Aren’t the trains wonderful? Certainly the ones that I traveled on today were. The 07.52 from Ladybank was surprisingly busy and with all of the goodbyes and waving I ended up taking my bike into an ordinary carriage – not a great start. However the young lady guard was not at all phased by this suggesting that I put it in the bike rack in the next carriage when we stopped at Markinch.
Carrying my laden steed down the underpass then back up at Ladybank had been the first indication that perhaps I had too much weight at the back. Trying to lift it onto the bike rack was the second – I couldn’t. I sat on a fold down seat outside the amazingly busy toilet to ensure its safety. The rest of the journey was to go very smoothly indeed.
09.30 Edinburgh to Kings Cross with the bike securely strapped in the guard’s carriage. The train was very busy. The seats around me were used several times on the trip. I enjoyed a civilised conversation with a young dancer who was on her way to audition in London, a lovely smiley charity worker of Indian extraction who had met Gordon Brown and a bubbly grandmother who was off to a dinner at the Dorchester.
King’s Cross to St Pancras International. I braved the traffic and cycled the three or four hundred metres to the swish new high speed train station. What a contrast between the old and the new. I had to take a lift (with bike in tow) up to the platform. The 15.15 train was sleek and quiet and fast and empty. Disappointingly I had to put my bike in the wheelchair space. Dover finally at 16.10 and the same caper with the underpass as I had at Ladybank.
It is amazingly far to cycle around the giant complex which is Dover Eastern Docks. However they have catered for cyclist thoughtfully preparing us for the other side by painting a red line to follow on the right hand side of the road where the hundreds of lorries swept by. To save queuing I was directed to the lorry check in booth where I persuaded the clerk to let me on the earlier than booked ferry which was just about to board. Much to the chagrin of the watching and waiting car lines I was directed to the very front and feeling like royalty I was waved aboard as the first vehicle.
The ferry crossing was the harbinger of the bad weather to come. White horses were at least as prevalent as white cliffs. It was rough with everyone doing impressions of drunks on a Saturday night to take a coffee back to their seat. On arrival, you’ve guessed, I was first off and on my way at last. The wind was howling and it looked sure to rain but I was in France following my instructions from Via Michelin and they worked.
It had been a very interesting first day. As I lay in half sleep I wondered what adventures lay ahead.
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