It started with an off hand suggestion one night in the pub. Here we are 6 months later in Lowestoft after months of training and weeks of planning. Steve and I were joined with Mark Nicholson (for the first day only) on our first leg. We set off from Ness Point (the Eastern most point in England) on a cool, wet, and windy day heading to Haverhill in Suffolk. We only managed to go about 100 metres before our first stop, to put on wet weather gear. Next we had a nightmare trying to actually get out of Lowestoft, turning in circles, looking for the quiet country lanes which we enjoy so much. After a few showers and strong headwinds we made it to our half way point at the historic town of Eye. Once in Eye we stopped in a the Queen's Head pub for a drink and feed. Our hosts were most gracious and generous. Not only did we have some fantastic food, were given some charity money as well!
After lunch we had quite a long distance to travel (which I hadn't told Steve or Mark). By this time we were coping quite well with navigation and moving through some lovely rural hamlets one after the other. We had one rest stop where we met up with Steve's son John, our support team, who keeps us topped up with drinks and water. The final leg of our first day was a 12 mile haul to Haverhill, at which time we were just about out of energy and ready to collapse. Nothing but sheer determination kept our legs turning until we finally made it to our destination.
Distance Covered: 150 km (93 miles)
Time in the Saddle: 7 hours
Top Speed: 53 km/hour
Average Speed: 20 km/hour
We were absolutely shattered by the time we finished. The furthest Steve had ever travelled before was 50 km, so to do an extra 100 km on the first day he deserves and extra pat on the back. When we finished, John sped us off to Marks home in Higay where his wife Rebbecca had a fantastic feast waiting for us. We had a couple of vino tinto's to kill the pain, hopefully tomorrow we won't be too sore!
Chuck
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