Day 8 - Wakefield

I don't think Alice or I ever imagined that the cycle from Bakewell to Sheffield would be so stunning - A seemingly banal road sandwiched between miles and miles of stunning English landscape. Negotiating Sheffield itself, however, was not so easy. There was nothing for it but to join the lines of heavy traffic moving through the city in order to escape through the other side. It would be nice to think we could have done this tour on nothing but country lanes but due to our concert itinerary and time restraints, we simply had to put ourselves out there on these busy thoroughfares. I guess this is where we are both grateful to the months and months of city cycling experience we've had commuting around London.

In fact, I'd say that most drivers have been very considerate to us on this tour. They wait for a good time to overtake and then give plenty of room as they pass. However, both Alice and I have had a dodgy experience at one time or other on the trip. My incident occurred as I was approaching the brow of a hill, and a VERY wide tractor decided to pass me. He couldn't see what was coming up the other side of the hill and sure enough, the driver of a car on the other side of the road had to perform an emergency stop. Why, oh why, don't some people have the patience to wait a few more seconds before engaging in a stupid manouevre like this? All I could do was shake my head in disbelief and urge my bike onwards. The chap driving the car, however, may well have decided to respond in a more overtly gesticular fashion...

Quick pub lunch off the A61 with mum, our loyal and loving support vehicle driver, and then on to Wakefield where we were greeted and hosted by Rob and Eileen. What a delightful couple! Rob, a friend of Alice's from Deloitte, and his gorgeous grandmother, Eileen, not only offered us comfy beds for the night but they fed and watered us AND found us a piano in the local church hall where we could rehearse our Harrogate programme, before sending us to bed with cups of tea and chocolate truffles. People like Rob and Eileen are special - it reminds me that the milk of human kindness is certainly not running dry in this world. Thank you both.