Monday, May 25, 2009

Bridging the great divide.

Since the turn of the year I have been pedaling my way through the East Yorkshire countryside.
For those not familiar with Yorkshire, It is the biggest county in England and Yorkshire Folk are very proud of their heritage.
Due to its size, wherever I pedal I am likely to remain within its borders, unless I pedal into the next day or head south.

Despite the advent of the motor vehicle some Yorkshire folk see an excursion across the county line as the equivalent to Foreign Travel.

For the adventurous Passports would be sought or renewed and packing completed well in advance. Queues would form outside local doctors with vaccinations requests.
These shopping trips to London were a logistical nightmare.

For the more traditional they would ask
'Why would you want to go anywhere else when you have all that you want here?

I must admit the county is incredibly diverse both demographically and geographically.
They do have two very important commodities Yorkshire Pudding and Yorkshire Tea.

Although I firmly believe in cultural values, I also believe that we can not live in the past.
'Being an 'international cyclist' he says very smugly
(having cycled in the USA as well as in Yorkshire) I decided to take Addy on a day trip.

Today the great people of neighbouring Lincolnshire would become acquainted with me and my trusted companion Addy.
We would be modern day path finders and illustrate to our fellow Yorkshire folk that it is safe to go over the water.
So after my breakfast of Yorkshire Tea, Cumberland Sausage, Cornish Pasty, and Lancashire hotpot, Addy and I headed south over the Humber bridge.
It is not as impressive as the Golden Gate which I have also travelled over, but you could hardly compare Hull with, San Fransisco.
We did 72 miles in total at a steady pace and took some pictures on our way.
This international travel is great, although when I asked at the toll booth to have my passport stamped, I was a bit miffed that they said NO and called security.






















4 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures of what sounds like an interesting ride. I love the term "international cyclist" and am going to start using it for myself since I've test ridden bikes in Canada, England, and Russia :)

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  2. Great pictures and great miles. Looking forward to doing them with you :)

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  3. I'm going to do the same (call my self "international cyclist") as I have ridden to Ohio, Michigan, and this coming weekend, will ride in Wisconsin.

    Thanks for the photos. I enjoy seeing photos of your countryside. England is a place I have always wanted to visit, and expect to at some point in the future.

    Good riding also, keep up the good work!

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  4. Yorkshire Tea...scrummy! And I *DO* have hard water. I supppose you know that Yorkshire Tea is especially good in hard water; many teas simply can't brew in the presence of all those minerals. If you ever happen to ride by the factory, I'd love a few pics. :)

    I love the term "International Cyclist" and think that I, too, shall adopt it when appropriate. I ride into Canada from the US in a fairly regular schedule.

    I'm currently living vicariously through you with the high mileage riding; I'm able to ride five miles now (after having the pulmonary embolism) but it's considerably more difficult that it used to be. I'm just pootling around town and into Canada, mostly. I love to read of your adventures; I hope to soo resume my own. Namaste'.

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