A ferry ride across the English Channel will bring us back to France. But before we can leave, we’ll have to wait in the ferry terminal until our overnight voyage is ready to board. Once we’ve landed in France, two trains will whisk us across Brittany to Nantes. There we’ll finally get to revisit the giant, mechanical elephant, and his equally astonishing, fellow animal machines. There’s nothing quite like it.

We’re getting ready to return to France, and resume our eastward cycling journey to the Black Sea. This leg of our train odyssey will get our bikes and us to the southern edge of England. There, we’ll hang out for a few days before boarding a ferry to take us back across the English Channel to France.

We turned around, and started making our way back south. Traveling by train promised to be an adventure. We’ve never taken our bikes on European trains before, so everything was new. One last layover in Edinburg will be the end of our time in Scotland.

We’re discovering many facets of Scotland, beyond sea cliffs and castles. Of course, we’re cycling past plenty of those. But now we’ve also met Scotland’s favorite cartoon character, we’ve admired a famous St. Bernard midshipman, we’ve seen how to run a North Sea oil rig, and even learned a few words of Scots.

Cycling through the Kingdom of Fife, we circled the region’s tallest hills and its biggest lake. Castles haunted by the ghost of Mary Queen of Scots lined our path, as we negotiated our way through the hills, and back to the coast. There, in the birthplace of golf, we got stuck in a cycling sand trap at St. Andrews Links, one of the oldest golf courses in the world. The rest of the road to Dundee went more smoothly, except for that incident on the bridge over the River Eden. Let’s just say, you don’t want to get too close to a flustered swan.

It didn’t take us long to reach Scotland. As the northernmost nation that we would visit on this tour, Scotland holds a special allure. We’ve finally reached the land of bagpipes, tartans, deep blue lochs, and those adorable highland cattle.

We cycled through Dunbar, birthplace of John Muir, one of the great early leaders of the U.S. conservation movement. The John Muir Way took us most of the rest of the way to Edinburgh. 

This leg of our journey took us along the wild and scenic reaches of the Northumberland Coast. For the better part of several days, we cycled on sandy, muddy and gravelly paths along the rugged North Sea coast. We enjoyed the sense of adventure, soaking up the gorgeous views and taking our time as we bounced along the rural paths. Biking past four of the region’s iconic castles, we could appreciate how their inhabitants incorporated the extra defenses offered by the coastal cliffs. We also took a day to celebrate our namesake birds - Atlantic Puffins - with a boat trip out to the seabird colonies of the Farne Islands.

Along the Northumbrian coast, we passed through dozens of coastal hamlets, as well as the industrial cities that line the banks of its major rivers: the Tees, the Wear, the Tyne and the Blyth. The trail rolled across a series of unique and iconic bridges, over grassy sand dunes, and past rocky shores. And every once in a while, just to make sure we don’t lose our climbing legs, the route would launch up a steep cliff face, for a panoramic ride along the bluffs overlooking the sea.

Stunning scenery greeted us as we cycled across North York Moors National Park. On the coast, we gazed out from rugged cliffs, across picturesque bays and beaches. When our route turned westward into the heart of the moors, the big hills provided breathtaking views, coupled with heart-pounding ascents and descents. All the while, we were charmed by the wild birds, as well as the shaggy highland cattle and sheep. 

Cycling up the heart-pounding, cathedral hill in Lincoln, we left the flat marshlands behind. The Wolds of England generally aren’t too steep, but we still had to find our climbing legs again, after four days of biking through pancake-flat fields. In addition to the scenic beauty of the Wolds, we finally reached the North Sea. There, we visited a huge colony of nesting seabirds, including a few adorable Atlantic Puffins.

For hundreds of years, the ancient kingdom of East Anglia was somewhat isolated because of its marshy landscape. Modest monasteries grew into major cathedrals, including some of the most renowned churches in England. Cycling across the former fenlands, we were impressed by the expanses of agriculture, charmed by the wildlife in remaining wetlands, and inspired by the fantastic cathedrals that rise out of the marshes like crowns on top of the cities below.

After an extended break on the outskirts of London, a change of plans had us headed due north towards Cambridge. A brush with the busy traffic near Stansted Airport made us happy to get back into the more rural parts of England. Cycling over rolling green hills, we arrived on the DNA Cycle Path, a fitting approach to a University town renowned for its scientific discoveries.

Biking from Windsor into the heart of London let us experience the many different sides of this great city. From royal parks with ancient trees, to the coronation site for early Anglo-Saxon kings, to a tiny ferry, a giant pedestrian tunnel, and some of the City’s most beloved icons (like, the Tower Bridge), we savored it all. As we watched people go about their business, and chatted with passers by about our journey, we looked forward to a week of R&R in the UK’s biggest city.

As we head eastward along one of England’s grand canals, the land is becoming less rural, and more urban by the kilometer. We emerged from verdant countryside into the bustling city of Reading, where the ruins of an ancient abbey are the center of attention. Then, on to Windsor and its beloved castle, where royals relax for the weekend, and sports clubs use the front lawn for running laps.