Scottsdale -> Derby

Distance cycled: 40.7 km
Ave: 12.9 km/h
Max speed: 70.9 km/h

We had heavy rain overnight and a racket of birds, but only a couple of unofficial folks told us camping wasn’t allowed, so we had a leisurely start to the day to give the tents time to dry out before we embarked on the North East Rail trail.

I’m a bit skeptical after past experience with rail trails *cough-transcanadatrail-cough*, but there were several options to deek back to the paved A3, so it seemed worth the risk.

There were some grand downhills into Derby (check out that max speed!), and I never used my granny gear (the editors protest that granny gears were, in fact, used).

We decided to call it a short day in Derby because the options to camp closer towards St Helens looked sparse. And Derby has a lake.

We belatedly realized Derby didn’t have a grocery store, so were left to sample the local fare for cyclists (Derby is a serious mtb town).

We’ve pitched on this nice open grassy area where nobody else is… possibly because you can’t get a car over here, or possible because it’s the septic field. When the wind dies down, we’ll find out!

Alice