Tuesday 27th May – British Day – 50 miles

A wet and soggy start to another good day. 11 miles in the rain to Arromanche – where we spent 3 plus hours visiting the museums and learning about the remarkable feat of the building and erecing of the Mulberry Harbour – for those not in the know, within days of the landings, a complete harbour including breakwaters, docks and roads from the docks to the beach was towed from England and built. A memorial service was held overlooking the harbour following a very amusing and moving account of one 19 year old subaltern’s account of his war post June 1944. Jolly cold though – force 5/6 wind and all the cyclists huddled like penguins trying to keep out of the wind. After a field lunch (brilliant caterers cooking food for 300 out of 2 vans on the top of a windy hill) – down to Pegasus Bridge via a further tour of the taking of a strategic battery of guns). Pegasus Bridge was one of the key crossings of the Caen canal which needed to be captured before it was blown up by the Germans and it was captured by a company flown onto the bridge by glider during the early night of 6 June. At the end of the bridge is a cafe, the owner being 4 at the time of the battle living with her parentsin the same cafe, and she gave us a very emotional account of the battle – and what it meant to her family. We crossed the bridge on our bikes – led by a piper – to a “beer on the house”.

Last posts played today – 2. Bananas eaten –I will try and find out (at each water stop copious quantities of bananas are consumed). Sore legs and bums – lots. Hotel – 2 star. Food – most welcome.

Fascinating people on the trip – sat next to a great guy at dinner. He is a long distance lorry driver from North Lincolnshire who read about the charity in The Sun, went on the web site to donate some money, saw the link to the bike ride, applied and was amazed to get in. With the support of his local pub and local friends he raised the £2,000 for the ride and is learning about the significance of an area he has driven through frequently.