Randal's Around the World Bike Tour

Today is an off day but I've spent the biggest part of it trying to get my bike fixed. It's in the shop now getting a new chain, rear cassette and a new front middle chain ring. I thought the drive train was getting near the end of its life but two days ago it started skipping.

I'm not too impressed with Montreal so far but Ottawa had a magical feeling. The language there was predominately English, here it's French with a vengeance. You get the feeling that if you don't speak French you're not wanted. I asked a lady on the street if she knew of a place to have lunch, she just waved me off and kept walking. Not a friendly wave but a wave like you use when you're bidding on cattle at an auction. Its about 2:00 PM and I'm scheduled to pickup my bike at 7:00 PM so I think I'll walk downtown to the water front and see what's happening. Maybe I'll have a different view point when I come back.

Maybe Mark Twain should have added innocence too to bigotry, prejudice and narrow mindedness as the things that travel are fatal to.

I'm in a hotel room tonight for a well needed rest. It took me a little while to get connected but here I am. Yesterday I rode 196 kilometers, today was about 135. I'm including a few pictures taken along the way. We are riding now along the north coast of France. Day after tomorrow we take a fast ferry to Dover England and the following day we ride into London for a few days of rest and exploration. I'm not happy to be riding on the L/H side of the road again though as we did in South Africa.

(I'm pasting the photos here rather than the photo pages because they're as important as the text.......Ruth at home)

This "portrait" of Randal was done in Quebec, but since I just received it I'm putting it here so you can make the comparison yourselves!

Now from England..........
Subject: My Day
Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2000 3:15 PM

Hi Ruthie
Monday June 19, 2000
Thanks for the card. It was thoughtful of you to tell me of your day's
activities, I enjoyed that. Let me try it for you, if I can remember.

I awoke this morning to the brightness and the sounds of the day coming
through my open window, it was shortly after 4:30 AM. I managed to get to my feet and wash my face at a little after five. I gathered my dirty laundry and
slipped into some pants and shirt and went down to the ground floor to the
laundry machines and put the clothes in. I came back up stairs and took a
bath. That gave just enough time for the washing machine to run so I put the
clothes in the dryer, read another chapter in "A Brief History Of Time",
went back to my room and sorted the clean dry duds and put them away. Now its 7:00 and breakfast doesn't start until 7:45, so I try to read some more but it turns into a nap instead. I awake again at 8:00 and go to breakfast. There are no lines and I eat in a hurry because I want to get the day started in London.
     After a fine English breakfast of eggs, bacon, cereal, juice, toast &
jelly, coffee, and fried potatoes I walked down the street to the subway
station to buy an all day pass. For some reason though it was 5 pounds and
the day before it was 3.80 pounds. When I compared them though it was
because yesterday was Sunday and off peak rates. Got on the subway at
Stepney Green and rode all the way to Westminster before getting off. I had
walked around this area yesterday so I knew what to expect.
I was looking for Leicester Square where they sold discount
theater tickets. I had heard they didn't open until 12:00 noon and it was
early so once off the subway I meandered around and stumbled across the
cabinet war rooms near parliament on a side street. The price of admission
was 5 pounds and an accompanying booklet guide was an additional 2.90 pounds, I got it too. I spent about an hour and a half in the underground bunker used by Churchill and his aides during the war, it was very interesting and somewhat primitive by today's standards. During the height of the bombing blitz against London, an invasion was expected almost everyday.
At the souvenir shop I bought another book on Churchill and a
few cards and then continued trying to find Leicester Square. On my way I
bought a good detailed map of London and did my favorite thing I do
everyday, called you. With my spirits lifted I walked on some more and came
to Trafalgar Square and the National Art Gallery. On I went in the direction
I was headed for and came to an area that turned out to be Leicester Square.
I saw a sign for discount theater tickets and followed the corridor down the
steps to a little room with a girl behind a desk talking to some people in
front of me. After they left I stepped up and with a big smile said "I
would like to buy some tickets to Les Mes". She replied that the theaters
had not faxed her the available tickets for the day yet and she expected
them any minute. I said I thought I would have a pint and check back with
her shortly and asked if I could bring her one. She laughed and said water
would be better that it was hot down there. Well I thought it would be nice
to do that for her so I did, she was grateful.
I walked around the corner to an empty pub and ordered a pint and after
drinking it I asked the bar keep if he knew where I could get a theater
guide. He pointed me around another corner and said there were two places
that sold tickets there and they could help me. With my spirits lifted even more around the corner I went and ended up buying two good seats for 28.50 pounds each. I walked back around the corner and down the street
to a Burger King where I had gotten the ice water and had lunch, a fish
sandwich, fries, and a drink. Left there and walked up the street toward Piccadilly Circus and ran into Mark and Bill from Odyssey and talked to them for awhile.
From there I went to the National Gallery and looked at a lot of
paintings and bought another book; this one is a small book on Van Gogh called "The Passionate Eye".   Afterwards I caught the subway back towards Queen Mary College and the dorms we are staying in. As
I was walking from the subway station I ran into Ruth and asked her if she
wanted to see Les Miserables with me, she said yes and agreed to buy my dinner in exchange for the ticket. We met in front of the dorm building at 5:30 PM and walked with Alfred to the subway station and caught the train back into town and got off this time at Liecester Square. We had
dinner at Pizza Hut and then went to the Palace Theater for the play. It was
hot inside and I sweated and could hardly stand it, but the play was pretty good so it was worth it. Ruth and I rode the subway again and here I am.
Love
Randal

I've found my homeland. I'm not coming back to Virginia. I went with several others to an Irish bar tonight and listened to some traditional Irish music. There were three middle aged men and three teenagers. One man played a guitar and a penny whistle, one played a flute, and one played a hand held drum and sang. One teenager played a fiddle, and the other two played bagpipes. I couldn't take my eyes or ears off of them. The atmosphere was wonderful. Though it is a week night the bar was full and everyone was laughing and having a great time. Several times they would take a break and someone from the audience would set-in and sing or play an instrument. I can't remember ever seeing so much beer consumed, I had three pints.

Ireland, where the days are long and the nights are when sleep is a waste of time, where the grass is greener and the water is bluer. Where the men's hair is red or gray or non existent, and the women are all beautiful and carry themselves so proudly.

I'm changing my name to Randal McManaway and I will send for you as soon as I can convince them that McLipnik is a legitimate Irish name; they're thinking about it. Oh, I didn't think about O'Lipnik.

Randal McManaway (Randal's mom is a McManaway and I really have Irish relatives names Doniger)

The Pub

I asked Randal if he had "set-in" because he plays the guitar and sings really well. He said no. I said, then he hadn't had enough beer.