Day 6 York to Newcastle

Day 6 80.22miles time 5:46:37 average 13.9mph max 33.5mph

Started out from York at 8:15 and arrived at The Angel of the North at 16:00ish

Last week I odered a pair of breathable waterproof trousers from Wiggle.com for the trip (a bit late I know). The package arrived on Thursday ready for the Saturday start. Unfortunately they sent the wrong kit which I promptly sent back as they won't replace it until they get the first lot back. The right trousers arrived at home on Wednesday just in time for me to pack them in my panniers on Thursday morning, just in case it rains. And boy was I grateful for them today. It has rained every pedal of the way. The trousers worked well, the coat worked well but the waterproof breathable gloves were just like a sponge. I had to keep wringing them out. But they worked like a wetsuit and kept my hands warm.

But the ride today has been anything but a chore. The A19 from York has been flat and mostly smooth so I've managed to keep up a good pace for most of the way here. I thought the rain would make it a miserable ride but it didn't really make much difference. But the max speed for the day has had to be kept down because even raindrops are hard and painful on your face at 40+mph

My aches and pains were quite a bit better this morning (that might be down to the Ibuprofen I took at breakfast) but at least I didn't have any pain or soreness problems all day. I think I might try that again tomorrow.

Elevenses in Northallerton. Lunch was a very nice lasagne in a cafe in Darlington (nice town). I even took a minor detour to see Durham in the rain as I've not been there before. It was a great ride in, but the climb out was the longest and steepest of the day.

I arrived at The Angel of the North at about 4:00, just a few minutes before Eddie arrived to pick me up. The only other people there were two chaps killing time after the cricket had been rained off. That Angel is a pretty impressive bit of art; especially close up.

So now Eddie has serviced my bike (in his garage where he keeps his 8 bikes) and cooked spag bol for tea. Massage is later (that's not Eddie).

We're looking forward to a drier day tomorrow. And its a long one to Dunbar, about 105 miles.