Day 9 – all about the destination, not the journey

Today turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag.

We are getting into a routine now. We get into our room and unpack. All of the tech goes on charge ready for the next day.

We then have a shower and have been trying to then do some cheeky kit washing so that we don’t smell too badly. The challenge is then trying to find places to hang it so it dries for the next day.

Then off to dinner for high carb food and a couple of drinks. We must the look like a very boring couple as we are on the iPhones working out where we want to stay the next night, booking the hotel / bnb and then updating the route. Back to the bedroom, write the blog (no pressure) and then bed. Day starts at 6am when I take Milo for a walk. Have breakie, pack and on the road by 9am. Day on the bikes and repeat 🙂 love it!

So today was always going to be a bit gnarly as we needed to route down past Preston and then between Manchester and Liverpool. The goal was to try and avoid the worst of the traffic and get to our BNB in Congleton.

The weather was kind to us again, with dry skies and a tailwind. Breakfast was so very very average that it didn’t deserve a photo.

Keeping up the reviews, the Lancaster house hotel is ok, but if you’re on you’re LEJoG’ing, I don’t think it’s worth the extra. On the positive side, the staff were lovely, but the facilities are average. I’d personally still try and find a bnb

We rolled out at 9:30(ish) and after a couple of backroads we were onto the A6. A’s road go, the A6 isn’t horrible, but it’s busy. We made good time, but it’s wasn’t scenic.

First milestone was Preston and it was pretty forgettable. I realise this blog must come across as me grumbling about northern cities, but I struggled to find a redeeming feature. The council were basically digging up the whole of the centre and we had to walk though the roadworks. We then got cornered by one of the locals dressed head to toe in denim. After asking about the bike trailer he preceded to tell us his life story, which mainly involved knocking of the doors of celebrities houses US. As he finished lamenting the fact that most of them were now dead and that he found hitchiking in the US hard work as he looked like an axe murderer. At this point we made our excuses and left. The route out of Preston was much nicer as we followed an old railway line that was now a cycle trail.

After Preston, we picked up the second canal of the trip and followed the Leeds and Liverpool for a few km. lovely and quiet, but it does slow down the average speed as you rumble down the rocky towpath. We got to one of the highlights for the day, Fredricks Icecream parlour. Mmmmmm KeyLime pie flavour !

Lunch came shortly afterwards at BlackRod before we got into the second half of the day and the next 70km

The afternoon as also pretty uneventful and we pushed on through the north west. It was just pretty sad seeing how run down things where. Having to cycle quickly when a group of 20-something’s who were off their faces saying “giz-us a look at ya dog”

Anyway, the day perked up in the end. We have been very uncivilised and bought ourself a Bluetooth speaker, we were banging out the 80s tracks as we rolled though Knutsford. Past a row of very expensive mansions (footballers row?) and onto our BnB 20km later.

We in an old farmhouse tonight. We walked across the fields to get to the local pub for burger and chips.

Was also fun seeing a hot air balloon being launched from the pub car park.

Ready for a good nights sleep.

Lessons learned and words of wisdom

1 – don’t follow our lejog route today – there must be better ways past Manchester and Liverpool

2 – tractor drivers can be arses when giving you space as they overtake (they clearly don’t get to do it very often)

3 -not so much a lesson, but it did remind me just how run down areas of the north west are

Key stats:

121km cycled (933 total)

502m climbed (8211m total)

0 lejog cyclist seen (64 total) – why would they go the way we did…..

Cake of the day: Birthday Raspberry Cheesecake, especially for Nic