Day 7 totals

Cycle dist 57.2miles
Avg speed 12.09mph

Day 7 photos

Dinner at the Red Pump Inn

Welcome relief from the industrial north west England

The Manchester Ship Canal

Day 7: Mobberley to Bashall Eaves nr Clitheroe

Woke at the crack of dawn (well, 7.30) to freshly laundered clothes and a full english breakfast (including perfectly poached eggs) courtesy of jo. Said our goodbyes and sped out of wilmslow at 9am sharp via the bicycle shop to get some much needed new brake pads.

From there we headed up towards the Manchester ship canal crossing before rolling into Bolton at about midday - being careful to keep moving for fear of having our wheels stolen. We resolved to push on to Blackburn for lunch setting ourselves a target of 2pm, which if we beat we'd reward ourselves with a pint.

Blasting out of Bolton, driven perhaps by the promise of beer, we quickly crossed a range of hills that were reminiscent of cornwall and rolled into Blackburn with minutes to spare.

Instantly wished we'd stayed in Bolton - a cultural and architectural jem by comparison when the only option for food was a weatherspoons. Studiously avoiding eye contact with the locals (they'd clearly never seen cycling clothing before and had patently assumed we were some sort of travelling troupe of lycra clad homosexuals) we settled down with a pint of guinness and some grub.

Politely ignored the chap rooting through our ash tray looking for cigarette stubs and chatted briefly with a young man (no front teeth) who offered us advice on securing our bikes before continuing north.

Raced through the last 15 miles to the pub where we're staying tonight. The Red Pump Inn is a modern, recently refurbished little place near Clitheroe - look it up if you're ever in the area...

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.

Day 5 totals

Cycling distance 68.8miles
Cycling time 5h.58m
Av speed 11.48

Day 5

Well day 5 started slowly, mostly because it was chucking it down again and we eventually got going after faffing around looking for a new phone for me and some really effective waterproof shoes. We thought we'd found some great shoes but after 20 mins of cycling we were as wet as ever. Despite that we made some pretty good progress north out of Hereford. A detour round Shelwick because of the flood, we stopped just outside Bodenham to put some air in Nick's tyres only to put a tear in one of them. Doh! Without a spare inner tube we were a bit fooked. Luckily the very nice people (they all are round here, except the chav who slapped my ass as he was driving past later in the day) could give Nick a lift to Leominster while Patrick and I cycled up there. After lunch in Leominster and only 20 miles done plus no bike shops open, we carried on to the lovely Ludlow to meet Nick who had his bike all fixed. We then made good progress through some smashing countryside following the River Corve to Much Wenlock for a quick coffee, down the hill to Ironbridge, up a mother of a hill skirting round the West of Telford, past the Cock Hotel and on to High Ercall. Wet and tired but a quick change before heading down to the local pub to watch England beat the States and listen to the commentary from the village idiot.

Day 4 totals

Cycle distance 67.3miles
Average speed 11.2mph
Cycling time 5hr 59mins