T minus 12 hours

I took a taxi to my new hotel.

 The Cowboy-without-Horse method seemed too daunting today. I bought a few books since I last have walked that distance with saddle bags slung over my shoulder ;-(

The bike is boxed. The spare part has not arrived yet, but Miles of Mellow Miles Cycles in Horley helped me to disassemble the bike (actually he did most of the work while I watched) and pack it in one of his bike cardboard boxes. Miles will ship the part to Canada once it arrives from Portugal.  Everything worked out not perfectly but quite well. But I'm very happy that the pedal fell off where it did, namely 200 meters uphill from Miles's shop ;-)


The following picture hits me like a bag of bricks. I arrived in Saint Malo for the first time ever when it would still be spring for a few days; I bought Le Velo in Brest just a couple of days into summer; Now it hits me: This glorious summer is over; even the leaves tell me that it is fall now !

Careless smokers or non-content youths?

In first class they cover the hair-oiled head-rests with tissues

haven't seen these in ages!

No toy elephants but lockable bike storage covers

Turret . Not bad for the budget but No phone, No free internet, No water pressure. Nice staff though

After a short scouting trip to Gatwick and back, a strange feeling is starting to take a hold of me.  Even though a ~2-3 year old toddler just wobbled up to my table and smiled at me, and then used the loving moment to nick a few fries off my plate, which just adds to the strangeness of England, I think I might actually miss Horley a tiny bit.

Horley is far enough away from London not to suffer from all the greed and hype. The owner of Mellow Miles Cycles is originally from London but has come to Horley to get back to normality. On the other hand, Horley is not quite far enough away from London Gatwick.

The English disease

?

Good luck ;-)

Wire tapping?

The bike is boxed. Time to leave