Latest adventures...

One of the great joys of doing what we're doing - apart, of course, from the nightly chorus of snoring, the neglected pants littering the back of the van and intimate conversations about cream for our sore undercarriages - is meeting a fantastic bunch of people along the way.

In Exeter, at the wonderful Bike Shed Theatre (or at least the very lovely bar underneath it), Dave, a local folk musician and songwriter who's just passed one of his songs on to Jackie Oates came along and played a blinding little set, with the kind of sparkling between-song banter that made me think of another folk great, Vin Garbutt. Not only did Dave treat us to a couple of his repertoire - he had also written a song especially for us. Fantastic stuff - we're hoping to get back in touch and get that little beauty committed to tape.

A stunning evening, too, in Chester, where we played at the Cross Keys pub. A whole team of local musicians pitched up to join us for a really special evening, the kind of night that was really what I was imagining for this trip - a whole load of folk knocking out some great tunes and knocking back a few ales (though, impressively I think, the Buskers on Bikes have been fairly sensible so far - anything over the 2-pint mark, and the wear begins to show the next morning... A huge thanks to Pam at the Cross Keys who organised a raffle that sent £100 rattling into the BoB buckets - and to the landlord, Kevin, like so many people on this trip so far, impeccably generous with his pub and with his donations...

Sandwiched between Exeter and Chester (albeit with a couple of non-gig days in between) was a rip roaring evening at The Sun in Clun. We've been massively lucky with the amount of people we've had showing up; almost every night has been packed to the rafters, and the mass singalongs are getting better and better. 'My Girl' and 'King of the Road' are taking on a life of their own, and the lads in general are starting to sound very sweet indeed.

There was so much that could have gone completely pear-shaped with this trip; thre was no way of knowing how we'd all react at having to get off our bikes after a long day in the saddle, jump in the shower, hoover up some dinner and then go and attempt to entertain our adoring fans - but somehow or other, it's worked out. In fact, the thought of a gig in the evening provides that little burst of adrenaline needed to help us through the (very!) long days. It's safe to say the whole thing is turning into a bit of a blinder...

That said, there's plenty more left to do. A gig in Windermere tonight (got to get going, actually), one in Carlisle tomorrow night, and some huge riding days coming up. Yesterday, in particular, was a killer, from Chester to Slaidburn in north Lancashire. A difficult route, and almost 100 miles on the clock.

But we're getting there, getting a little more tired, but getting a load of money and having a great crack...

More photos, more news, more silliness and stories to tell very soon...