Are your feet wet?

After enjoying an after dinner walk around Furzton Lake last evening in the balmy summer sunshine it was difficult to believe that in less than 12 hours the UK monsoons would visit us.

For the first time on the trip I donned the wet weather gear as we left for the Stadium MK. MK Dons one of the more recent additions to the football league gained their status in controversial style. After the old Wimbledon were taken over and their tenure at Selhurst Park came to an end it was decided that Wimbledon would play its home games in Milton Keynes. This bucked the trend and tradition of football in this country where usually the club is located in the heart of the town or place that relates to the club. This is somewhat opposed to the US model where the club owners decide where the team will play and the team will often be moved to other parts of the States. This move to Milton Keynes was in reality akin to a town or place buying its place in the league without passing through the league pyramid on the way. Ironically the old Wimbledon was reformed as AFC Wimbledon and has worked its way through the League pyramid and has this season gained promotion again to the football league. Stadium MK is a grey and uninspiring stadium although to be fair that may have been a reflection of the day rather than the stadium.

I then had to cover the 35 or so miles from there to Stevenage Borough who are also a very recent addition to the League havin gained promotion to spend last season as their first in the Football League.

My photograph for today is taken in front of the Stevenage Stadium and the look on my face fairly sums up the way that I was feeling after 36.4 miles cycling through torrential rain.

As the water dripped off my arms and legs and I regaled my support team, who interestingly had not ventured from the support vehicle from the moment they had set foot in it, with tales of the numerous floods I cycled through and the number of times I had been totally smeared by lorry after lorry spraying water over me. As I sat in the support vehicle working out my next directions some bright spark piped up 'Are your feet wet?' Were my feet wet, were my feet wet? Every bloody thing was wet.

I decided not to take a break from riding and cracked on with the remaining miles of the day which was an additional 17.5 miles and resulted in a daily total of 58.9 miles and every single one of them in the pouring rain.

If you had said to me at the start of the ride you may only have one wet day I would probabaly have taken it. I can say though it is one of the most unpleasant things I have ever done and I am hoping the weather gods turn back in my favour for the remainder of the ride.

I will be looking at the weather forecast this evening with a good deal of fear and trepidation.

On one of those better late than never moments we had an email from Blackpool today offering us a signed football for auction. We were there approximately 540 miles ago! Needless to say we have thanked them and asked them to send it on. For the eagle eyed of you that will tell you that we have now covered 573.5 miles in total.

Tomorrow my reward is five clubs to visit and only 40 miles. What will we do with ourselves for the rest of the day?

A happy anniversary to my long supporting and long suffering wife Stephanie.

I will check in again tomorrow. Until then..............