Day 1: Sandwich on the way to Nantwich

We are in Nantwich at the Crown Inn after a 41 mile first day. It was a brilliant start to our odyssey. After Shubhanaga kindly dropped us in Cheltenham, we had an excellent overnight stay with my son Barney, wife Clare and my little granddaughter, Hazel.

This morning, Barney drove us to the Shrewsbury Buddhist Centre for the starting line. He also made sandwiches for us to eat on the road. So many lovely Buddhists there at the SBC to see us off at their beautiful centre: Vajrapriya, Sanghajivini, Balajit et al. A choir was practising, and they threw the doors open and sang to us as we pedalled off, amid much waving and photographing. It was wonderful and I felt a lump in the throat.

We then pedalled 41 miles through rolling Shropshire & Cheshire countryside at a steady pace. But got slightly lost at one point, but then corrected ourselves. It felt good. Lots of quiet country lanes with few cars. The rain made a strong appearance, but we were not bothered. It was a case of 'Singing in the rain'! Better weather is forecast tomorrow.

A very good first day and bikes and our bodies seem to be working well.

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Thank you.