Oxford, the Conlon College, and and Geo's Street

 Still a little disappointed that Geo managed to miss the cheering crowds in his photos as we cycled past the finish line of the Tour de Cotswold/Kaulbach Version-

Bath was the end point of our cycling journey as I mentioned, though we did have to mount the bikes one final time to cycle (with luggage) to the train station in Bath to take the train to Oxford, although we had to take a van part of the way as a bridge on the Oxford train line had been damaged.  Apparently, some inexperienced American cyclists had caused some sort of traffic cluster in the Cotswold leading to a lorry swerving around these fools and smashing into the bridge.  We didn't see anything, however.  

As many know, Oxford University is mostly known for having produced the world renowned mathematician, Professor Joseph Conlon.  I was shocked to discover that, apparently in some fit of political correctness,  no college or even major building had been named after the famous professor.  Envious ingrates!  I thought a few of the minor buildings, like this oddly named Bodilean Library- who will ever remember that name?- might have been renamed the Conlon Library, but no dice. 

 Nevertheless, we enjoyed a nice walking tour here, primarily of a couple of the older colleges (there are 38 as I recall), though disappointingly we received no discount when we dropped Dr. Conlon's name.   Oxford is known as the city of spires-

For some reason, Geo thought this was a particularly noteworthy street-

No Conlon Street, though. 

For Tolkien fans, here is the pub where held forth with CS Lewis and other luminaries, such as aforementioned Professor-

Sadly, the Eagle and Child pub is closed- a casualty of the Covid lockdowns-  though it is hoped that it will reopen under new management.  

So that was it for our English cycling sojourn, which also included stops and tours in the beautiful English cities of Bath and Oxford.  We averaged approximately 36 miles and 2200' of vertical (think endless hills) per day during our 5 days of cycling, with many village and photo stops, church tours and conversations with locals along the way.   It was a privilege and delight and Geo, notwithstanding his endless (and futile) efforts at my improvement (otherwise known as criticism for criticism's sake), did a terrific job at planning our cycle routes so as to maximize medieval village visits and quiet roads (the one lorry excepted).  

Thanks for reading.   Perhaps check back for our France tour in July sans Geo.