we got some "gerrof the road you waaaaankers" from the odd passing intellectual motorist but it was all weighed out by the two young high spirited girls sitting on a bench shouting for us to "go left, they went left!" and the middle aged couple in some deserted village saying "good luck!" "have a great ride" and other nice encouraging things.

it's nice to know we have people in england who don't despise cycling, even if it's only a ratio of 10:1