Good morning

Hi all
Currently in Ashford - had a lovely evening and a good nights sleep at Chris`s parent`s house - thankyou to all of you for putting me up.
4 days of cycling since leaving Newcastle - mostly good but hardwork.
Yesterday saw me coming from just South of Cambridge to the Tilbury Ferry across the Thames - I was a bit concerned re navigation and the amount of traffic I would come across but as it happens this turned out to be one the best day so far - taking me through lots of pretty villages and towns with houses of all shapes and sizes and styles including tudor and pretty thatched cottages - lots of wild flowers at the road side - and lots of crops and vegetable growing but NO cows - not seen any cows (or sheep) for a couple of days now so not sure where milk comes from. Mostly very little traffic until I got closer to the ferry.
Cycled part of the way with a fellow called Brian - American, tall, good looking and lean (don`t worry Nige - not my type) - anyway he could get up a heck of a speed and distance on his chosen 2 wheeled steed - a wee foldaway bike - was out training for a 100 mile race he is going to do.
The 2nd half of the day, which I (wrongly) expected to be quieter and easier for a navigation point of view - struggled to find the cycle path - when I eventually found it it took me in and out of all wee nooks and crannies in Gravesend so I abandonned this - however I did discover that Gravesend is where Pocohontus died. Combination of roads and wee bit of cross country on some tiny wee bumpy narrow paths through woodland (where I saw a fox) I eventually got to Maidstone where I picked up the A20 - 2nd to the motorway this is the main road to Dover - busy to begin with gradually quitened down the further east I went - more hilly than the last couple of days - not big hills but big enough at the end of a long day - 108 miles all in!!!!
Heading to Dover to day and then across to France - not going to go far though - I will give me knees a rest and get my bearings.
The next time I post I should be in France!