| Day 1 | Day 2 | Total | |
| Dist (Mls) | 100 | 108 | 208 |
| Dist Km | 160.02 | 173.32 | 333.3 |
| Time | 7h 44m | 8h 6m | 15h 50m |
| Predicted Dist Km | 158.4 | 170.1 | 328.5 |
| Elevation gain m | 514 | 233 | 747 |
| No. photographs | 304 | 116 | 420 |
| Sustrans | 1 | 1,11 & 51 |
I could also add some information on the train journey to get there I suppose:
- Number of trains caught 3 (should have been two)
- Number of trains cancelled 1
- Number of trains late (40m) 1
- Number of changes 2 (should have been one)
- Packets of Jelly Babies 2
I would certainly recommend it as a fairly straightforward two-day tour of the credit card variety. The route was pretty much traffic free apart from the towns. It was not at all hilly and some of the scenery was delightful. I took the Summer off-road routes - which were fine as it was dry, but I would think twice if they were very wet. The bit I enjoyed most was the Water Rail Way from Lincoln to Boston. As it followed a disused railway line it was pretty flat and there were lots of interesting snippets of information along the route as well as interesting pieces of art. I think that is one of the reasons I took more photographs on the first day, I seemed to stop every few hundred metres. Also on the second day the route returned to areas I have cycled through many times and so I tended to take fewer photographs.
As this part of England tends to be drier than the West Coast I had no problems with rain - but sun tan lotion was a must. I used my Keen Commuter Sandals, without socks. I know I was letting the tradition of the sock wearing sandal'd image English down. They were great, stiff enough for cycling, open enough to get some aeration to my feet and they were a snug fit for my feet (which differ in size as it happens - but only by a 1/2 size - based on the English method of shoe sizing). I had no foot problems either with chafing or numbness or cramp. When cycling I sometimes unintentionally tense my toes which can sometimes cause cramp. I did not do a lot of walking, but they were fine for the walking I did do - perhaps around half a mile (0.8Km)
The Garmin EDGE GPS was great and it was easy to create courses using Bike Route Toaster. Although the route and the actual roads did not always agree it was not difficult working around those differences. It was slightly annoying when the GPS unit kept bleeping to indicate I was off-course when in fact I was on the course it was just the route data must have been very slightly inaccurate. I assume that was probably when I was using the OSM data to automatically route the course. Next time I will spend a bit more time comparing my route against the OS map data. Although I have noticed that the OS map does not always reflect the later Sustrans routing. Not of these things were issues, just having the GPS Unit made the cycle ride much less stressful. In fact impromptu sight-seeing was made easier because it was so much easier to return to the planned route. When doing this sort of trip before I have used maps and bits of paper in a map-holder clamped to the handlebars and have always found assembling the information before hand a bit tedious. I am sold on using a GPS unit, with the advantage it is easier to check out the route on Google Earth. The Garmin software will do this automatically. I use this when writing my posts to check out exactly what churches I took photographs of.
One last comment, I have a Brooks leather saddle on my custom Longstaff touring bicycle. They together make for a very comfortable ride. On the second day there were no problems getting right back onto the bike and setting off. (I took the Brooks saddle with me to use on my Bangkok to Saigon cycle ride). I had no mechanical issues or punctures. Although as luck would have it I did get a puncture when riding to the pub on the day after the tour. Only the second using the Schwalbe Marathon plus tyres. The cause - a huge thorn I should have known better but a followed a shared path where the had hedge was been trimmed by a tractor which also was helpfully spreading the thorns all over the pavement. It was not my worst experience. On the same path several years ago my son and I got 3 punctures when riding on the tandem.
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