Good morning. That's the sound of a one of those machines that cleans the street,

cleans out the gutters, that's just made the turn from Tavis Fox Street onto Duparice Avenue

in Bedford where I've woken up at 7 o'clock in the morning, I'm up early, stayed in the

Swan Hotel on the embankment on the River Ouse in the middle of Bedford.

And I, weirdly, I was, this morning of the State Three of the Lloyd's Tour of Britain,

men by the way, and weirdly I was billeted in a different hotel to the rest of my crew,

to Danny, aka Danielle, to Marty, aka Martin,

and to Lizzie, Elizabeth Dignam,

who were all staying in the holiday and express

on the outskirts of town, but I had the great honor

of staying in a very lovely Swan Hotel in Bedford.

But the reason we're all staying in Bedford

is because the stage finishes in a very small town,

borderline village of Ampt Hill today, just to the south of Bedford.

Starts in Milton Keynes, it's a very short stage, only 122 kilometres, which means it's a slightly

later start as well, all of which gives me the opportunity just to spend an hour or so

before breakfast walking around streets I know very well

because I lived in Bedford from I'm trying to get the dates right I think 1978 so long ago

to whenever it was that I left home in the late 80s I can never remember so I know all these streets like the back of my

hand and like any place that's associated with your teen years and your childhood

years it's absolutely replete with memories and so I'm going to do a little

circuit that I was thinking about last night that will take me past the house that I grew up in.

...