Day 6: High Ercall to Mobberley

Distance 59 miles
Cycling time 4hr 18m
Av speed 13.63mph

Woke up in the Mill House b+b to a welcome first sunny morning with weather forecast to remain this way for the rest of the day.

After a great breakfast using tasty local ingredients, we picked up our cycles from stables where we were met by the owner's unusual pets of a donkey, peacock and dog casually strolling around.

Setting off at 9.15 in good spirits, we made the most of the relatively flat terrain by getting some good mileage done to the sleepy town of Market Drayton 15 miles away where we stocked up on energy supplies.

Good progress continued to be made through the cheshire countryside along so much so that when we arrived at Nantwich at 1230 with 32m on clock, a pub lunch as a reward was agreed. Found a good central pub to have a sandwich and a couple of pints - it almost felt as if we were actually on holiday.

After relaxing in the sun for an hour and a half, getting back on the bikes was a bit of a struggle but we targetted the town of Middlewich as the next stop and with this we made swift progress for the next 13 miles. Found a great little pub down by the Trent and Mersey canal to have another refreshment and to do a bit of work on our brakes which have been taking a battering since our start in Cornwall with the mileage and poor weather.

Another straightforward 15miles we arrived in Wilmslow via Mobberley just south of Manchester at about 5pm. Agreed that this had been almost a ' rest day' but also that we're feeling the benefits of being a bit fitter too.

Took the opportunity of an early arrival to hose down the bikes and to do some much needed laundry. Our kind hosts (Nick's sister's fiancee's father and girlfriend) had prepared a great home-cooked lasagne washed down with some wine before retiring to bed.