Back to Paper Mill Lock

The weather forecasts recently haven't been very accurate at all. Today the weather was supposed to be cloudy with sunny intervals, but when I got up this morning, the sky was very grey. I decided to take the risk and chance it. I had a big bowl of cereal and a banana for breakfast then set off on a cut down version of yesterday's ride.

I've now put the panniers on my bike, but left them empty mainly because I couldn't be arsed finding stuff to put in them. At the start of the ride, my legs still felt tired from yesterday's exertions. It was also rather windy - the blustery sort of wind which felt like I was cycling into it which ever direction I went - I hope it won't be so windy in Spain. I made it to Paper Mill Lock in reasonable time, looking forward to a slice of carrot cake and a cup of tea.

As promised yesterday, here's a pic showing all of the cakes on the counter:

And here's my carrot cake, which was delicious, and didn't disappoint.

I made it home without any problems, and the breakfast seemed to do the trick, as I didn't feel like I was going to bonk. It didn't rain in the end, and as I arrived home the promised sunny intervals appeared.

Last night I booked up the final night's accommodation, in Ávila. I'd found a good looking hotel a week or so ago, which is close to the cathedral, and costs €35, which isn't bad for a tourist city. I did send them an e-mail a week ago but didn't get a reply, so I phoned them up to check that they had somewhere secure to lock my bike overnight. The guy who answered the phone could hardly understand any of my best Spanish, so he put me onto a lady, who couldn't understand me either. She put me onto another lady who spoke some English, and we had a rather strange conversation in Spanglish, but we got there in the end. They did have somewhere to lock my bike, and so that's all my accommodation sorted.

The ride into Ávila is the shortest stage, and is just over halfway through the trip, so I'm thinking of booking myself in for a sports massage while I'm there. Google has thrown up a few promising responses, so time to get the dictionary out!