Day One: Birmingham to Thurlby via Grantham
Central trains were their usual cycle-unfriendly selves. They were more than happy to take a quid
off me for the privilege of taking a bike on the train, but they didn't have the technology to
reserve a space for
it. Fortunately I was the only cyclist aboard the train, and therefore I could have the pathetically
small (too small for a pannier-shod bike) cycle storage space to myself. I was travelling from
Birmingham to Grantham with a change of train at Nottingham to the Skegness service. The 1112
departure from Birmingham arrived at Nottingham on time and being the terminating station
everybody was instructed to disembark. Then the train staff closed the doors, opened them again
and declared the same train the 1258 to Skegness. This left me not only confused as to why the
train couldn't simply be the 1112 to Skegness via Nottingham, but also a little irate that some
other people had now shoved luggage into the bike hold.
Anyway, this is a cycling holiday. Grantham to Thurlby is very easy to cycle. A short distance out
of town along the A52 (quiet) leads to the even quieter B1174. This road is a lovely scenic route
through fields with a pub roughly half way (10 miles), just after turning onto the main A road. It
transpired that they had stopped serving food only 45 minutes ago but if I wanted something simple
like a sandwich or a baked spud then they would be happy to oblige. I had doubts about the mileage
contained in a cheese sarnie but decided it was better than nothing.
I missed the continuation of the B1174 but the A road was very quiet anyhow so I continued upon it.
Then a C road emerged and allowed me to correct my mistake.
I stopped off at a quaint little village store of the "ask for what you want 'cos it's all behind
the counter" type and stocked up on snacky stuff. The proprietor was most pleasant, asking me where
I was heading and which route I might be taking. She recommended cycling via Witham on the Hill,
saying it was not flat but was very scenic. Outside as I was carefully stuffing (is that possible?)
the food into one of my panniers two young lads aged about 10 turned up on BMX type bikes. One of
the lads went into the store and I got chatting with the other. He asked if my bike was heavy with
all the luggage upon it so I challenged him to lift it. Seemingly in keeping with the friendly
nature of the local population he recommended the river bank around the corner by the railway bridge
as being a good picnic spot. The shop door opened and a " cheerio" was heard from the shop keeper.
Out came the second young lad with a packet of [censored] in his hand. And that was it: I didn't like the
shop anymore.
The river was actually more of a stream but the sound was nonetheless pleasing to the ears. The high
speed trains on their way to London seemed to add to the tranquility
Witham on the Hill turned out to be pretty as described and was a brief leg rest stop to watch the
amateur cricket match. From here, Thurlby was pretty much all downhill. Thurlby Youth Hostel is one
of the group of hostels that allow camping in the grounds. Even on my first day I have had the
compulsory chat with the elderly gentleman who used to own a 5 speed racer and who can't understand
why 21 gears are useful. I have also met a chap who is now at the end of his cycling holiday, having
done a similar route to the route I am roughly planning.
On entering the village and coasting to the Youth Hostel I was disappointed not to have passed a
pub. But fortunately by walking further on past the hostel I have found a very pleasant pint of
Riding bitter.
Every day of a camping holiday teaches me a new lesson. Today the lesson is ever again to buy a "JML
Supertowel". It guarantees never to become saturated even when drying the fullest head of hair. It
achieves this by leaving the water *in* your hair. Its ultralight property also increases with use
since it leaves fluff over one day old beard stubble.
The grand scheme of this tour is to head clockwise around the Norfolk coast with a plan to meet up
with a friend at a campsite in the Broads next week. Simon is bringing mine and his roadbikes for a
few fast daytrips using the campsite as a basecamp.
"Hello" messages are always appreciated (by email to richard at cuddle clara co uk as I can't
realistically read urc on a Psion palmtop) so if you fancy keeping me "e-company" on my trip then
email please do!
Love and doubts about carrying camping kit on 28c tyres from Rich x
(apologies if this message is badly formatted)
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