We've been waking up to flat tires on our trailer the past few days. Tiny little wires are poking through sabatoging our efforts. And I don't like it.
Something else that I don't like but should be better written as pure hatred are the gates that guard the canals here in England. Typically, for a bike path there is some kind of barricade to prevent a car from entering. Or if it's a shared path then maybe they don't want a horse on part of it so the developers come up with an intricate, almost Chinese booby-trap system to navigate these gates. With a regular bike it's mostly manageable. But with a trailer it's virtually impossible - either because the barricade isn't wide enough or not tall enough or it has too many twists and turns. Or they just have stairs. On a bike path. Stairs. Like idiots. My blood has been boiling the past few days. It slows us down, especially having to unhook the trailer, etc.
In any case, you let me down, UK. After nearly two weeks of riding, I can say with confidence that you're not the most bike-friendly country. And make wider roads already. Or use smaller cars like Japan.
Without further ado, let's look at some pics.
Lots of canal riding in the West Midlands.
Holly wants to live in a canal boat someday.
I love passing by all the wildlife, especially the swans and geese families.
We pass by some really nice homes and people living in decadence.
Look at the ancient bridges that people used in the Olden Days.
Some of them are really low that I have to duck.
This was towering above us in person. Like 5 levels.
So here you are riding your bike and you go under the bridge and come out the other side to be greeted by this stupid barricade. dumb.
Or even better, a set of stairs.
Look at this silly street name.
Lily Rose saw Holly getting a fly out of my eye so she started saying she had one in her eye too and wanted it out 😂
Not all canal paths are created equal. Some are muddy and filled with poop and pee from the canal boaters that use the banks as their own personal toilet. I rode past a huge dump. And everything smelled like an outhouse for 100 yards. I was so mad.
I love this ancient bridge.
Slugging through this was a chore. Also, don't forget: Stinging Nettle.
Joaquim's first time on the swings! Do you think he likes it? He does!
Get to work!
I made her clean the tire. She did a poor job.
Gangster tunnel in Manchester.
Cats are pure evil. I made sure to scare this one away.
Rain! We enjoyed England's one good week of weather all year last week and now it's over.
We're a few days behind schedule. At the beginning of the trip, I got a message from Holly's mom telling me to not be cheap and to book hotels during our ride. Holly and I decided to take her up on her offer and ditch our camping gear at their house so we can lighten our load and thus actually finish this trip (something we have been unsure about if we'd be able to do). So now it's hotels the rest of the time! I'm a little nervous since it forces us to have one option for lodging. And I love options. So I hope we don't get ruined and will be able to find vacancies.
We enjoyed the Sabbath Day Worship Services here in Weston-Super-Mare (look at their silly names for towns).
One of the many thousands of reasons cyclists are hated globally is for their lack of following signs and traffic laws.
Bean won some money!
This meal was supposed to be delicious but it didn't even appeal to my basic tastes. I think everything was frozen and reheated.
I like getting action shots of Holly.
We're eating lunch and playing at a park.
There's an action shot of me.
This new Dairy Milk chocolate was so good. I love Biscoff.
We stayed at Holly's cousin's house in Stroud and they loved meeting the Red Dragon.
They had a good doggie that the Bean would get scared of when he barked.
Hao was a great host! I finally got to meet him. Also, with his facial hair, he looks like Confucius.
One of the rare bike lanes that all of England has to offer. (Hint, it's not a bike-friendly country despite having many cyclists.)
The canal boats are lined up for days along the canals. Holly said she wants to live in one someday.
Most of the barricades allow us to pass. Some, just barely. Others not at all. Then my blood boils.
I got plucky on this one.
This tunnel was super low that even I had to duck.
I love the Tudor houses and all the chimneys they have. Imagine living in the Olden Days where you had to stoke a fire to keep warm.
We made it to Holly's mom's house in Worcester! Time to eat!
But that's nothing new. I get this way on all the trips. It's getting better, slowly. Timing is tricky. If we leave too late in the day, it throws everything off. If we take too many breaks and not at the right time, it throws everything off. If we ride too late in the day, then I feel guilty about the kids being in the trailer all day (even though we take breathers throughout). Since our range is so limited the margin for error is very small. For example, there's not enough time to make it to the next campsite so we have to resort to getting a hotel (1st world problems).
But we are trudging along! Still. A bad day riding is better than any good day in the office.
We're riding along this old railroad that's converted into a bike trail. You can see the remnants of the railroad in the pavement. It's all neat.
This is the Bible for cyclists doing the route we're doing. I didn't know you could buy it in one easy booklet like that. And for 7 pounds, too (the British currency, not weight). I'm furious we didn't get it. Now that the trip is ongoing my OCD won't let me get it in the middle of it.
After leaving Bodmin, the day was mostly quiet even on the roads. I loved it.
Lily Rose likes to see the animals as we ride.
I taught Lily Rose how to say windmill. My favorite.
Even though there's not much trafffic, when there is a car it's a tight squeeze between the hedge rows.
That's the Cornwall flag below the UK one. Kinda like how we have state flags in the US.
We're eating lunch in a tiny village that had picnic tables outside the closed tavern.
The cows swarmed us after this pic.
This carving was all neat. The owls looked very real irl.
Her first time trying tomato soup. She loved it dipped in bread.
Usually, he sleeps with his eyes open. This time he's smiling.
This is the infamous Full English Breakfast. Minus the toast and jam.
My phone takes great pics. That's the only thing it does well.
The spires on top of the churches kinda look like Sauron's crown.
It's weird seeing "Village Hall". I'm used to City Hall or the even less used "Town Hall".
Touch grass they teach us.
Idyllic little cottages we pass by all the time. And I think, "I need to live here,"
There's a lot more roadkill in the States. Prolly cuz we love our cars and ruining lives.
I love after their afternoon nap. They both wake up. Joaquim stares at Lily Rose and she just laughs.
Joaquim was crying before I was able to make it to the next town for a proper break so we had to rest here and feed him. That's all we can do these days.
I can't get tired of these views.
I forgot how much of an appetite I get during tours.
Holly and I are each other's Swans. There's our squad.
Riding on the canals is nice until they stop maintaining it then the Stinging Nettle gets too close.
😍
Riding into this was so dark.
You don't get too many canyons like this.
She wanted to wear my hat.
One of my favorite Brits is Bear Grylls. I watched his show Man Vs Wild when I was biking across America and loved it. I found out about this restaurant called Bare Grills so I had to try it. For British BBQ it was really good.
😴🍄
We stayed at a campsite that had a bunny that was very energetic. Bean loved to look at it.
