Departure!
I did it. I departed, I left, I'm underway! Set off from London, Trafalgar Square at a prompt, sometime after, 9am. My parents waved me off because you’re never too old for a little or a lot of love from your parents, to be great.
After the hugging and the waving, we were underway. Yes we, I was delighted to be joined by my friend and fellow cycling enthusiast Kike, who was taking time off from study to be a lawyer to join me in the journey towards the coast.
We stopped for quick photoshoot on Westminster Bridge, getting in the way and pissing off locals. I'm normally the one raging about people standing around taking pictures of the nation’s most notorious and sleazy party venue but it's fun to be a tourist in your home town sometimes.
Then we went, we headed south, there was a lot of traffic, the south east is so crowded. To compare: about 9 million people live in London, 11.5 in Belgium and 10.3 in all of Sweden. Giving London a population density of 5,701 people/km, in Sweden it is 25 people/km so I'm expecting it to get more mellow (for those thinking it unfair to compare a city to a country UK is still 281 people/km and that includes the Highlands)
There were some hills, they were hard but not as dreadful as I feared, Kike was very patient. To put our difference in perspective, Kiki takes notes with a cycling club, both road and track, actually trains for both, she has rollers, not the hair sort, the I'd probably kill myself if I even tried that sort. I have not trained beyond commuting and riding the long way home from the Zoo a couple of times, and I've strapped a billion thing to my bike. But on we went!
We ate Ice buns which Kike had brought! As I said she is amazing. We had lunch at a friary, which was very random, we saw much Queen inspired bunting, I acquired a small GB flag from the roadside for the bike (I've put it on, we'll see if it stays on, British not always popular but it's not like I'm any happier about Brexit)
I struggled up some more hills, the A20 was a bit hectic (later on it becomes a mellow car park for people trying to board ferries but not yet). Sadly Leeds Castle (which is a Leeds, not in the north) was closed. But we saw sheep, donkeys and horses.
It was sunny and the company was fantastic.
I was sad to say farewell to Kike in Westwell and the day be done.
Accept it wasn't done!! The campsite I was staying in just outside Westwell was up a bloody hill, a steep, savage and narrow hill. The sort the English countryside loves, no meandering up a hillside for this road, straight up, no options!
So up I went, slowly, painfully, if I'm honest it wasn't long but it seemed an eternity!
Eventually, I made it, I summitted the mighty peak, arrived at the campsite, put up the tent, talked about remembering which bag I'd put things in and slept!
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