{"id":12470,"date":"2014-06-29T16:54:02","date_gmt":"2014-06-29T20:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=12470"},"modified":"2014-07-04T14:01:03","modified_gmt":"2014-07-04T18:01:03","slug":"day-2-sunday-june-29-harlow-colchester-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=12470","title":{"rendered":"Day 2, Sunday, June 29 – Harlow to Colchester, England"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a cool morning and the wind made it quite crisp; but we were happy to trade the rain for wind, even if it was in our face. \u00a0We quickly dropped on to a bike path and a tunnel of trees, \"DSCN7358\"<\/a>protecting us from the wind. \u00a0Many twists and turns led us\u00a0from path to country roads, \"DSCN7371\"<\/a>which is where we met Doug and Rob; \"IMG_0068\"<\/a>we traded stories while enjoying their\u00a0British humor.<\/p>\n

The countryside was gorgeous and the weather glorious. \u00a0\"DSCN7365\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We passed lovely manor homes\"DSCN7361\"<\/a>\u00a0and small villages and many stone churches.\"DSCN7373\"<\/a>For most of the morning, we traveled the exact route that Tour de France will be following for Stage 3 (July 7); look for these pictures on the telecast. \"DSCN7384\"<\/a>\u00a0The love of biking was evident by the numbers we saw on the road and various other displays.\"DSCN7374\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Too soon for lunch, but could not resist the photo. \u00a0\"DSCN7386\"<\/a>By noon the wind was howling and the skies had greyed, dropping the temperatures ten degrees. \u00a0We pushed on for another hour and found the perfect place to\u00a0take a lunch break,\"DSCN7396\"<\/a>conveniently across the street from the Chelmsford\u00a0Cathedral. \"DSCN7403\"<\/a>\u00a0Our lunch break\u00a0was\u00a0the same time as yesterday with no more miles, due to our late start. \u00a0As we began to push off after lunch, it started to sprinkle,\"DSCN7410\"<\/a> but today we were prepared. \u00a0We donned our rain jacket, rain gloves and foot covers; we were not going to succumb to the same fate as yesterday. \u00a0Apparently, all the rain gear held the rain off; even with the overcast skies and occasional sprinkle it was a beautiful ride.\"IMG_0074\"<\/a> \u00a0We felt like we were going in circles on these country roads\"DSCN7418\"<\/a>and barely navigatiable paths (note the flooded road on the right, which IS<\/em> our course),\"IMG_0079\"<\/a> \u00a0had it not been for the ever changing\u00a0scenery. \u00a0But the day got to be long. \u00a0At five we entered a small town and desperately searched for a place to stay, but none were to be had and it was getting late; the next town was 10 miles down the road. \u00a0Thankfully, as we are about to push away for our last stretch, someone stopped and suggested we take a different path that led straight<\/strong> into town in a few less miles. \u00a0We pushed hard to\u00a0get to a stopping point. \u00a0With no reservations anywhere and not knowing exactly where hotels were, we asked someone walking by. \u00a0The skies opened up and poured on us, as the gentleman politely offered directions and suggestions on places to stay. \u00a0By 6:30 we were checking in, exhausted after our slow 60 mile day. \u00a0Thankfully, there was a good restaurant\"DSCN7436\"<\/a> right down the street as we badly needed fuel. \"DSCN7434\"<\/a>\u00a0Tomorrow “we” are promised a shorter day.<\/p>\n\n\t\t