Beginning day 4 !

Hello all
Penny here . I joined everyone last night in Oxford. Funny journey down, trains overcrowded and delayed, but ended up on floor outside Guards Van with 4 other people with bikes, so we stopped stories and listened to a Canadian woman who kept going past us in the corridor and telling us we had to write to our MPs when we got home to complain about the British rail service…which one?!
My lovely sister, brother in law and nephew met me with newly downloaded personal play list and iPod and no ear speakers! The other arrived at Malmaison at the same time and thank you to the Rusty Bike in Oxford for generous sponsorship of dinner. it was delicious. So, just to fill you in from Reka as she is re packing her bag… They had a lovely night at the Swan in Bedford….thank you so much to them for sponsorship, their spa, their dinner and their bed for the night…they set off yesterday morning in sunshine but with the promises of dark clouds and storms overhead… And the promise was fulfilled…winds got up and helped prevent the rain to start with..then the rain started and the hills ‘with no benefits!’ How can hills have no downs? But they didn’t! Frank apparently has been a superstar… Driving, mending punctures, supporting… Lisa is very proud of her Dad.. We left him last night feeling very guilty as we slept in our comfy beds in Malmaison and he went off to sleep in the van, but he assured everyone that was what he preferred! But thank you Frank from everyone! Reka slipped off her bike yesterday, on a rubber pathway that had been laid up to a marquee outside what they think might have been Richard Branson’s house, so her fall was his fault if it was! Photos to follow tonight everyone…breakfast calling… Already day 4.. But day 1 for me… So ready for stiffness and soreness tonight! x x x