I would recommend cycle touring to anyone who can’t sleep – I slept like a log! Got up pretty early (for me) at 6:00 and away by 8:00. Most of the time was spent faffing around getting things into the right places – but also porridge with honey and a (Aeropress) coffee, the perfect start for the day. I’ll rave about the travel Aeropress at some point in the future.

I decided to head to Sandringham, as there seemed to be a few campsites around the area, and the route was almost all on little lanes. It was also about 100km away so should be a good test for Day 2!

It was a beautiful morning, and perfect for getting back into the groove. Initially crossing a few of the famous Norfolk Broads, and through Acle – where I think I have stopped whilst boating on the broads. Also of note, for my regular readers, I went through a phase of euphoria, it hits me early on in every tour! But soon disappears when the hills appear!

It was pretty much really nice country lanes the whole way, with high hedgerows hiding fields of almost everything, potatoes, peas, rosemary and even daffodils!!! There was plenty of wildlife, and I saw four hares, which is probably more than I’ve ever seen in my life before. There was also lots of roadkill, some of it pretty gruesome – you just have to look away. It brought back memories of cycling in Lapland, where you saw something in the road ahead but it was always just a piece of bark, or a branch fallen off a timber lorry. Much nicer!

I thought I’d found a secret stash of aeroplanes in the countryside, but looking on a map it was the backend of Norwich Airport. Although I did find a scud missile – only in Norfolk!

During my planning I had thought about visiting breweries, or at least drinking local beer. So needless to say, I was disappointed when I passed a sign to Woodfordes Brewery, who brew the excellent “Wherry”. I didn’t stop as it was still early and I hadn’t cycled far, although this was rectified at a later pub stop.

The pub stop may have been responsible for ending the day at 3pm, but I had reached my initial target and it had been a blistering hot day. So I didn’t feel too guilty!

I can see why the Queen lives in Sandringham, its all very posh and has everything you need – Royal Sawmill, Royal Stud and lots of big houses as neighbours. It was very busy with lots of visitors out and about.

The really good news was that I got into the first campsite I tried. It was fully booked but they were very sympathetic to a completely exhausted solo cyclist!