EuroCycle 2012: England

2 - 7 May 2012

• Chester to Stockport: 74km
• Stockport to Barnsley: 50km (train from Barnsley to Leeds)
• Leeds to Knaresborough: 30km
• Knaresborough to York: 24km
• York to Hull: 82km

My primary objective in England was to get to North Yorkshire in time to attend the wedding of my friend Anthony from Cork and his English bride Angela. I quite liked the idea of cycling to a wedding, especially as I had friends (Keith and Ben in Stockport, James in Leeds) with whom I could stay along the way. It was nice to catch up with them and to see more of the country. My previous visits to England had all been weekend breaks in its larger cities, so I was happy to cycle along part of the Trans Pennine Trail and to visit the cool cities of Chester and York (I was a lot less enamoured with Stockport and Barnsley!).

I got to the wedding venue, the beautiful and very fancy Allerton Castle, with an hour to spare. But the snooty butler was less than impressed with my appearance - I think it was the first time someone had turned up there for a wedding wearing shorts and flip-flops. Before I got kicked out I found Anthony's brother Karl who had brought my suit and shoes over in his car from Dublin and after a quick change in the bathroom I was more in keeping with the location and the occasion. It was an enjoyable day and I'm very glad that I was able to be there - congratulations Angela and Anthony!

The next day, in quite a contrast to the newlyweds who left for their flight to Mauritius, I got back on my bike aiming for Hull to catch my ferry. To each his own...