Sabbatical day 2 - Countdown to the pilgrimage begins...

OK, so my sabbatical officially began yesterday, and it has been lovely to have our children, Daniel and Naomi at home, with Naomi's boyfriend Dan too. There are plenty of things to do to clear the decks before I can set off on my pilgrimage, but for a couple of reasons the countdown has well and truly begun.

On Friday I finally sat down with maps of England, France and Spain and worked on a more detailed itinerary. When I did that, it became apparent that if I wanted to have enough capacity for some rest days, and I really do want to arrive in Santiago de Compostela for the weekend of 19-20th June, then I need to set off next Sunday (9th May)!! That's pretty close.

The second reason is that today was my first day when I was really conscious that I was off duty, and was going to be so for the next three months. I cycled up to Stillington for this morning's cross-factor service and folks prayed for me and gave me a lovely send off. I don't know yet what time I will depart next Sunday or whether there will be anyone around to see me off, so maybe that was it? We'll see - time of departure to be announce later this week...

Anyway, the itinerary is settling quickly, and it is becoming clearer who I will be able to see on my journey. Next Sunday I will depart for York and stay overnight with a friend before setting off bright and early to take part in three legs of the CMS Revolution national cycle tour - from York to Manchester, Manchester to Sheffield and Sheffield to Nottingham. (If you'd like to sponsor me and the other riders for this excellent cause, go to this web page.) From Nottingham I'll make my way down the country to cross the channel from Dover to Calais on 21/22nd May, and then make for Roubaix, near the Belgian border, where my grandfather lived during the first world war.

After that, I'll head for Amiens, Paris, Chartres, Orleans, Tours, and Poitiers before taking a break for a week. When I set off again, I'll make for Bordeaux, where English pilgrims traditionally arrived as ballast for the return journey of the wine merchants' ships. From there, I'll head down to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to cross the Pyrenees, where the route I will have followed merges with other pilgrim routes from all over Europe.

So, this week needs to see some serious final training, bike servicing, shopping for supplies, a few visits and calls and a bit of clearing the decks. This time next week, I'd better be ready.