Day 6

A perfect days cycling home to Cheshire, a goodbye to our good friend Mike and a return to Sandbach in record speed.

The day started with an unexpected bonus of a breakfast of porridge & milk. We found some unclaimed sachets of porridge in the Clun YHA and Andrew Tomlinson and his brother left us their milk. Andrew is riding from Lands End to John O’Groats and walking the 3 peaks of Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis on his way. Andrew was joined today by some friends from the Wolverhampton Racing Club on his journey to Snowdon. Details of his fundraising can be found at http://www.justgiving.com/the-long-way-up/ .

After being overtaken by Andrew and his mates from Wolverhampton quite early in our ride, we made our way through the beautiful Shropshire Countryside. The downside of quiet cycling lanes and unspoilt countryside is the lack of coffee shops and a mobile phone signal. We had to cycle an unprecedented 27 miles before our first coffee/ tea stop in Shrewsbury where I quickly logged onto the internet to check if Stoke had made the unexpected move of signing Steven Gerrard before tonight’s game against Liverpool.

With caffeine levels and mobile phone signal restored we set on our way to Whitchurch. Between Shrewsbury and Whitchurch we had the perfect cycling conditions of flat countryside and a tail wind. We covered the 20 miles to Whitchurch in less than 90 minutes and were that shocked by our rapid progress we had to stop for tea and cake.

The lanes from Whitchurch to Nantwich were virtually traffic free and I can recommend them to all cyclists looking for quiet, flat country lanes. We entered Cheshire through the beautiful village of Wrenbury and pushed on to Nantwich where Mike made his own way to Crewe station to catch the train to Holyhead.

As we got closer to home we were met by the welcome sight of the Eaton family: Claire, Nigel, Bill and Lizzie at the Royal Oak car park just outside of Nantwich. I had promised Claire I would give her a call as we passed close to her house and the family made a quick outing to give us a wave and some warm words of encouragement.

I left my Dad somewhere between Middlewich and Crewe. I quickly made my way home showing strength in my legs, I’d forgotten I had. I’ve spent the evening reducing my luggage, eating curry and catching up with Jill. It’s great to be home and I know that leaving tomorrow will be difficult. I read the kind messages from class one, to give me inspiration and the customized card from Cheryl and Dave Stacey.

We’ve got 9 more days cycling ahead of us and over 600 miles. I’ve halved my luggage, bought some travel wash for the clothes, and packed instant porridge and powdered milk.

An early start tomorrow of 7:30 on our way “up north”….


Stats for Day 6

2843 feet climbed

Trip distance 78.7 miles

Moving average 12 mph