Trip route

Dublin // Liverpool - Manchester - Sheffield - Nottingham - Leicester - Bedford - Luton - London // Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Antwerp - Brussels - Enghien

Bike: 579 mi / 926 km

Loads of tourists

Luton to London

omg there are tourists everywhere in London, how annoying. Oh wait, I am one, haha.

So I got to London alright, but once I reached the city, I had no idea where I was or what direction to head. Soooo I continued to ride. And then I came across a sign for the London Bridge! This was exciting to me, because I was meeting Phil in between the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge at the HMS Belfast battleship. So I was able to make my way there successfully, very exciting.

Route (Luton to London): A1081 / A41

Bike to London: 37 miles

Bike around London for duration of stay: 23 miles

Cold, wet, and gloomy

Bedford to Luton

I finally experienced my first dose of crappy weather. It was bound to come sooner or later. During my ride I was cold and I was wet. And most of the time I really didn't even know where I was or where I was going. I couldn't find my map of England, which would have been extremely useful.

But with no map and no idea where I was, the only thing I could rely on was my compass. I just kept going south. And every time I saw a sign for Luton and followed it, it would lead to a motorway (highway.) Very helpful. I decided I would try NOT to get pulled over by the police and illegally get on the motorway), so I just kept going in an unknown direction.

Then as I was riding along, I saw a sign that said London was just 30 miles away. At that point, having no sense of where I was, I was considering just going straight to London. And then BAM, a sign pointing in the direction of Luton! This time it was actually useful!! So I was finally able to make it!


Route (Bedford to Luton): I don't even know

Bike: 35 miles

A little assistance

Leicester to Bedford

Seb very kindly offered to drive me and my bike about 10 miles south in the direction I was heading, and I couldn't resist. It was in the area he works, and he had a bike rack for his car, how convenient! He relieved me of what would have been my longest ride so far on this trip. Not only that, but I really only had to follow one road from where he dropped me off, so it was a much easier route. I was able to make it to Florian's place right outside Bedford with really no problems!! Shocker, yay!



And I'm starting to think traffic circles are fun. I'm getting used to them, and it's great fun riding round and round the circles, haha. (There are lots of them here.)

Route (Leicester to Cranfield): A5

Bike 49 miles

I am quite proud of my navigation skills!

Nottingham to Leicester

Yet again my directions failed me. Or rather, I failed my directions. Either way, they were of no help after the first 8 (of 32) steps. But I was able to make my way to Seb's place, so I was quite proud!! Again, I ended up going an extra 10+ miles.... and perhaps the last 5 steps of the directions also helped, but either way, I was proud!

Oh, and I passed through the "heart of rural England"--Leicestershire!

Route (Nottingham to Leicester): A60 / A6

Bike: 46 miles

Following road signs

Sheffield to Nottingham

Maybe it was a good thing I missed one of the turns my directions had listed. It seemed to be much more simple following the road signs than it was the 20-some steps my google map directions had me going. Google maps had me going a bunch of B roads... I'm not sure what that means, but all I know is that I have had a difficult time finding B roads. So after missing my first B road, I just started using road signs leading me to cities in the direction of Nottingham, and it got me to Travis' place just fine! I'm usually extremely dependent on my google maps, so this was a big deal!! It also took me an extra 10+ miles, but I did find the road signs easier to follow than google map directions...


Route (Sheffield to Nottingham): A625 / A619 / A617 / A60 ...or something

Bike: 51 miles

HILLS

Manchester to Sheffield

Let's just put it out there. I immensely dislike hills. They are too much for me to handle, haha. But on the bright side, I was able to see some of England's country side. I went through a national park known as the Peak District. And it was hilly. And you know that it's apparent that you're struggling when a fellow cyclist going in the opposite direction asks you if you're alright. ahahaha. Yes, I was asked if I was alright. Not to worry, I was. It was just a continuous uphill battle, literally. And then the downhills came. Of course I much prefer downhills, but just as there were massive uphills, there were massive downhills. So much so that I was actually slightly braking nearly the whole time. Because otherwise I was afraid I'd be going too fast that my bike would start wobbling due to the weight on the back of the bike and topple over. The faster the bike goes, the more it seems to wobble. And I get scared. Had I not been braking, I probably could have consistently been topping 30 mph. Even while slightly braking I was going around 20 mph. That was how great the decline was. Eventually with a slight (unwanted) detour, I made it.


