Day 29 Dunkirk to Batavia (85 miles)

I was expecting to get a poor night's sleep. Our hotel seems the centre of the social scene in Dunkirk and there were a lot of graduation parties being hosted at our place. I'm not sure why or how they work, but it's something along the lines of parents paying for their kids to whope it up in a hotel for the evening. However there didn't seem to be much whoping going on, it was all quiet from about 9 oclock.

Apologies for the poor photo today, it's our hotel and the shores of Lake Erie. Main thing I wanted to capture was how bitterly cold it was today. At departure time is was about 8 degrees C and didn't rise above about 12 all day, so apart from anything else I didn't take my big gloves off long enough to take many other photos. I was wearing my full winter gear, hat, sexy tights etc.

The day was divided in to two halves. First a 40 mile ride, then a stop at a bicycle museum and then the remaining 45 miles. The museum was kind of cool, showed the history of the bicycle from the earliest push along jobs, through the penny farthing, then innovations like the chain and the pneumatic tyre, through to quirky stuff like field guns and radios being added to bikes. The guy who ran it opened up early just for us and was full of enthusiasm, even through he must have given that tour hundreds of times. He's trying to retire and sell the place, but doesn't want the collection to be split up, which would be a shame. Only one SAG today, lunch at the museum. It was bright sunshine, but you had to stay out of the wind and even then it was still cold.

Kind of strange day today. It don't know whether I've mentioned this before, but I'd only done a hundred mile ride twice before this trip. So almost every day has been an adventure, going beyond what I know I can achieve. But today was just a couple of morning rides back to back, there was no sense of achievement at having completed another marathon. Everyone seemed a little down after the euphoria of the big ride yesterday. It's 120 miles tomorrow so we should be back up for it. Did have another excellent meal though. Six of us went to a steak house near the hotel. The place was jammed, but they managed to find a table for us quickly and the service and food were great. Only another 3 or so days of eating what I like and not worrying about the consequences.

I was very pleased to get all the washing done last night and now have 4 sets of shorts and tops for the 4 remaining days. Only problem is, it's so freezing that I could be wearing my one set of winter stuff for the rest of the trip, so it's back to hand washing each night. I've learned a top tip for getting stuff dried in a hotel room. First wring the item out as best you can, then spread a towel on the floor and lay the garment on top of it. Then roll the whole thing up like a swiss roll and stand on it. Works a treat, the rest should dry overnight.