TJ, really been enjoying your updates on your travels. This is a great thread.

You say you are hundreds of miles from where you wanted to be now. But do you need to be there now? If you don’t have any time constraints, don’t worry about where you think you need to be, just enjoy everything you are doing. The last thing you want to do, is at the end of the trip is think that you wished you hadn’t rushed and taken longer if you could have.

Anyway, enjoy whatever comes next.

I was hoping to get to Bilbao. If i do that I’ll have to fly home.

I also have some stuff to do that i need to be in Edinburgh for and i only have 5 or 6 weeks left before I get into insurance issues with my flat

A week to Manchester area. Another to hull. A week with my sister in Amsterdam only leaves 3 weeks.

I shall just plod on with my vague route and make decisions as they arise

Been slow progress the last few days. Im hundreds of miles short of whete i wanted to be by now

Quit beating yourself up about miles. It is smiles and enjoyment that count. Do what you feel like – and that includes day off, a day walking, hopping on a train, a ‘holiday’ back at home for a while etc.

Sounds to me like you would like to go see where your roots are, then across to Europe?

I shall just plod on with my vague route and make decisions as they arise

Sounds like a firm plan. Why don’t you just hop on a train somewhere like Thirsk or York, dip back to Edinburgh, sort your shit, reset the clock on your insurance, then head back down to start pedalling again? You could probably get someone off here to secure your bike to make it even easier.

On the other hand the muscles in my legs are like oak. Im fitter and lighter than i have been for 30 years and my head is clearer than its been for a long while

the suggestion of parking up the bike at a friendly stw’ers place and train back home for a week to sort stuff out, get a rest and arse recovery sound ideal !

Id better get moving. Not packed up yet!

Wind is shifting to the north.

I only planned this all very vaguely as in ” thats 4 inches on the big map. Should take a week or so”😎

I shall head east i think

Im fitter and lighter than i have been for 30 years and my head is clearer than its been for a long while

Win.

My great great grandfather and grandmother ‘s grave marker in Rushbury church.

I feel quite somber

Not surprising feel sombre given recent events amd visitinggrave site. Been great following your travels, if make it to toon area will try to meet up, wouldn’t inflict a house of 2 toddlers and a dog on you though.
I doubt I need to tell you, you being a nurse, (which means I really do) but i hope you’re sorting those infections out before they impact your plans too much. Look after yourself, sounds like the trip has helped mentally, don’t run yourself too low physically.

The arse infection is getting the right treatment and is improving. Ta.

Physically i feel good.

Off to find the ancestral farm now.

I for one am having second thoughts around my offer of crash space after hearing about the anal mushrooms.

@cougar you can either hold the mirror or apply the cream

Google says the Gilberries is still a working farm and campsite that allows dogs and open fires but doesn’t allow tents🥸

I think thats a different farm. Gilberries lane farm. My family one is across the lane. Gilberries farm and Gilberries cottages. We still know the folk on it. They have a chicken shed iirc Im off to see it now.

@cougar you can either hold the mirror or apply the cream

Imagine his surprise when he realises I had both hands on his shoulders.

Tendonitis in my left elbow… Knees creaking.

I was thinking about this. You’d need to stretch loads and loads doing all that riding because the muscles you use to ride will tighten up, and the opposing ones won’t. This causes issues as it can pull tendons out of place and they’ll run across bony bits.

Found the farm abd had a chat to the folk who live on it now who remember me from 45 years ago

you can either hold the mirror or apply the cream

😩 I shook his hand

A week to Manchester area. Another to hull. A week with my sister in Amsterdam only leaves 3 weeks.

Bilbao is not planning on moving, you could always take a break and resume where you left off next spring/summer. Ferry trip across Biscay and start again?

Camped up now with a view of the lawley. Suprisingly emotional day today meant i totally made a mess of finding a campsite. Im on one now tho. Someone recommended one in tne area and I totally forgot. Dodgy signal here but I’ll try to put some pics up in a bit

And leave my arse out of it or I’ll post pics of it😀😈

Liking the sort of see where the weather and whim takes you in the approximate direction of your trip.
If going to Netherlands don’t forget that bikes on trains for a return leg is easy there and if you ferry back from Ijmuiden (West of Amsterdam) you boat back to Newcastle which should take you somewhere between a week of stopping and contemplating bike pace and 2 hours on the train. Also train stops available all along the East coast.
N. Holland has seemed pretty nice when I’ve visited if that’s where you end up.

The lawley
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Random scenery

Nice. I used to ride up the Lawley quite a bit back in the day. Pretty sure I’d never manage the final pitch to the top these days!

As mentioned on the other thread (which brought me to this one), the roads are pretty flat north of Shrewsbury. Also quite exposed though so if you have a strong northerly wind you’ll be cursing. Canals would be more interesting and flatter but you have to get to them. Probably head towards Oswestry but I can’t remember now. The canal at Trevor where we used to smoke weed on the way to ways is now a World Heritage Site. I like to think that we had a small role to play in that 😀