Full Circle

After only 1,785 miles, we came back to Northlands Road from the East, as a fine closure of the circle that we began 3 months ago when we turned west from that same road.  Ruby was so excited to see the spots that she and Lyle had explored, and she pointed out the exact locations where the rocks that they collected (and which we have ridden with) came from.  Luckily this end didn’t come easily, and the route fought us to the very wet, filthy and cold end-

We thought that we were going to have everything going for us in the morning when the rain that was supposed to start before the dawn held off for long enough for us to strike the tents dry.  A very quick bite as the rain began to fall, and we took off with every intention of visiting Castle Arundel.  Several blocks later, after only a few minutes on the sidewalk along a busy “A” road which was to be our route for the next 9 miles, the skies opened up.  We have definitely had campground showers on the trip that delivered far less water than what came from the sky.  With the cars zooming past us, we revised our plans, and decided to strike out for Storrington and our final destination instead.  Google recommended “A” roads, and Maps.me suggested a trip over quiet country lanes.  As we started out for Mimi’s route through the back lanes, I noticed that the profile mentioned half a mile of climbing, but fairly gradually.  Regardless, there was no way we were going to take a busy road, just too frightening without any shoulder and British drivers.

Instead, after several substantial and long climbs, we got this-

The South Downs Way.  A lovely track across the downs, with some of the finest blends of flint and chalk, blended with a modest gale and pouring rains.  As would be expected, a razor sharp flint took out a tire on the way down-

And it would have to be the rear again, which requires complete disassembly of the trailer and panniers and sleeping bag sack.  Our last new tube went in, and after pumping it up, we successfully unscrewed the entire stem while removing the pump, and lost all the air.  More tools and a tighter stem, and the fairly long process of pumping the tire back up, and we could finish walking the bikes down an amazingly slick sheet of wet clay.  Good times indeed.

When we finally regained the road, we found the unavoidable final mile of “A” road to the village had a completely overgrown pedestrian track alongside, and so we forced a way through and just kept pedaling until we finally found ourselves in ‘downtown’ Storrington, and set ourselves up at the local pub in a quest for dry and warm sustenance.  We drank them out of hot tea and ate well, stripped down to the lowest, still socially acceptable garments, in the hopes that we might dry a little, but there wasn’t much that could be done in an hour without a roaring fire, so back into our sodden clothes, and off to finish the last 2 miles.

We really felt like the trip didn’t want to end, regardless of what we were thinking.  It was wonderful to be welcomed back into Stephen and Hilary’s beautiful cottage, and Ruby finally was able to accomplish one of her goals of sitting in their warm conservatory, reading uninterrupted, while the rain fell outside.  Simple pleasures.

Tomorrow we finish our sightseeing tour of Portsmouth without the bikes, and then get them boxed for shipping and enjoy one more meal with the family before our bike-free time in Iceland.  

So many mixed emotions.  A great feeling of accomplishment to be sure, but hard to imagine next steps.  So much of our lives has been invested in the planning and execution of this adventure. It will be interesting to see what is to come.

Sleep in a bed is what is coming right now...

-Dave