Minneapolis to England

Greetings from across the pond!

We started out from home at 4pm Tuesday, June 12th. My lovely daughter Vanessa gracefully offered us a ride to the airport and dropped us off with two big duffel bags and two bikes boxed up. We were charged $160.00 per bicycle and an additional $50.00 for the heavier of the two bags that included Sherry's bike trailer, aka BOB trailer, the Beast Of Burden.

The flight over was pretty uneventful. We both slept a little but not a lot! Because we were flying north, it never got dark over night! Upon arriving at London Gatwick our bikes and bags arrived in perfect condition. We found a great spot just outside the airport and put our bikes together without any problems. See pictures!

From there we biked directly out of the airport on a bicycle trail that was heading south. We promptly got lost in Crawley. Then we got lost again, still in Crawley. We asked directions and got lost again. Finally a young gal on a bike escorted us in the right direction.

We didn't make as much progress our first day as we had hoped, but did get out of London and into the countryside. We ended up staying the first night at a great little campground in Billingshurst. There was a pub right next to the camp ground which we made good use of! After a much deserved hot shower and a wonderful camp side dinner (thank you Sherry) of clams and oysters and linguine, we finished the night off with a bottle of wine. Our charge for camping for the night was £5.00 or $10.00 U.S. They gave us a half price deal because we were on our bicycles.

Although we had beautiful 70 degree sunny weather upon arriving and for much of the day cycling, it rained buckets throughout the night. I wouldn't have noticed but Sherry kept waking me to let me know! The tent dripped ever so slightly but mostly over Sherry. I think I get that side of the tent from now on!

The morning brought cloudy but dry skies. We started off by 7:30 and had an English breakfast 10 miles down the road in Petsworth, a small village. The cafe was built in the 1400's, the ceiling was about 5' 6"!! The people were small back then! English breakfasts are wonderful, and filling. Eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, beans, mushrooms, and coffee.

Our riding goal for this day was to make it to Ashley and Amanda's in Wimborne, England approximately 100 miles. We didn't quite make it. The roads here are very narrow. A 6 inch shoulder was a luxury here of which we rarely found. We were usually riding a white line while traffic buzzed by only inches away and going the wrong direction (for us anyways) at speeds over 50mph. It is very difficult to have the traffic passing on our right.

We reached Lindhurst, England which was about 70 miles into our ride that day and called Ashley and Amanda to tell them we would camp there for the night. They insisted, and we gladly accepted a ride to their house.

We had a fabulous evening. We met up with Ryan (8) and Alexander (6) their two boys and proceeded to keep us entertained for the night. Ashley fixed a wonderful dinner of Tuna and potatoes and gravy that was out of this world! We enjoyed English cider, wine, and port before during and after dinner. Needless to say, we have been moving slowly this morning! For all that know Ashley and Amanda, we strongly recommend you come and visit them!! The hospitality is wonderful here.

Today we toured the Dorset county area and spent a lot of the time by the English Channel. It is beautiful county down here. Tonight we are going out to a local English pub for dinner. Tomorrow they have arrange with a "keen" cyclist friend of theirs to take us on a cycling tour of the area. We are looking forward to riding with our all of our gear.

We have posted more pictures for your entertainment!!

We are going to be here with Ashley and Amanda until Sunday before heading to Portsmouth where we will board a ferry to Le Havre, France.

Stay tuned for the next post.

Bye for now. (BFN)

Bob & Sherry