the cycle post

Well here I am in Manchester, UK. We made the bicycle trip from London to here in three days of riding....or 48 hours from departure to arrival. It was a lot easier than i thought it would be. I remember riding to Columbia a long time ago and my butt hurting a lot and being totally exhausted....but this time was not so bad. We had a few flats, chains fell off, backpacks were difficult to keep strapped tight, and a brake adjustment or two....but all in all no problems. We headed in a decently straight direction and then entire trip covered over 200 miles. Before meeting with Aaron in London, Jon and I saw all of the sights and road towards Brighton. We got separated which was a confusingly long story involving waiting for 7 hours at a gas station, sleeping at a police station, and riding quite a few miles...but everything worked out good, like it tends to do. We have rode atleast 50 miles every day since we arrived here, and our legs are holding out good! We also have been spending less money than we expected, which leaves more money to go towards transportation funds later on in the trip. Food has been our only expense...but I have probably spent less than 30 american dollars in the last week. We found really cheap grocery stores where you can get entire large meals for close to a pound per meal. We splurged a little on some Thai food and a portugese restaraunt last night which included sandwhich, chips, and bottomless soda for around 6 pounds or 9 u.s. dollars. Jon went to an all you can eat buffet for 6 pounds. All you can eat buffets and free refills....europe is catching on i guess. The bike ride was epic and now we are going to tour around manchester with our tour guide aaron hand. It was nice sleeping under a roof for the first time last night...but the comfort makes us lazy and we have slept in till 10:30. We will have a good night of fun tonight though.