64 reasons to be cheerful!

Hasn't the UK had some spectacular weather over the past week or so? Shame that we have been stuck inside for a lot of it but we made up for that today. Beth and I finally got out for the 'Big One' after planning it for a week or two. Only one slight blot on the whole day and that was the fact that Beth had developed a sore tooth with what felt like the beginnings of a tooth abcess overnight. She'd only had snatches of disturbed sleep all night. Being the trooper she is she insisted it felt ok when she was upright and we set out at 8.30am.
We had a wonderful ride out to Turners Hill and on to Lindfield (what a pretty village) and Haywards Heath. Onwards to Ditchling (resisting the urge to ride up the Beacon!) and found a pub called the White Horse in Hurstpierpoint where we stopped for lunch. Simon came over to join us and 20 mins later John cycled in having ridden ten miles in half an hour! So we took an hour or so lunch break after which we tootled off again. Well, with John joining us it was a bit faster than a tootle. We definitely go quicker when Ironman is either setting the pace or pushing from behind. Must admit my energy levels flagged all afternoon. We rode to Henfield, past Steyning and onto Storrington where we turned right and carried on to Barns Green. This is where I went a bit quiet and zoned out for a while. However a short side trip through Southwater and we rode triumphantly into Maplehurst after 5hrs 15 mins of cycling time. We averaged 12mph more or less and covered a whopping 64 miles!!!!! This equates to one of our longer days on the planned trip. Tired when we got home, so much so that I never even made it to the shower straight away. Lay on the bed to 'relax' and drifted straight off for half an hour! Beth did the same next door but it set off her tooth ache again so I did some emergency acupuncture to try and give some relief.
So another milestone achieved on this LEJOG journey...