Day 3: Busy carriageways

Hungerford to Poole Miles: 65 Feet: 2,625 Total trip miles: 224

Another fantastic day. The cycling gods are with us thus far. Britain was experiencing record heat like most of North America earlier this summer. Just before I came the heat broke and as long as I have been here the temperature has been in the 70’s and 80’s and the skies have been clear. We are fortunate. We left Hungerford early this morning and had three major climbs in the first 5 miles. My tired legs felt like lead. The narrow, winding roads were busy and stayed busy all day. Even in the country the two lane carriageways (translation: highways) were steadily busy both ways and people drive fast here. My mates (translation: friends) and I learned to the ride rough English roads quickly today, hang on, pedal fast, and hope for the best. I have been surprised by the amount of traffic here, even on the country roads, and have been told (but have not verified) that the UK is the most congested country on the continent. I can believe that.

Today’s ride was at a good clip. We stopped in Salisbury to visit the cathedral. To get to the cathedral from the main carriage way, we exited from the main thoroughfare, we rode into the city on busy, narrow streets and then promptly got lost. An officer suggested that we carry our bikes through a car park (translation: parking garage) down two flights of stairs to get to the street we needed to be on. It was an adventure, but definitely one worth taking. The Gothic cathedral was beautiful. After leaving Salisbury we rode to mile 41 and stopped for lunch in Fordingbridge on the River Avon for lunch. It was a lovely spot so we lingered for quite a while. Couples and families were enjoying lunch on the patio while children played in the river. When we left we had just 26 miles to Poole, our destination today. So we rode a fast pace past the rolling wheat fields and through the quaint villages. And here we are, in Poole on the coast of England. We’ve ridden across England in three days. Tomorrow we take the ferry across the channel to enter France where we will be back on the right side of the road (thank goodness) and the next chapter will begin. The forecast is for calm seas (I am grateful since I do suffer from motion sickness), temperature in the low eighties, and a chance of rain in the evening after we’ve arrived at the hotel.