I woke up at the usual sort of time, thought about taking it easy for a bit, then decided I might as well crack on if I wanted to be home at a reasonable hour.

So off I went. The weather was good right from the start. I stopped at a little shop in the village for coffee and snacks and watched (or rather mostly heard!) the planes taking off from nearby RAF Coningsby. I forgot to mention this yesterday - quite impressive how steeply they take off. It also means you can hear them for ages. Quite the spectacle - although I would imagine it would get old pretty quick if you actually lived around there!

The first part of the day was very similar to yesterday - just blast it out across what was left of the fens. I had a bit of a tailwind, so initial progress was good. The miles were ticking by, but unlike most days, I had a specific destination right from the start which meant I knew exactly how far I had to go, This isn't always good as after 20 miles I was already thinking I've got another 80 to do!

I passed through Ely and then out on a cycle path I've never been on before that eventually spewed me out near Soham. I stopped there for some supplies and got going pretty quick.

After that, you're kinda out of the fens and back to normal countryside. And by normal, I mean there are hills and stuff! It's easy to describe an area as "flat", but most places are not! The fens of course are truly flat and even a little bridge over a river or something feels like Mount Everest after miles of flatness.

It was very hot by now and I stopped several times for water. I'd been in and out of various counties but I eventually made it into Essex once I came out of Haverhill. Then everything went by quite quickly. I'd hoped to make it to Finchingfield in time for an icecream at the little place on the green, but I was too late. I just had a lttle rest instead!

I only had 20 miles to go now on roads I knew very well, so I just kinda cruised home on auto-pilot, arriving home some time after half 7.

So now the clean up operation has begun! First load of washing is done and another is on the go. Tomorrow I'll get my camping stuff out for a clean and pack everything away ready for next time!

Been a good trip. I'm definitely not done with Scotland - I'd really like to go back and tackle some of the off road routes on my mountain bike. That would be quite different for me, so it's something to think about...