Hemingby Express

We enjoyed a delightful breakfast at The Tennyson Hotel. Probably the best one of the trip so far our leader declared. He must have been feeling in a good mind.   Richard was keen to complete video blog number six and get it launched on the various media outlets. There were various chores to be attended to in the city. We moved off at about 10.30     I had very few clean clothes left and a laundromat was a priority otherwise people would start to refuse to stand next to me.  We were able to arrange a service wash which left us free to find a bicycle shop to address the continuing problem of Richard's back wheel.   He can't have many spokes left that have not been replaced.  Cyclesport was the first bicycle shop we came across as we rode down the long Lincoln high street.  We agreed to leave the bike there and once again excellent service was delivered immediately.    From there we found a quiet corner in  Carluccio's Italian Restaurant to complete some administration work.  There was more to this Cycle Tour than just peddling.  Richard had an appointment for an interview on BBC Radio Lincoln with Nicola Gilroy at 13.00   We continued up the high street past the Cathedral  in good time.     We received a warm welcome from all the staff at the BBC. Nicola was not sure about greeting  Richard with a kiss as after so many miles on the road she did not know how fragrant he would be.   I had to assure her that we were clean living chaps and we took a shower or bath at least once a week whether we needed it or not!     Interview went well and Richard was able to play a couple of South American pieces as well as giving away all the secrets of the tour live on air.    We both felt that we deserved a treat and we had this in the form of Earl Grey tea and a piece of cheese cake at a patisserie at the bottom of the cathedral hill.    A few miles would have to be covered to get that off. I have been informed back at my work that  "a moment  on the lips is a lifetime on the hips".  I will never forget that one Lou!  My hips are still padded enough so too many cakes will not help.   We returned to our bikes and once again they were in the right condition for duty when I promptly knocked my bike over and smashed the wing mirror. Captain Calamity or what?     We found the Bardney road with ease and proceeded east in the direction of Hemingsby.  Conditions were ideal; a gentle wind on our backs, a flat road and bikes in good order. We lifted our best average speed for the tour to 13.5 mph.  We were delighted with the performance.    We paused at the village of Bardney for a while as this was the site of the 1972 Pop festival which I attended.  The festival was organised by the actor Sir Stanley Baker on the land around Tupholme Hall and Abbey.  The line up for the four day festival held forty two years ago included; Beach Boys, Faces, Slade, Lindisfarne, Wishbone Ash, Rory Gallagher, Joe Cocker, Monty Python's Flying Circus to name just a few.  Apart from the line up the other thing the event can be remembered for was the appalling weather.  There was no let up.  With the history of the area in mind we stopped the bikes and filmed for the video blogs. Richard played Kemps Jig.     I am so glad this is not a dancing tour!  Despite the forecast we had no rain and in fact we ended the day with a stunning sunlit evening ride through the Lincolnshire countryside all the way through to Hemingsby.  Just to keep us on our toes my chain came off again as we looked for Di and Paul's house.  A dirty job getting it back on.    A warm welcome in a delightful spot on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds.    Di served us a super supper and following an evening chat we opted for an early night.  25 miles to go before we hit the 1,000 mark. Getting closer.  A celebration will be in order I think.