September 15, 2011
A summers day
Height climbed 792 metres
After a good but cold nights sleep I was up early and away by 8. Unfortunately I was away before the campsite reception opened so was unable to pay...
In Malpas I spotted a cafe when I saw 3 roadies going in, and ended up joining them. Being locals they were able to give me some good route advice (and some of questionable merit). I now headed thtough Nantwich, where I stopped in the park to have lunch and dry my towel - it had turned into a glorious day. Afterwards I went to the town centre for a coffee, and had a job getting away afterwards, as all the locals seemed so friendly and wanted to talk. The town had a lovely feel to it.
Afterwards I went through the outskirts of Crewe, which was not nearly as pleasant a place as Nantwich, in fact, best avoided!
After going through Congleton, and getting groceries, I went to Bosley, then instead of taking the main A54 I took a small track as advised by Graham, one of the roadies from earlier. It started off as a small single track lane, and the gradient got steeper and steeper, and the surface got worse and worse. After passing through the 2nd gate, I ended up in a field of cows with their calves. I was only just over an hour from darkness, and there was no way I was going back down the hard hill i'd just climbed, so I tried to shoo the cattle away from the track so I could pass in safety. They however had other ideas and would not budge. I ended up dragging my bike in a large arc across the field to avoid them, whilst being stared at intently by them. Just as I was about to jump on again I saw a bull. Needless to say I didn't hang about, in fact I pedalled faster than I had all day, which was not an easy task when laughing with relief.
Shortly afterwards I arrived at The Wild Boar Inn, a remote pub with a field at the back for camping, £7, where I set up for the night after sampling the beer, and returned to after having had a shower and fed myself, to spend a very enjoyable evening chatting to the barman and the farmers.
It had been a lovely day today, lots of sunshine and little wind. There were also, not suprisingly, loads of other cyclists out, and I saw my first and only other touring cyclists today, doing a Lands End to John O'groats ride.
Today's ride: 67 miles (108 km)
Total: 356 miles (573 km)
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