Well here I am, in my overpriced guesthouse in beautiful Derby. Mike came with me up to loughborough, then left me to fend for myself. We headed off at 10:15am from leicester, followed the national cycle network route 6, and arrived in loughborough at 12:05p, doing about 13.8 mi. We had lunch then walked around a bit when it started to rain. It didn't last very long fortunately. Then we grabbed the bikes and had a quick stroll through queens park and continued to follow route 6 around 1:50p. Mike left me at the edge of lufbra and I was tempted to just stick to the a roads but I stayed along the cycle network. About 10 min into being on my own, I came across a gravel path in the middle of agricultural land, and twice there were forks without any signs! I was ready to give up, but I took the chance on both occasions and just chose a path, and was right both times! After I got out of that area the rest of the way was clearly marked, and was actually quite scenic. Not many hills, no wind, no cars, just lots of countryside! It was very pretty. And best of all, it didn't smell like cow shit, as most of English country does. I was riding along, went through a wooded area, where I saw a sign that said Derby 11 1/2 miles, yet I was expecting only like 7 miles because the road signs on the busy a roads said 13 miles away when we were in lufbra, but I guess the cycle network takes you out of the way to avoid the traffic. So I took it almost the whole way until I got off to go to the guesthouse. But it was real tranquil most of the way. Passed various strange street names: butthole lane, deadmans lane and Lara croft lane. Also passed cloud hill quarry, i was right above it, never been that close to a quarry in action before. It was a sad sight to see. Then I went along a canal path for a few miles. The leaves on the trees were such nice colors! So I continued on, the path got busier as i got closer to Derby. I arrived around 4:50p and didn't get lost :-) I did a total of approx 42.5 miles, I went into town and went food shopping but forgot to put the comp on on the way back so that's just a guess. Avg speed was 8.8 bc I went slower on the unpaved and unswept paths. When I came back to the guesthouse, the receptionist told me I couldn't bring lance in my room or else id have to pay £2 per night (which is their bicycle policy) so he told me to keep it in the hallway and I won't be charged. So lance is all alone, downstairs, locked to a ladder rung! I sure hope no one is looking to steal a ladder and a bicycle tonight. So when I went to the kitchen I realized it didn't have a stove, so I had to put my stir fry in the microwave, and without soy sauce. Needless to say, it was awful, but I was real hungry, so I ate it up. Then I was leaving the kitchen when all of a sudden- hot boy alert!! And I saw him again later on as I was leaving the shower. Are we the only 2 people in this whole guesthouse?! I sure hope so! Unfortunately these places don't have a common room, so I'm going to have a mosey around and see if I bump into him again. Wish me luck!
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