Day 69: Sunday, 17 July 1983

Start: Campground, Cholterton, UK

End: Campground, Winchester, UK

Hot all night in the June Bug, but awoke to rain showers. Didn't cool things off for long. Very hot and humid, then a little milder late in the afternoon.

Hot and humid didn't seem like a lot of fun for riding. By doing a moderate ride today, I should be able to pull London in two more fairly easy days. Took a long lunch in Stockbridge at a nice little place that seemed to me the perfectly pleasant stereotype of rural England. I guess it was a tea shop. Wandered into Winchester and followed signs to the campground. Not the tidiest camp ever, but at least I had a shower. This place is in the middle of town and filled with rather loutish types. Not a bit like the tea shop. 

Tried to sit outside the tent and read and relax for awhile. Criminy! What a foul lot of drunken loudmouths around me! I'm beginning to wish I could go back to not understanding what the people around me are saying. After putting up with it awhile, I secured all my gear as best I could -- a bit skittish -- and went into town. Against my own better judgement, I decided to try my first Wimpys. Okay, that will be my last. Went next door to wash it down with a quick pint. I didn't want to go right back to the campground, but I didn't want to spend all evening in a pub.

But -- hah! -- I'm in a country where I speak more or less the same language, so I went to see the new Star Wars movie, Return of the Jedi.

Back in the tent -- still hot -- I'm reading, writing, and mapping by flashlight and wishing all the neighboring "campers" would stop drinking, shut up, and turn in for the night. Otherwise, it might be necessary to deal with the whole bloody lot of them with a light saber.

Conditions 

Distance: 44 km 

Weather: Showers early, then very hot and humid 

Road: Good 

Traffic: Mostly light 

Terrain: Mostly flat 

Mechanical: All is well 

Physical: Feeling very strong