Oh, and it was confirmed that the street signs in England make it difficult to navigate. So it's not just me. I talked to this one English guy who totally agreed with me about the total possibility of getting lost because the signs just aren't always there. So this is why I have problems.

Route (Manchester to Sheffield): A57

Bike: 39 miles

Detroit Pistons logo in Manchester!

Liverpool to Manchester

Not gonna lie, the highlight of my evening was when I saw a Detroit Pistons logo in Manchester. First of all, an NBA team logo. Second, like really, of ALL the basketball teams, DETROIT?! It was extremely random, I was overly excited. Smaller logos of the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks were also present... which was kinda understandable. But Detroit? Never would I have expected. Therefore, extremely excited.

But let's see, the bike ride from Liverpool to Manchester = successful, so YAY!!!! It was nice to finally have my first ride in Europe. It was rather smooth, I was excited that there were bike paths practically the whole way. (A little different than the US.) I really didn't have any problems with the directions of the route... well, except for when I got into Manchester. But Amy was kind enough to pick me up from city centre so I wouldn't have any more difficulty!!

Route (Liverpool to Manchester): A580

Bike: 37 miles

Made it to England!

Dublin to Liverpool

Of course I missed my ferry to the UK. I thought I allotted enough time so that I would make it at least 45 minutes (including time in case I got lost) before the ferry was set to leave. Well, apparently not. I missed a turn or turned when I shouldn't have or something (the roads are sometimes odd), and somehow ended up in the middle of the city. And then suddenly BAM, I am at the cross section of the river and O'Connell! I tell you, that intersection is always popping up on me. So I made my way in the direction of the port, and once I got to the port area is where it took additional time that I was not expecting. Terminal 1, the terminal of my ferry, was pretty much the furthest point of the massive port area, so that was a few extra miles. So by the time I actually arrived, it was too late to board. Sigh.

But I was able to take the next ferry out, which was a few hours later.

Before I boarded the ferry, I stored my bike in the same area as the cars that are traveling, so seeing the car deck for the first time was kinda neat.

Oh, and during the ride, I went outside on the outer deck, and it was SOOOOOO WINDY!!!!!!

Anyway, so it was a smooth ferry ride, and the train ride was smooth too. (Ferry took me to Holyhead in Wales, the train took me to Liverpool in England.) I was able to arrive in Liverpool an hour earlier than I thought I would, because I was able to catch the Holyhead-Liverpool train an hour early. That was thanks in part to a quick transition between the ferry and the train. As a biker, this other biker dude and I were literally the first ones off the ferry. I was actually really glad he was there, because I was basically following his lead. The train station was probably a little over a mile away. (Regular foot passengers take a shuttle away from the port.) When I got there I asked about the train to Liverpool, and the guy told me it was about to leave. So I quickly made my way to the right platform and was able to get on the earlier train! YAY!!! Oh, and there is a reason people tell you if you're cycle touring make sure you can carry the weight of your bike with your bags on it. Because once again, I had to lift my bike up fully to get it onto the train. It's a wee bit more difficult when the weight isn't evenly distributed on the bike, and there's 40+ pounds on the back, while there's almost no weight on the front. It's a severe balance issue, haha.

But yes, nice train ride. Mostly the country side of Wales. I saw many cows, horses, and sheep. Also along the coast for a good while.

Oh, and in the United Kingdom, kids get into flour fights on trains. Yes, flour like the kind you use to make bread. The conductor came by and was like "be careful when you lean back. Kids got into a flour fight earlier." Then sure enough, when I looked at seats around mine, there was flour residue on a good number of seats. hahaha.

So I got to Liverpool. I started making my way towards (what I thought was, and told by a train station employee) the right way to Dara's place. OMG, A HUGE HILL. Just hoped I would not be dealing with hills throughout England. That would not be fun for me. But... what should have been a 2 mile trip, I of course turned into much longer. Google map directions really do not help at all when you can't locate the street signs to know where you are. Sometimes they're on the buildings, sometimes they're on a sign on the ground, sometimes there's nothing at all!! The people walking on the streets weren't always a big help. One time I was sent completely in the wrong direction. Completely. I'm sure it was not on purpose, but still. Other times they just didn't know. And other times, it was probably just because I missed the street they told me to turn at.

But of course, I eventually made it as I always do!!! I just like to give myself a more difficult time than I have to.

Bike around Dublin/Holyhead/Liverpool: 14 miles