Poppy Lane

Dover - Shetland Day 5
Billericay to Ipswich

Distance cycled today: 109.4km total 463.5km
Ascent today: 588m total 2844m

Highlight: met some nice people en route today, including 3 ladies on road bikes who had a chat and gave me a top tip for a nice cafe in Tiptree for a late lunch (I skipped jam & marmalade). There was an interesting motorcycle rider to talk when I got there, to pass half an hour by. My reflection is that Britain is still generally a polite country, where you only need to ask for help to be given it.

Lowlight: realising that Google Maps cycle mode had significantly under-estimated the planned distance of today's ride, resulting in a new (unwanted) PB. Consolation was that less hilly than previous one on Day 1, although blustery wind had swung around to NE to make it sure it reminds head on for most of the ride. I didn't take long to get to sleep!

What else? In their efforts to make towns more cycle friendly (which of course I applaud) many town councils have gone mad with cycle signs to everywhere, which is tricky when you don't know the local place names and are simply trying to pass through as efficiently as possible and b) they sometimes are so fastidious about trying to keep you off busy roads you find yourself crossing roads at lights, going under subways and all over the place when a 50m cycle on a road would have done the same trick! I do really approve of dual use of footpaths for pedestrians and cyclists though, where they are wide enough. More in Scotland please.

Photo: I am now into classic English countryside, often with high sided wild flower covered lanes such as this one.