We loaded up the tandem and eventually left home at 10.15 on the first leg of our journey to the Isle of Wight. We waved goodbye to Sarah and Duncan who like everyone else thought our holiday was a little bizarre . The weather was not good for cycling the wind was horrendous but having booked our accommodation there was no going back. The first few miles went pretty smoothly and although it was cool and windy we made good progress. I was enjoying the the beautiful scenery fields of red poppies next to yellow rapeseed the late spring has made a surprising mixture of scenery.Our journey however stated getting harder as we approached Lambourne Downs,the horrendous hill and wind made uphill cycling impossible, so we resorted to pushing . This we had to do on several occasions . By the end of the day we had concluded that the National cycle network paths were on beautiful quiet and scenic routes but also the most hilly we always seem too be heading up to radio masts. The roads were exceptionally quiet for a Sunday in fact we hardly saw any signs of life, probably because the weather was unseasonably bad. We cycled past a couple of ladies in thick coats and wooly hats and I then realised why there was no one around. Having got across the Lambourne downs we came down to Hungerford where we stopped by the Kennett Avon Canal for lunch. A pretty place called Kintbury had its gardens open to the public. I wanted to stop and be nosey but we had a big hill approaching. We might have stopped for tea and cake but no one seem to be offering this, so on and upward we went to Inkpen Common is a precursor to Inkpen Hill which is on the North Downs. Having pushed the tandem up this horrendous slope we were hoping it was going to be all downhill to Andover but there was plenty of ups as well as downs. We arriving in Andover and then eventually found our way to the Premier Inn after a few wrong turns.
This was our first experience of Premier Inns and although the surroundings weren't very salubrious, the receptionist proved to be very helpful, finding a safe storage for the tandem Graham for some reason got into a discussion with her about being English rather than British, by that time I was too exhausted for any discussion and was very happy to find the rooms have en suite bathrooms with proper baths and I duly soaked my aching body. The adjoining Brewer's Fayre provided sustenance at a bargain price, and the purple Premier Inn bed was as comfortable as the advert says .
Distance 54 miles.