Cambridge and London

Another large update as I have been without internet for a while. Travel distances were as follows:
Cambridge to a field just south of Cambridge - approx 25 miles
Field to London - 70 miles
Three days in London - approx 30-35 miles each day
London to Folkstone - 70 miles
Folkstone to Calais to outside Longuenesse, France - 45 miles
Longuenesse to Arras - 40 miles

After arriving in Cambridge late, I decided to stick around for a while in the morning, exploring some of the colleges, and looking for a replacement part for my rear rack. I didn't find the part, despite Cambridge being essentially the bike capital of the UK. I don't think I've ever seen so many cyclists in one place before.

Notice all the bikes parked in front of what is either Trinity College or St John's College:

King's College:

A panorama of the King's College green:

Leaving Cambridge, there was a DNA sequence on one of the cycle paths which had been added when Sustrans made their 1000th mile of cycle routes through the UK.

I left Cambridge late, not planning to do many miles before continuing south to London, and found a place to camp in a field near a public footpath. The next morning I cycled to London, arriving late after having to check my map quite a bit. A large part of the cycle route followed the canal into the city but it still wasn't clear exactly where to go. Also, once I reached London they had part of the waterfront by the Thames closed which is where the cycle route runs. I was staying in Chislehurst with a great host and a great bunch of people in what used to be an old people's home but what is now short term life housing which as far as I understand it the city owns the property and they're trying to sell it to developers, but until then people can live in it cheaply. It was an environment much like a hostel, and several of the people living there all worked in the Brixton Cycles bike shop. As soon as I mentioned that I was looking for a replacement part they mentioned that they would have it. Next morning I went straight to the shop and it turns out they sell a lot of Surly's and had the exact part I was looking for. I also had them take a look at the bike since my front shifter had been acting up, and they replaced and turned a number of things, including the chain, cassette, and the handlebar wrapping since I had put some holes in it already. I also had them extend the rear fender since the very end of my sleeping bag stuck out past the end and was getting muddy. After visiting the shop, I did a bit of sightseeing. London is where all the tourists are apparently, because there were tons of people everywhere.

Apparently this tower isn't actually called Big Ben. That's the name of the bell inside it.

Westminster Abbey

There are other statues in this square, but I'm fairly certain people only ever take pictures of this guy:

I think St Paul's Cathedral looks a lot like the US capital building

Near Hyde park

Buckingham Palace

I spent 3-4 hours in the British museum wandering around. I probably could've spent a week without seeing something twice.
I found this plaque in the Islamic art section and found it particularly interesting because it has Timur's Tomb in Samarkand shown as a great example. In Several Months I hope to replace this picture of a picture with a picture of the tomb itself.

Statues from the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos

University of Greenwich

Greenwich Royal Observatory, where they have lots of old clocks

An interesting Sundial

And the prime meridian of the world

Leaving London I made it to Folkstone, but was unable to contact anyone about taking the train to Calais, so I stayed in my first hotel on this trip so far since it was supposed to be the pickup point for the bike shuttle to the chunnel. In the morning the Eurotunnel phone line was open, but it turned out since they were closed on the weekend and they needed 24 hours notice, they wouldn't take me until the next day, so I cycled the 10ish miles to Dover and took the ferry, which ended up only costing about 8pounds more than the train and only took 90 minutes.

Finally out of England and into France but I will update more later.