Cambridge Station, Stourbridge Common, Chesterton Fen, Baits Bite Lock, Milton Fen, Waterbeach, Bottisham Lock, Clayhithe, Horningsea and Cambridge University Colleges.
It hasn't sunk in yet but we did it. 1000 miles of walking since Jan 4th when we started on a cold morning outside the bank of England. Today planning to end before dark we met at Cambridge Station at 7am. Already busy with commuters streaming in on the early commute to the Citadel of Capital in London town. We meet up and are ready to go but not before 'you are not going to believe what I forgot today' from Rob.
I tried three guesses which were wrong and he then tells me he has forgotten his walking boots. So off we set with Rob taking on the planned 19 mile walk in totally the wrong shoes. This later led to much pain.
We pass a street with a coffee shop every five yards and decide to get some miles under our belt before first tea and breakfast for Rob. Big mistake. We are soon out of town along the Fen River path and no sign of opportunities for refreshment. Fortunatly we meet Kay who works at the University and get chatting. She directs us to a Tesco nearby where Rob can have his sausage sandwich and luke warm latte and I have a luke warm tea. A real disappointment. At this point Rob asks me if I were having my last meal before execution because I had split an infinitive what would I eat. 
I thought for a moment and said I would start with some abalone and follow it with roast halibut and hollandaise sauce. He said 'boy we so different...for me it would definitely be a sausage sandwich!'. Even a Tesco sausage sandwich I ask in horror. Absolutely or something like that was the reply.
The rowers are out early and the Cam is full early in the morning with microphoned cox instructions to crew and the cyclist on the towpath offering his or her coaching. Rob is critical of the Cam and tells me as an Oxford man the waters are much better over there. Later on he does add that the Cambridge lot might be smarter (big admission) but Oxfords water is better.
It is very flat along the walk with many colourful autumn scenes. We stop off in Waterbeach for tea and a lesson in copy and paste on the iPhone4.
The walk back is a mix of reminscing about great moments and memories along the way and ticking off the last ten miles one by one. We snake through the colleges of Jesus, Kings and Corpus Christie using a Citywire HD camera to catch moments for a newsclip. In Corpus Christie we celebrate 1000 miles. It feels strange finishing and probably hasn't sunk in yet. At various times we have talked philosophy, economics, football, cognition, psychology, the meaning of life, reality and truth. We admit to each other the moments when we thought we had taken on too much and were close to our personal limits. Somehow we supported each other and drove each other on and it seems we have now done it. And what a lot of fun we had along the way....and what a great mate Rob is. We now hope the money raised will make a difference, raise hope and bring nearer the date when there is a treatment for people with MS.
CONGRATULATIONS!!
ReplyDeleteFANTASTIC ACHIEVEMENT
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