We left a very sad looking rolo (chocolate lab) behind this morning, he wanted to join us...it was nice to stay at home, no bed making! We set out through the Cheshire countryside with strong agricultural smells and made good progress to Warrington.
We stopped briefly to pick up some more ibuprofen gel to rub on sore knees before meeting up with my sister. Yet another group photo! We were soon back on the road and heading for some tricky navigation.
Urban cycling through Leigh and Bolton was a bit stop and start with endless roundabouts and traffic lights. We made it through error free and were greeted by hills and moorland.
A final climb to Belmont for lunch. In the zone, head down and pedalling hard, all 8 of us missed the van parked up outside a pub. We ended up a few miles down the road in a layby - the coldest place in England! Jo snuggled up in a sleeping bag, while a few others took shelter in the back of the van.
The afternoon saw us cycling through Blackburn, after a nice descent and a cycle path that led to nowhere.. One wrong turn after cycling over the Wainwright bridge was soon corrected and it was out into the countryside once again.
The sun was shining and we had a very pleasant afternoon, chatting away looking forward to our planned tea break. A shark was spotted in the river Ribble, perhaps an hallucination due to exhaustion... We climbed the hill, to find the tearooms closed! Our deserved tea and cakes were not too be.
Puncture no.3 fell to Jo's back wheel, nothing too dramatic this time.. She fitted her new sparkly inner tube, and we were soon back in the saddle.
The final hill was tough in the heat, we dropped down into a nice spinney gear and slowly made our way up. The views from the top were amazing. Going down the other side was exciting, some hidden potholes in the shade nearly threw some of us off!
We arrived in Slaidburn safe and sound. 6 days done, 7 to go...
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