Day 4 Summary

Is the weather ever going to change?  Overcast, cold and NE wind - mind you we only had rain during the last hour and a half today.  The easiest day so far and all feeling fine at the end  - 114 miles covered (Ludlow to Chorley), 1700m climb and just over 8.5 hours in the saddle.  Apart from aching quads, necks and shoulders and the odd blister and bit of chaffing we are all coping well .  Barry though has an achilles problem which isn't slowing him down as yet. We also had our second fall - this time it was Celia who took a bad tumble onto the pavement just after we left Nantwich. 

A few comments on the route - initially we took back roads out of Ludlow but this soon proved problematic after we hit a hill at over 20% - not a good choice.  We reverted to main roads which proved to be OK with the traffic creating few difficulties.  The route through the Liverpool/Manchested corridor was fine with only a few points where traffic was an issue - Northwich and Leigh areas.  The toll (12p) for the bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal was waived - maybe too much hassle after Barry sailed passed the barrier without even a second look at the toll booth.

Worth mentioning food.  We burn around 8000 calories a day on the road - so when we are not cycling we are busy stocking up on calories.  We munch and drink whilst in the saddle but stop at least a couple of times for proper food.  Today we set off without breakfast and cycled a few miles before breakfasting in Much Wenlock  (nice place populated it seems by rather elderly people), lunching in Nantwich and taking dinner at the end of the ride in Chorley - the two main meals for £10 option was taken up gladly by a few of the team.

Forgot to mention yesterday that Jack's pal Graham had joined us for a few days. He was with us yesterday and today and will also do tomorrow's stage.

Route and stats are here.