A Hot Bath

Sunday – May 23

Another shift in plans. We roll the dice and decide to take the train from Canterbury to Bath. Then we will do some small rides from there. The first train goes to London, Victoria Station. From there, we must decide which station to change to. One takes the scenic route, Paddington Station has a train that goes “direct”. As most of the rides through the countryside really don't show the countryside (you mostly see the trees that were planted to hide the trains) we decide to head for Paddinton and take the “direct” route.

This means biking through the streets of London and continually asking folks, “do you know how to get to Paddington Station?” We ride through Hyde Park. Many people are enjoying the sunny Sunday. One person tells us, “Go to the far corner of the park, and when you get outside the park, ask someone there.” Amazingly, ten minutes later, another person responds, “Go three blocks down, and then ask someone on that corner.” Strangely enough, we don't see the ever-present signs that direct one to the train station. These are usually seen every five blocks or so. Eventually, a police women tells us we, “Can't ride on the sidewalk, there is a 70 pound fine.” (She has to catch us first!) She does direct us to the general area of the station.

We discover that the station is under “renovation” and we spend another fifteen minutes circling around until we almost miss the entrance! We find the platform. It leaves in four minutes. It takes us that long to walk to the front of the train where the bike car is. We load our bikes and barely make it into the seating car as the train pulls out.

We are so glad we chose the “direct” route.

We arrive in Bath and it is HOT. Never seen it this hot during my stays. I am sweating! We head for the YMCA. Cookie says this is preferable to the campground for just the one night as we are riding on tomorrow. Sunday, and the grocery store is closed already so we head to the Pig and Fiddle Pub and have a bit to eat. Tomorrow, the pubs all over England will be packed with folks watching the World Cup. We head back to the Y and both spend time on the computer, catching up. Off to bed (a lumpy one) and plan for a ride tomorrow.