We've arrived; not all the bikes have

Jesse and I were totally knackered after our flight.  We got very little sleep.  The white taping on my bike box was due to an unexpected extra inspection by TSA (and an explanatory note enclosed in the box).  But I guess I passed the test.

Jesse and I arrived in Manchester this morning.  Jane and Gene came in yesterday from Toronto.  Laura arrived earlier in the week from Michigan but has been visiting friends in the area.  And Michelle also came in this morning from Toronto.  Including our host James, we're now all here.

Our motley crew.  I found out from James this morning that it's likely neither of the two couples from the Netherlands or Germany will be joining our merry band.  (From left to right, Jesse, Laura, James, Michelle, Jane, Gene)

The only catch is that neither Michelle's nor Laura's bikes have arrived.  Laura sent hers via FedEx; Michelle brought hers on the plane with her.  Yet both are missing.  FedEx is trying to track down Laura's bike, while the folks at Air Transat are trying to find Michelle's.

This actually isn't a new phenomenon.  Many of us, this writer included, have at various times, lost our bikes somewhere in transit in advance of one of our many cycling trips.  Yet, somehow, they always seem to reappear, just at the right time.

After meeting our host, James Kemp, at the airport and picking up Michelle a few hours later, we drove from Manchester to Sheffield to pick up Laura, the sixth of our riders, at the downtown train station.

Welcome to the Peak District National Park.  We saw many cyclists on the road today, including a few brave souls who challenged the ridiculously steep 20% grade of one of the slopes.

One would think that the ride from Manchester to Sheffield, a mere 30+ miles, would be relatively quick.  However, the average commuting time to get from one city to the next is well over an hour.  Why?  A straight between the two cities bisects one of England's grand treasures, The Peak District National Park.  Soaring hills, miles of caverns, fieldstone-enclosed pasture lands as well as torturous twisting, winding, devilishly steep roads separate the two cities.  All that makes the potential for a straight line drive a near impossibility; that and the fact that, in order to build such a straight-line roadway, one would have to bisect this wondrous natural preserve which is protected by a series of legal means to keep the region in its pristine natural state.

The countryside in this part of England is spectacular to see.  

The rest of the day was a mix of drinking and catching up (hey, if we're going to be in England, the very least we could do would be to blend in to the native population and "hoist a few jars" of the amber nectar.  Yeah, we drank.  We ate.  We reminisced.  And we kept up the search for those two lost bikes.

Everywhere we drove, we saw sheep, goats and cows grazing in the fields.  I love the fieldstone enclosures that separate pasture lands throughout this region.

Hopefully we'll have happy news tomorrow.