Apologies , it's some months now since we completed the last day of our trip and I've been somewhat lazy in updating it. York , that's where I awoke on the final leg of the route . It's fair to say we all had probably too much to drink the night before and got rather carried away , but hey, what our these trips for if you can't let yourself go a bit. However it's that laissez faire attitude that now made the first few miles seem a bit of a struggle. The forecast was mixed with thunderstorms predicted later on that day. Progress was slow, the previous nights activities mainly responsible for this. We eventually got into our stride and began ticking off the villages along the way. Not too far in Sion had been pointing out a sign when his right cleat came loose and with one hand off the handle bars his foot caught the rear wheel. Within an instant he was down on his left hand side. Sam , who was just a few bike lengths behind, immediately ploughed into the fallen bike and rider , I somehow managed to stay upright and came to a stop into a hedge. It all happened so quick, as these things tend to do. Our main concern apart from the bikes , was the welfare of Sion . He'd fallen heavily and it looked bad. His left thumb had born the brunt of the impact along with the bike. We gave it ten minutes or so to check everything out. It all seemed okay thankfully, so we all jumped back on. Sion had a few problems with his chain and gears as a result of the crash. This slowed us up for a few miles and made us a bit late for our planned rendezvous with Mark . We had planned a stop with him at Pocklington, but we decided to ride on .
This was the right decision as the rain had begun to fall.
We made great progress from now and the flat run in helped considerably. Mark got some fantastic photo's as we approached the final few miles. As we closed in on Bridlington we'd anticipated a dry run to the finish, however the weather had other ideas. The thunder that was forecast appeared on the horizon and the sky grew darker. We were on the outskirts of the seaside town when the heavens decided to soak us proper. Biblical rain fell with flashes of fork lightning too close for comfort.Fortunately Mark was with us and we pulled into a lay by and sought sanctuary in the car for 10 minutes as the rain and hail engulfed us. We were just a few miles from the finish. No sooner had it arrived, then it passed. So before we seized up we got back on the bikes and the flooded roads for the final hussar.
It was great to see the sea again, my second time arriving here on a bike. This time, unlike last, I knew exactly where the finish was. We rode up and I slapped the sign with an open palm by way of achievement. Onlookers sat in their cars looking out to turbulent skies over the sea must have thought we were a bit weird.
Mark eventually found us and our plans to have fish and chips from the shop opposite the finish were thwarted as it was closed .
A very wet drive home for the next few hours followed , but we'd done it and I'd do it again.
