May 21
Peterborough

It's been three days of fantastic weather now & my hands & ears & neck are sore with sunburn. I haven't had my shirt off because the wind is still rather chilly but if it's fine again tomorrow I'll be wearing my shorts. The wind was behind me all the way & it was so perfectly flat, I never had to change gears all day, I was at top speed. At one point (lunch time) there was a road which was completely straight for about 5 miles & along that stretch there were no pubs for about 15 miles so I had a rather late lunch in Thorney (saw abbey in Thorney) then arrived here about 3:30. The small hotel-come-guest house where I am staying was the first place I saw & it is very nice but slightly more expensive: 2.50 pounds B&B.

I went downtown to the cathedral straight away & was overwhelmed by the place. If I see any more cathedrals like this one, I'll probably be converted. Even though it didn't have a tall spire, the interior was stupendous and I think that the high altar is about the second most beautiful thing I've seen in England (the first being the crown jewels.)