DAY 34 - RUTLAND WATER

BINGHAM TO EGLETON

After a night at the haunted mansion (a.k.a. The Vale of Belvoir!) we were spirited into the deserted breakfast room for a Full English breakfast to start us on our merry way!! It was the only place in the hotel we could get any internet so we had to finish off our work before leaving for the day to reach our next destination.....

Rutland Water was on the agenda today and we arrived at Forge Cottage for around 10.30am where we were able to leave a couple of bags in our room instead of leaving in the car, before heading out on our bikes.  We had a map to follow for the boundary route and there was an add on bit to Hambleton village should we feel energised enough (we didn't though!) and the whole route we followed was around 16 miles.

With all the starting and stopping (a lot!) we managed to eke it out for 4 hours as it was made clear (as per our hostesses previous emails sent to me she said!) we had no access or entry to our room before 4pm!!!!!   We stopped at Rutland Cycle shop and nearly upgraded our bikes with new ones which was very tempting especially once we had done a test cycle and realised how smoothly proper gears can work!! Ours have been clicking and clonking the whole last 3 days and it was a bit like test driving a top of the range Mercedes when all you've been used to is your clapped out banger for so long!!

I have the make and model of the earmarked new bicycles however and just need to do some research now to see what the best price i can find for it .... we noticed lots of very colourful hippos all around our route which were fun to spot (See above - the hippo is the one with the Union Jack thanks!!) and took a few photos next to them!

After driving into Oakham to watch a bit of footie and suss out the evening meal location, we managed to while away another hour to take us to the Golden 4pm!! I must say that this is the very first place we have had such a rigid time allocation to our room on the whole trip having stayed at over 40 places now! Every single other B & B have all welcomed us from any time giving us keys to come and go and made us feel at home but things are most formal here and very regimented ('because we have our work to do before 4pm to get things ready' we were told!) However, the room is very nice, TV all in working order and the location perfect for the cycle route!!

Anyway, no point stressing over other peoples strict rules so we got ready to go out for 6pm which meant we could benefit from 1/3rd off the menu with Happy Hour!!  A very nice meal in Oakham and then we went back to celebrate the near end to my walk with a lovely bottle of Campagne on the patio, washed down with some emails and work appraisal spreadsheets!!!

My mood has certainly been lifted again with more great company (thank you to everyone who has contributed to making this such a memorable trip by joining me and physically putting in the effort to join me and walk with me) and its reinforced my belief that i am better with companionship than just left to my own devices! I am not such a loner or so self contained after all!