Day 3; Mobility Scooter Shame and Cuddly Creatures

Today: St Ives in Cambridgeshire to Castle Donnington in Leicestershire.

The start of a longer day and I think it would be rather untruthful of me to say that I woke up as happy as this statue in the window of the chinese next to the hotel

In fact I woke up more like this image in the hairdressers next door to the fat gold bloke above. I would describe my look as cool and yet somewhat pensive about the days cycling ahead but without the hair.

Shortly afterwards and only a couple of miles into the cycle I was overtaken by this lady charging along a cycle path north of St Ives. She must have been late for her shift at the fire station.

First signs that the North does exist and that we are on track.

The rich countryside of Cambridgeshire stretching into the distance.

Social housing, Cambridgeshire style. I wonder if there is a clue in this picture as to how they will be voting in the upcoming referendum?

It was heartwarming to witness first hand how farmers in Cambridgeshire are keeping traditional age old farming practices alive.

I felt that this road sign bares an uncanny resemblance to how I must look from the rear, or front for that matter, after a long day's cycle.

And on into the uber posh town of Oudle with the super uber posh boarding school, coincidentally also called Oundle. Its alleged by an anonymous alleger that  crumpets are still toasted between the tender buttocks of fags of the school bully and his cohort of fellow bullies.

Into the pretty town centre full of shops selling un-toasted crumpets.

To my relief the spelling on signs in Oundle was a cut above what I had experienced in parts of Kent.

fascade 

The imposing facade of Oundle. Having ridden the better part of 200 miles in 21/2 days I felt a sense of connection to all those young chaps in that building nursing their blistered behinds.

The smile on the pigs face gave this farm sign a rather sinister air with George Clooney's classic book in mind.

And the view from the saddle for hour after hour. The same bloody legs going round and round.

At least this cow recognises a nice pair of knees when she sees them.

And so did her friends.

I basked in this glory for a few minutes before setting off again finally feeling a bit like this chap. Although some in fact many would say the similarity extends beyond just feelings. I think that is the start of a song?.

Leaving Cambridge and into Rutland.

The first sight was the amazing Harringworth Viaduct if you are into gazzillions of bricks laid down in 1878 and still very much an active part of the UK's crumbling infrastructure.

The rolling hills of Rutland where many a spaghetti western has been filmed.

The thought crossed my mind as I wheezed my way passed these sheep that some who read this blog like cuddly creatures. So as this is a blog designed to cater to a diverse range of tastes I took a soft and cuddly picture. Lets face it they will all be dead soon so why not drag a bit more value out of the dumb beasts.

And another bloody viaduct!

And this lovely church hove into view.

Rutland does rather fancy itself. Here we have this grand gate to The Hall. Not A Hall but "The Hall".

Into Leicestershire with picturesque villages in rolling countryside. Its the rolling bit that me and My Little Rhino struggle with. If only these village could be picturesque without that.

Into the distance the first sight of the glittering towers of Radcliff on Sour power station in Nottinghamshire.

Villages dotted with red brick houses like these once owned by the mill, mine and land owners of a bygone time. That's before everything shut down and Coffee Baristas started to buy them all up as the new elite of our era. Its amazing what a person can buy on minimum wage in this part of the world.

I thought I would end todays blog with a barrage of stunning shots from the Radcliffe on Sour area but these are the best I could do. The M1 underpass and a view of the M1.

83 three miles covered today. Tomorrow promises to be stunning as we leave the M1 underpass behind us and cycle into the Derbyshire Dales. That is it for today from the Peak Tours front line.