Monday, 2nd July

York to Gainsborough 61 miles
Today we had a morning free of rain and started earlier to try and take advantage of the brief rain free interlude - unfortunately, the headwind was still relentless.
The cycle down route 65 to Selby took us down a former railway line, presumably a former pit line and the terrain has now turned flat as we navigated one former pit town after another - the landscape scarred with the remnants of the former coal industry and towering power stations, spewing smoke high into the air.
At Selby, i thought it best to buy a map to make navigation easier, but no sooner had we done so, the rain came down in bucket loads and everytime the map came out, it was reduced to a soggy mess.
However, there is something quite invigerating about navigating with a compass and we headed southish until we could stand the rain no more.
At 4pm, enough was enough and we holed up in a pub in Gainsborough, a place that comes close to the worst place i have visited in the last couple of weeks. The worst place is Blyth, near Newcastle, a place that makes the London Road in Brighton look like Mayfair.
The justgiving page is going from strength to strength and with gift aid and some off line donations still to be added, i am hopeful we will reach our 3k target.
Our schedule, subject to the summer weather wll be Spalding, southish of Cambridge, Gravesend and home on Friday.