Day 7 started early. It was to be the first of several 100+ mile days and we knew we needed to leave early to make sure we arrived with Anne and Neil Ashworth in Preston at a decent time. Not knowing the route or how we would fair we decided to get on the road by 07.00hrs. Nursie was the perfect host and got up to feed us breakfast before we left and made some delicious sandwiches which Gary hoovered up during the day. It was the first day that we rode without a long steep climb first thing in the morning. We counted our blessings and made rapid progress along flat country lanes. I had mapped the official CTC route onto my Garmin 705 but not the alternative and shorter (at 99 mile) route that I decided might be useful. Knowing that we should arrive at a sensible hour of possible we decided to rode this alternative route. The night before in the B&B I anticipated this and using the map my ride app on the iPhone I wrote a list of Thr villages and we navigated the next day using this list and a lot of reference to google maps and map my ride. Thankfully we were in the industrial heartland of Britain so we had decent phone coverage but it was also harder to navigate around the numerous motorway systems and cities along the way. We picked our way around the major built up areas and slowly progressed to Preston. Apart from a small mishap that meant we bow know Warrington a lot better than we did, we managed fine.
We did pass over the Shropshire canal and looking down on the narrowboaters below made me wonder why we hadnt chosen a 2 week holiday on a narrow boat.
It remained a mostly flat and beautiful ride and we progressed along at a decent pace for a while piggybacking with a group of supported riders doing LEJoG.
Two other places of note during the day were Peckforton castle, a spectacular building by all accounts and the birthplace of Lewis Carroll illustrated by a sign tucked away in a hedge somewhere.
One of the things I love most about travelling by bike is that you see things you just don't notice at the speed a car travels. It's not just seeing, it's all the senses. Today I caught wafts of wild garlic. I know I would have missed in a car. You can approach people and places in a very unthreatening manner. People just tend to trust you if you arrive my bike and there are no airs and graces or social hierarchy to be judged and pigeon holed into based on the car you drive. You are just on your bike and therefore not a danger to anyone. Long may that attitude continue.
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Location:Shrewsbury, Shropshire
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