With appointment booked for 6 July at the vaccination centre in Lille (cos it was cheaper than UK!) I had had better get on my way. So after messing around with SIM cards the morning - sorting out a backup etc - I said goodbye to my good host and master bike mechanic Paul and rode to the Thames.
After the build-up to a bike trip, actually getting to the turning the pedals bit is for me always very satisfying. Conversely, the distance my intended journey would entail made each kilometre feel quite insignificant.
One of my intentions for this trip was to do fewer kilometres per day, leaving more time to find wild food and to recuperate wasted food along the way, whilst also reducing my required daily caloric consumption. I was figuring 60-80 km per day as a baseline, with bigger and smaller days where required. With that in mind, the pedalling was very light and slow and I just cruised along enjoying the warmth and the breeze of a perfect British Summer afternoon.
Following the river out of London, like so many times before, all the memories of past trips coming back, wondering if this was the last time I'd see this particular backdrop to a tour's debut. Then as far as the Medway, where I deviated and started to head directly for Maidstone, eventually getting there around dinner time and, after some wiggling of the GPS, continued on a little before finding a spot to camp in a field not far beyond.
Good old British Summer Time weirdness meant that when I got up to take a pee at 4 am in the morning dew it was already fully light, and rather disorientating, though I was soon asleep again.
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