Temp: 22C, humidity 40%, coastal wind warning: southerly, force 6 - 8.
Day's mileage: 5 1/2 miles.
Nightmare on Cycle Route 1
National Cycle Route 1 is a small pretty road going south between the Royal Cinque Ports golfcourse and fields of cows and corn. The wind is so strong the golf balls are flying backwards. Even so, other cyclists power past me whilst, feeling miserable and alone, I struggle with the gusts. This is a real low and five miles feels like five hundred.
Cycling under the seawall on the outskirts of Deal, a powerful gust blows me off the pavement and lands me sprawling in the road with the bike on top of me, just missing a car. Shaken but mostly unhurt I reach Deal, shelter on the front from (remarkably) my first rain of the journey and wait for Nigel to get home from work at 6.00. Nigel likes to cook and later makes me a tasty fish soup. No snaps on this ride - too busy surviving - but this is the soup.
