Don't mention the weather!

 In the last week, the weather has swung from not being nice enough, to being too nice. Last week, we thought, ooh good the weather is improving...

Last night, we watched the weather forecast and got nervous. Not helped by my two sisters, who live in the south, adopting troglodyte ways in order to cope. 

In the end, we hoped that being sensible would see us through. It did. Just about. 

We started part 2 of the quest for cycling from the other end to the other end at 8am, hoping to beat the really intense heat. The route was 60 miles and has taken us to the other side of Doncaster. Arriving at the other side of Tadcaster, we stopped for our first rest. And that's where things went wrong. First, I (according to Kate) went green. I found that easy to believe because I felt green. I felt like I was going to pass out. I sat on the ground for quite a long time. In the end, it passed. So we jumped back on the tandem and realise immediately that the front tyre was flat. Ten minutes and a new tube later, we were on our way but fell out. It's quite common when we first embark on something as silly as a bike trip. Ok. I hold my hands up. I had been a pain in the proverbial since the beginning of the day. No doubt anxious about the day and projecting my angst on to Kate. I apologised and we settled down to putting in some miles. We were going to stop at Church Fenton but it was just gone 9am and we were happy to go for Selby as our main stop, being about half way. 

I've known Selby for sometime and to the best of my knowledge, nobody in Selby has invented a decent coffee shop! I hoped that things had moved on since my last visit, but no. So Wetherspoons it was. Beautifully air conditioned but the coffee machine was broken😭

A J2O later, we were on our way again. There was much in the way of tracks today. Some good and some not so. But nothing that stopped us (in our tracks...)

And so to the wonderful sounding Snaith. Here we sat in the grounds of the Priory in the shade of a Yew tree. 

We had a little over 20 miles left and thought we were getting the better of the route but conscious that the heat was now really starting to kick in.

The last 20 miles, as we headed for Doncaster, were hard. There was a breeze which certainly helped but stopping at red lights was agonising as we felt like we were boiling up.

We were relieved to be nearing Doncaster - there's a sentence I never thought I'd write...

I was convinced that we cycled through the middle of the city, but Doncaster never happened. As my suspicions grew, I checked the phone to discover that we had missed it! 

We were tired and looked for the quickest option which was to head for a retail park beyond the city, more or less in the direction we were going.

Costa. Coffee (a bit late in the day) superb air conditioning again! But we both wanted to eat. There was only one sensible option. McDonald's! So for the first time for several years, we entered the golden arches and ate food that tasted similar to the cardboard it was served in, except more flavoured. 

Five miles later, and we're at our air bnb which is very comfortable and, for me, quite distinct from camping 🙂

Sprout, the dog isn't impressed by the heat. He is laying on the kitchen floor with his whole head out of the cat flap. (Unless he's just hoping to greet the cat on its return?)

I don't really want to go on about the weather but it is undoubtedly going to be an issue. Tomorrow is a short day at just 40 miles. We shall endeavour to cover those miles in the morning, leaving a whole afternoon to explore the delights of Newark...

               Well the tandem is ready...

          Just before all the stuff happened 

                     A splendid cycle track 

                           Snaith Priory

                         A less good track...

                                Maccy Ds

                Looking for cool or the cat?