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Sleeping outside without a tent can probably only be done a few weeks a year in Canada, if its actually warm than the mosquitos will promptly show you their hospitality. However I wake from my third night outside and have yet to have any problems with bugs or even
people for that matter. I can only assume that nobody has noticed me, and even if they do the most i can expect is a poke from a stick.
Another early morning means more waiting for stores to open while I try to amuse myself. The front bike tire is definetely flat and the gas station air pump only gives me false hope. The Asca grocery opens and I'm surprised by how many people actually stand outside waiting for the doors to open, and its not just old people either. The store is owned by Wal-Mart so one can expect low prices and low quality products, but in the end food is food. I subsequently check the connecting mall and search for bike parts once again. The mall is only good for free bathrooms and escaping my first taste of english rain. The Telford shopping complex is quite big and
has many surrounding buildings. One of these is the next door library which holds the possibility of free internet. Inside I print off some road maps of the nearby area and much to my surprise actually use the internet for free. There is a sense of relief after finally emailing your friends , wether they care to know what's going on or not. I also find the names of some bike shops within the city and try to memorize the routes to where I can find them.
The next 5 hours or so go by very quickly as i become increasingly frustrated looking for the aforementioned bike shops. In Canada if in doubt someone will just go to Canadian tire and most likely find what they're looking for, however in Europe the lack of complete corporation dominance is refreshing and great but definetely makes things harder. I finally find a bike shop in nearby Wellington and buy a tire and tube for another 10 quid. If I were smart I would buy more than 1, but I convince myself that logically both tires are new and will be fine. So very late in the day I begin my days worth of biking, which isn't very much and I continue east finally reaching Brownhills by night. Its a typical small town and based on one main street and has a fairly large park at the end. The park looks like a fairly safe place and its dark enough to sleep, so i pull my bike alongside the far fence about 50 metres from the road. Before even being inside my sleeping bag a man approaches walking a dog. Now a person can be hidden from, but even I know that a dog is unbeatable for detecting people. The high pitched bark of the dog doesn't stop the owner who has every intent to pretend I'm not there, even with me sayiing "what are the odds" to myself quite loudly (even though I realize the odds are probably fairly high of this happening). He can't be blamed for choosing to ignore a homeless man in the park at night which is probably non-existent in this town. Creating a rule of thumb for myself I decide never to sleep in a place if somebody has seen me there, so I jump the fence and sleep in the much more concealed trees. I put a small line on my map marking my days progress and go to sleep hoping that it does not rain.
The nearly silent alarm in my watch actually wakes me at 5 am, and although I am still very tired it is best not to linger when my bike is exposed nearby. I can only assume that as I move further south that it will stay darker longer, but it will probably be far too little too notice. The previous day was a waste so I have intention of getting at least half way to London from my current position. Within a couple of hours I arrive in the city of Tamworth and spend some time exploring a small castle. I am placing too much priority on time and speed, and the fact that this is the first castle I have really looked at despite being in Europe for nearly a week is quite discouraging. A free hour of internet is available when becoming a member at the local library to which I oblige and go back to the road upon its completion. The huge city of Birmingham is along the days route, but I do not feel up to the challenge and avoid it Besides the A5 highway is being very unfriendly at this stage and has made biking nearly impossible. Even if I could it wouldn't matter, because i have another flat tire! What the hell, give me a break. A friendly chap sees me in my condition and tells me to get in. He is some sort of computer engineer and insists on driving me to the nearest town. The first time experiencing a traffic circle from a car is quite exciting, especially when the driver does a few loops while making up his mind. He drops me off and wishes me luck, and I'm just glad I have made progress that quickly. I now look forward to being able to draw a big line on my map; pathetic indeed. Getting my bearings I figure the best place to go is nearby North Hampton. The walk takes the rest of the day but is kept interesting with such things as a jaw dropping TVR dealership which even has a few Noble M12's, simply stunning.
My bike is thrown with passion into the bushes as I arrive in North Hampton however I make mental note of where to find it later in the night. A few hours pass and I decide to see how much a train ticket to London would cost. It would cost 20 pounds to get to London central, which to me sounds ridiculous for the short trip, so i kindly let the young guy behind me buy his ticket. He's clearly drunk and introduces himself as Keith and is extremely fascinated by me. Keith is hilarious and keeps offering to buy me a ticket to London. In my good nature I can't take advantage of a drunk guy and deny as politely possible, but he keeps putting his arm around me and continues to tell me the reasons why I should let him buy this ticket. Eventually I tell him that i've biked from Holyhead and his face is in utter disbelief as he pretends to be looking for the cameras.
' Where are the cameras, I'm on Canadian TV aren't I ?, attention everyone my mate Phil here has biked here from Holyhead and you are all on Canadian TV.' Thankfully nobody takes him seriously and I even get some light clapping from some girls sitting on the floor to which I sheepishly grin. After about half an hour I have without trying or wanting to convinced him of a whole new plan.
He pulls me close once again ' Ok Phil, I hate my job. I have 8000 lbs in the bank and I'll quit tomorrow. You come over to my sisters place
and in the morning I'll nick a bike and we can both go to Amsterdam together.' Perhaps it seems like a good idea to Keith when he's drunk however I doubt he'll feel the same tomorrow morning and most likely won't have a clue who I am. I apologize to Keith and the small contigent of people joining in on the conversation for not taking his offer, but leave just as their train arrives. This is the first conversation I've had in 3 days and it took almost an hour. Maybe i should leave my friggen bike behind and take his offer, but I think its for Keith's benefit that I don't.
Finding a suitable sleeping place for the night takes a few hours but is very comfortable. I fall asleep instantly but not before drawing a big line on my map. I have no itention of admitting I actually got a ride to anyone.
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