it's because of the University that there are great cycle facilities and about a zillion cyclists and cycles absolutely everywhere.

I thought Cambridge was nice. It's nothing to Oxford. I think it's the oldest university and I know it's the oldest city. It reminded me of the University of Toronto in the way that there are pieces of it all over the place. So many of the buildings are centuries old and beautiful and very clean.

I found a B&B guest house for £11. It's high but I figured for the city, only one night and a big breakfast, I could do it once. I went to a cycle shop where I asked about putting in a new spoke. Tomorrow I'll bring it in so I can see which tool I need to get behind the sprockets. I'll get the piece, have a new spoke put in then true the rim before I leave. It'll take a while as I'll have to take the time off to change the spoke. What a pain. I'd better do it as my rim is already bent.

I continued downtown and walked through the downtown area past many university buildings. I went into a few shops to find something for Shelley but found absolutely nothing. I went to a few record shops so when I'm in London I'll know what prices to expect and exactly what I want. I found out that the new Genesis won't be out here 'til June 9th.

I stoped in a grocery store for supper then just sat on a bench and ate. I was done at 6 pm but I was really exhausted so I walked back by way of the University Parks (amazing) and stopped to watch a cricket match. It was very interesting but I was getting cold so I kept on and finally got back to the B&B at 7 pm. I must be pushing too hard on the bike. A nerve in my right foot feels 'weird', my right knee is swollen and my Achilles tendon in my right angle hurts again. Each day I'm cutting the cycling more and more because of it.

Tomorrow after I've repaired Bike, I'll head to Windsor which seems about 65 km away. I'll look around the city tomorrow if I have time and I'm awake, then I'll spend Saturday in Windsor Castle. I get the feeling it will be even better than Blenheim! On Sunday I'll move along south of London to arrive in Hadleigh on Monday or Tuesday rather than Wednesday. I can get more rest that way and if I want, a few days later, if I'm healed I could take a two-day excursion to Dover.