Friday 16th June
Not been a good year really for me. Well…not since I went skiing at the end of March and had a spectacular somersaulting fall. I hurt my whole right leg. Nothing broken, though they thought I had a cracked femur to start with. Bone ache for weeks, crutches and lots of lying around. Gradual improvement but obviously the knee last to get better. Now , nearly 13 weeks later, it is still not right. But improving still. Tonight I walked downhill which it was not happy with but the rest was ok!!
Motorbiking has been possible for a while. Its walking that has been tricky. So finally a bit of getting away.
I headed to Cheddar to see friend Jane today. Amazing hot weather ! Could not quite believe it. So nice and made the 250 miles a pleasure.
Jane has just had a new knee two weeks ago. I guess she is doing pretty well.
Sat 17th June
Having not seen each other for a while we did a bit of catching up and I drove us in her car to a pub over looking Lake Blagdon. Weather still lovely and warm.
Sun 18th June
Take Jane to her Sunday biking breakfast . Once back home in Cheddar I set off on my bike and head for St David in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Forecast was thunderstorms but I was lucky. I went to St David’s when I was a student…some 52 years ago. We …the dive group…stayed with my maths tutor. I had memories of a pub and the cathedral. All was different today. !!
Inside the cathedral..leaning out columns !
The cathedral.
I stayed in a pretty downbeat place but they were friendly and were trying hard. I had to eat elsewhere and because all was busy I had to eat early. But all in all a good stay.
Mon 19th June
Hearty breakfast all in on the price. Skies were full of showers. I managed to skip showers all day…not sure how as some places I went through looked like they had had quite a lot. Mostly dry roads but not always. Nice tea stop in Aberystwyth by the old castle. Was fascinated by the building next door to the castle…many styles.
Old castle.
War memorial in Aberystwyth with a woman on top!!
The strange building to the left.
It belongs to the university of Aberystwyth and is being done up. It has had quite a chequered history…as has the old castle. On I went and cut across to Burnley. Decided on Burnley as being smaller than Manchester, Liverpool , Widnes, Chester etc and because I don’t think I have been here.
Went past Blagdon Lake. Did not realise it has an ancient fish in it and a snail with gelatinous shell.
Did not do well with hotel. There did not seem much choice but there was a Premier Inn so opted for that. However I managed to put….or the Internet put….a wrong date which was not today so when I turned up it was full! Very annoying but I did get my money back. Had to opt for a travel lodge. Bad value and many things I dislike about it. WiFi is not free!!! Hot water is not hot. Cannot open windows fully. Noisy ventilation in the bathroom which comes on with the light so use bathroom in the half dark, thin loo paper. … so not too good on that score.
Says it will be raining in the morning….
Liked this.
Tues 20th June
Trotted across the road to buy a sandwich and a drink from the petrol station. Travelodge so lousy that it does not even do breakfast. Its dry! When I am ready to go its raining! And it rained all day. Not great for motorbiking. Forecast was to stop by lunchtime but it didn’t. Lovely scenery as I cut through the National parks heading north and east in the direction of Edinburgh. But gradually my waterproof boots leaked. Same with waterproof gloves. Stopped to change gloves and pulled extra waterproof leggings. New jacket worked brilliantly. As other places basked , I was in the rain and 15c. Tourists walking looked wretched and so did cyclists.
Very nice tea stop in Castle Barnard. No sightseeing but I warmed up and booked hotel in Jedburgh. With that to look forward to I plugged on and reached there quite early. The weather was at last clearing up and the last half an hour was mostly dry.
Went sightseeing but it started to rain again so had to scurry back to the hotel. In the evening found food places full of foreign tour groups..German, French….
Wed 21st June
Better weather so went off and toured the castle and jail before leaving Jedburgh. Hotel shut their doors at 10.30 am where I had hoped to leave my crash helmet and jacket while I went sight seeing. So kind shopkeeper near my parked bike helped out.
Then it was off to Edinburgh where I was to meet with Bill. He was the kind man on my ski trip who was very helpful after my ski fall. So I have kept him up to date on my leg progress and thought we should meet up. He had laid on some sight seeing for me. It was off to Rosslyn Chapel on the outskirts of Edinburgh followed by a visit to the Scottish Art Gallery where I learnt about Scottish artists ! Plenty of culture. Then a good meal in the centre. I failed to take any photos of Edinburgh.
Thurs 22nd June
Off after breakfast. The weather looks hopeful though for a while was not that warm. I headed for York via the A68 and A19. For a motorbike both were good roads with not bad traffic. 200 miles was done by 2.30pm to give me time to sightsee a bit of York. Good hotel…best yet. The weather had got warmer and warmer and was hot!!! Plenty of overweight people struggling in the heat….plodding around. I was not carried away at all by the Shambles Market and the tourist shops….rather thought it was all awful. Better to sit and watch all the tourists … I did tour round the Barley Hall….a medieval building. But it ended as usual in a shop full of nonsense.
York.
Friday 23rd June
Nice morning as I headed off homewards , leaving early at 7.30am. Found some lovely roads in Lincolnshire …Google maps leading me towards Kings Lynn on some amazing B roads. Even the A17 was not awful. Arrived home at 11.30am. 1250 miles done. All good for my spirits.