Oaks and Wheat

Dover - Shetland Day 6
Ipswich to Lowestoft

Distance cycled: today 82.1km, total 545.6km
Ascent today: 363m, total 3207m

Highlight: a leisurely late morning start, with a trouble free fast and fairly flat cycle to reach Lowestoft in good time to complete the first major section of the trip and earn a day off, staying with Christine's mum.

Lowlight: once again escaping a built up area, this time my departure point of Ipswich, proved troublesome. I didn't enjoy getting lost around various hilly parks on my way out of the city. I am not sure the funeral party outside the crematorium in the middle of one of them were that delighted to have a bewildered cyclist whizz through their midst either.

What Else? Not much happens in some parts of rural England, as exemplified by the excited customer who burst into the Suffolk village coffee shop I was having lunch in. She couldn't wait to tell the owner about what she was sure was a dead pig on the bank of the nearby river. Much debate ensued about this, in what would no doubt become known as the "Framlingham green ham shocker" incident in the local rag.

Photo: a really rural ride through Suffolk country lanes, under heavily overcast skies, didn't lend itself to many good photo opportunities. I liked the way these oaks, set in a field of early season wheat, looked like a family grouping though and a very typical view of the day.