The First Step

Westminster Abbey
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London was the first city I've visited more than 40 miles from the

American border. I arrived on August 3rd with my bike in a box

and 16 hours of traveling under my belt. I assembled my bike in

the London Heathrow Airport and made my way to my hostel in Hendon,

Bumble Bee Rose in the Queen's Garden, Regent's Park London
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London. Originally the "plan" was for my friends, Nate and Tony,

to meet me at my hostel the day I arrived, but due to bike part

complications and failures they were still in the Netherlands the day I

flew in, at least 5 days ride away. I made myself comfortable in

Open air Theater, Regent's Park London
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my hostel and explored the city via the metro for the first full

day. Upon return I met Jill and Stephen, two pastry chefs from

San Francisco that were finishing their 6 month, food focused tour of

Europe. That night our dorm was also joined by two Australians

Park wildlife
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hoping to find work in England, Luke and Dave.

The following day the five of us hit some museums and wandered through a couple parks and later that evening we checked out the local bar in the Hendon area. I ended up being on my own in Hendon until the12th of August. The same day that I was ousted out of the hostel due to a shortage of rooms and a lack of personal planning. I moved myself and my fully loaded bike to a nearby park where I planned to get some shut eye before night fell. Lucky for me a fellow

biker recognized my situation and offered me tent space in his back

garden. My friends, Nate and Tony, arrived later that night and

slept in the very same park, just across the street from my host

home. I stumbled upon them in the park the next morning and there

was much rejoicing! We rested for the weekend, as they had biked

6 straight, very full days, to get to London. We took our naked

bikes out on the town and had quite a bit of fun weaving through city

traffic.

On the 14th we packed our gear and loaded our bikes and

headed north thanks to a map provided from our cyclist host.