Layzee Dayzee

June 27, 2026

We decided to be more relaxed about our departure time today, emerging from our garage at 6am. To be fair, it was a single story extension and the hosts had done a good job. We had everything we needed which was mostly huge amounts of refrigerated water. In the morning, the host came out at 6 with our three bike bottles, washed and full of iced water.

Today is an easy day. Just 40 miles to the next stop, St Neots. We powered away quite well, making the most of the relative cool of the morning.

We often came within sight of the A1M. Sometimes going over it, sometimes under. I forgot to mention yesterday that we crossed the A1M. No, I mean we CROSSED the A1M!

The bike track deposited us at the side of the road and left us there. There was a narrow central reservation to aim for so, when we reckoned that we could run with the tandem faster than the time for a lorry to mow us down, we legged it. Squeezing on to the central reservation, we then did it all over again to complete the crossing. It was 7:30am when we performed this feet. If it had been much later, it's hard to imagine the road being empty enough.

After 25 miles, we arrived at Huntingdon. This is about the only place we will properly recognise on the trip. We 'dog sat' at a house just down the road a year ago and visited this town. Then, it was horribly cold. Now, it was cool enough to sit outside (it was only 8:30) and enjoy a cooked breakfast, served by a young waiter who managed to get the word 'juxtaposition' into his first sentence to us. He also quizzed us about our tandem and talked about his bike.

Fuelled and eager to continue, we then took exactly the route which we took on the tandem when we managed to escape dog-sitting duties for a ride to Grafham Water. This is a lake at the top of a substantial climb. Definitely man made, therefore. We stopped at the very café we took Scrumpy, the dog too, for orange juice before our final leg to St. Neots.

I'm sorry to say that the draw of Costa in St. Neots, was too great for us to resist. It's the air conditioning! And the iced coffees which I have succumbed to.

We were still way early to book in, so then spent some pleasant hours in a park with the 'picky bits' we bought from an M and S food hall. I love that whilst most food is now sold from a shop, M and S still use a hall.

Sitting in a park gives a fascinating glimpse into what we're like these days. We have already noticed on the bike that push chair pushers are developing new and impressive techniques to push the chair with one hand so that the other hand can be employed to work the phone. I noticed a slight variant on this. A woman was pushing someone who I will presume was her mother in a wheelchair. She had her phone tucked in the crook between her head and one shoulder and was involved in quite a lively conversation. At one point, she obviously reached a point of such importance that she pushed the chair hard, sending it off down the path so that she could gesticulate with both hands, obviously adding weight to her argument.

Then you hear those snippets of conversation. One today went: "We went for a coffee and walked back home, forgetting that we had driven there". "Did you go back for the car?" "Nah".

We are now in the next b and b. A fan is directed at our faces as we sit here.

We are promised cooler weather tomorrow. That would be nice.

I have to watch that I don't get irascible in the heat. I'm not very good at it.

Kate has booked an air conditioned hotel for tomorrow...