Another will stop at the inns through the midland counties of England,
ride through the cities, and stop at hotels in Scotland. A third will
invariably try some farmer or shepherd's cottage, there ask to be taken
in overnight, and will only enter public-houses when he comes to some
such famous hostelry as the Swan Inn near Therlmere. These are only
three grades of travellers, and where the first will average from $10 to
$20 a day, the third will probably do it on the average of not more than
$1 a day.
Let us take up the question of English wheeling this week, and the
French side of bicycling next week. To bicycle through England certain
simple facts should be borne in mind. In the first place, do not take a
steamer for Liverpool. Sail from New York or Boston by a steamer that
stops at Southampton, and begin your trip through England from
Southampton itself. If you go to Liverpool, there will be some
difficulty in getting out of Liverpool itself, and the country
immediately around Liverpool is not so attractive as that around
Southampton. Starting from Southampton, then, cross to Isle of Wight and
ride through Newport and Ryde, going even so far as St. Catharine's
Point. Returning to the mainland, it may be said that any route you may
lay out will lead you through beautiful country of fine roads, and
suitable places for stopping at every mile. One good ride is through
Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall to Land's End. But the chief route, and the
best one probably if it is your first in England, is to run from
Southampton through Winchester, Aldershot, and thence across a corner of
Surrey to London. From London, following the Thames, out through
Windsor, Henley, Abingdon, to Oxford; thence to Cheltenham, and from
this point passing up through Warwickshire, circling around Birmingham
instead of going into the city, and making for Leicester. From Leicester
run straight to Derby, and then there are many routes to Chester. From
Chester the object should be to reach Windermere without passing through
too many of the great manufacturing towns. This route each man must pick
out according to his map and his own judgment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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