Our last day!! Alas!! Three wonderful months are coming to an end!
And for the first time on the trip both Strava…AND Bosch…failed to register the ride! The distance is correct…but the map misses out the bit from Dartford to Ware! Ho hum!
After another great breakfast……
….a ride through London….and on up to Cambridge!
Our first target was the Woolwich Ferry…we had decided not to trawl across to Tower Bridge…for it made the day too long given our target to reach Cambridge in time for the Wimbledon Men’s final!
But….it was ‘suspended’ for the morning! No idea why? But it did mean that we had to take the longer route anyway!! This photo is from the ferry terminal….the Thames Barrage…and Canary Wharf in the background.
….via Greenwich and a quick detour to see the Cutty Sark….
…to Tower Bridge! Funny that Tower Bridge is the most easterly of the Thames bridges (which you can cycle across!). But it is nowhere near as old as one imagines…completed as recently as 1894.
The photo we could not take from the road!!
Thankfully…it was Sunday morning as we tore through the city to connect up with the Regents Canal and then the Lea valley navigation.
Well…when I say ‘tore’…it was actually very slow! So many traffic lights!
And then onto the canal when it became even slower! So many walkers and joggers out on a Sunday morning….it actually took us about an hour to cover just 12kms!
And so much of the towpath is overgrown! With weeds! Less mowing…more ‘natural’….or simply no maintenance? In places it was all but impossible to ride…and very often impossible for two cyclists to pass…so it was slow progress!
And the 4pm Wimbledon start time was not changing!
But elsewhere it was just fine…and it was a great way to avoid the London traffic.
We left the canal system at Ware…not far from Stansted Airport!
And disaster struck…..a very steep climb up from the canal…and Corey’s chain could not cope! And broke…and then got completely mangled in the dérailleur! It required us to break three links…and stitch three ends of chain together with new links! After our failure in Morocco last year..it was a bit of a nervous fix! Sunday…so no bike shops open!
But we did it! And everything worked!
But time was now so tight to get to the finish in time for the start of the match!
Add to that a slow leak from Corey’s rear tyre…..requiring a couple of pumps en route….and there was no time to waste…so only one photo!
And then straight to the Blue Ball (Grantchester, Cambridge)….where we had agreed to meet Iain and Liz (to avoid fractious children!)
What a great pub…with a spectacular pavilion in the garden where you can drink, smoke and watch tennis!
We arrived in the middle of the very first game of the match!
A bit if a stressful last day, all things considered….and hot!
So we enjoyed FAR too many beers….!! Before wobbling cycling on to the real ‘FINISH’ at Anna and Jono’s place…. where Walter had prepared a fantastic welcome sign!!
We were indeed finished! In all senses of the word!
Epilogue to follow……..
