Well probably first with an apology - SORRY Julia! The route I planned for today was shorter than yesterday (by 2 miles - well it all counts doesn't it?) And we climbed for 4486ft of ascent - gulp, and the horseshoe pass which you were worried about was nowhere near the hardest climb of the day! And the following 20 miles downhill err.. wasn't! And the Satmap gps ran out of power 10 miles from the end....
BUT... It was sunny (mostly) and tomorrow is almost certainly shorter and easier, probably ...... ;-)
We set off from Oswestry Travelodge after breakfast at the little chef next door at 9:30 - again not really early enough, but that won't matter will it... there were 3 main climbs on today's route all within the first 20 miles. That 20 miles took us until 1:45 - gulp! We had stopped a couple of times, including a costa stop in Llangollen :-) but the second major hill of the day was a bu$$er! Put it like this, it makes Leigh bank look suitable for a game of football. Anyway we cruised up the horseshoe pass and stopped for some late lunch at the Ponderosa Cafe - a popular hangout for bikers but only two other idiots had cycled up there
The downhill after there was disappointing because the road was to rough to go above 30mph (and besides Julia was being a wimp on the brakes!) There was gentle ups and downs through Mold and a nice flat bit through Chester which was a nice change. We were just out through the other side of Chester when the Satmap ran out of juice. Luckily we nipped into the next garage and had a sneaky peek at the road map :-o Just 2 roads to remember and we would reach Northwich. We pulled out of the garage just behind a tractor - race on? I decided that it probably wasn't wise to go past the tractor, especially as he could go uphill at the same speed - and we couldn't!!!
One final climb up the busy A54 dual raceway and we coasted into Sandiway and the welcome site of the Premier Travel Inn - arrival time 6:10 - PHEW! A long day...
Martin
Ps. Thanks for reading yesterday, please leave a comment ;-) and yes Laura my butt is still sore!
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