Edinburgh to Barnet on route 1

In was back on 26 May that I took a train back to Edinburgh and picked up my bike from being serviced and stored for a week whilst I popped home. They mentioned a slight bit of play in the bottom bracket and said it would be ok and given that I had only ridden 2,000 miles on my new bike I didn't think any more about it.

Pre ride I stoked up the evening before on Tapas and whilst the building was exquisite the food was merely OK.

The route out of Edinburgh took an unexpected turn and being led into a private housing estate but then...

and you found countryside at the exit of the tunnel.

The Temple of the Muses is to be found at Dryburgh, overlooking the River Tweed

Today I added extra miles and cycled over to Lindisfarne and as I was happy you get 3 photos today, me on a happy bench, the crossing to Lindisfarne and a pile of lobster pots

I love cycling along the coast of Northumberland (much of it is just a goat track to follow)

Had nobody been around I might have had a slide down these

Splendid views in Northumberland heading down through Yorkshire

Sometimes you just find yourself on your own for hours.

A very rough track had shaken some spokes loose in my rear wheel. This great bike shop & cafe straightened the back wheel.

Today I went over the Humber Bridge so headed towards my home county. I like to spot the fingerposts.

Drainage is taken seriously in Lincolnshire

You would be a long time with the hedge clippers

Having come so far south, I have seen a great variety in the terrain

Permission granted.

You get much closer to nature when walking or cycling

It was near Ipswich that the bottom bracket decided, after groaning for a few days, to spit its ball bearings onto the road. The local breakdown service hadn't rescued a cyclist before but they duly came to the rescue; you probably didn't know you can have breakdown cover for cycles just like you can for cars. Less should go wrong but a catastrophic failure like this one does call for transport help.

This is why there is a gap in the map at the top of the page. I will go back and do the missing miles of route 1 at some point.

Lovely Manningtree. Time for an ice cream and to just sit and stare.

Never did I think that one day I would look at Chelmsford and think how easy it would be to cycle from there to Barnet and be home in time for tea.

On this trip I managed to keep the average miles per day to the 50 that I find about right. How hilly it is is beyond my control.

Why don't you try a Sustrans route or two? You don't have to choose the long ones like me. Just have fun.