Electric Light

Dover - Shetland Day 17
Stockton-on-Tees to North Shields

Distance cycled: today 66.5km, total 1239.9km
Ascent: today 390m, total 6820m

Highlight: after a very relaxing day off, best weather of the trip so far to cycle my shortest day, with no steep hills to contend with and a route which was 90% off road. Finished off with an excellent evening catching up and reminiscing with an old school friend, who I am staying with, having not seen him for 37 years!

Lowlight: nothing really today (with perhaps the exception of Sunderland city centre), but yesterday it was disappointing for Andy Murray not to be able to lift the French Open winners trophy, after such an encouraging first set. His time will come for this one though, I think.

What else? Crossing the Tyne at the end of today almost certainly means that more than half of my journey distance-wise has been completed. And Scotland will be reached later this week.

Photo: I was struck by the fact that Cycle Route 1 hugs the attractive coastline between the Wear & Tyne rivers. This is the first time I have had an extended period beside the sea, so it seemed right that the photogenic Souter lighthouse located mid-way between the rivers and the first ever one to be designed & built to use electricity, should be today's photo.