It ain't half grim up north! For the first time today on this whole trip I was cold on the bike! Up on the moors between Bolton and Blackburn the weather took a turn for the worse and it was a relief to be down on the busy roads around the city out of the wind! Also great excitement today as I had the first puncture of our entire trip!
After an amazingly good nights sleep considering the busy, crowded and noisy Chester hostel we set off nice and early just before 8 to quietish roads! Today around the northern cities was potentially our busiest day traffic wise however falling on a Sunday it worked out well and the roads remained fine all day! We made good progress all morning on flat roads with good surfaces and managed to get the first 25 miles ridden by just after 10.
The weather threatened all morning but it wasn't until we had reached the outskirts of bolton that the heavens opened around the same time as the hills began! We had a long but steady climb onto the frankly bleak and desolate moors where we began to really feel the cold.
After dropping off the moors we skirted around the blackburn ring road and finally took lunch coming out of blackburn after a 65 mile morning! After deciding to only stop for half an hour for lunch due to our seats outside tescos being rather cold we headed off again.
Then just before we hit quieter roads for the rest of the afternoon we finally had our first faulty bike problem! My first puncture, I soon managed to get the tyre off and after locating and removing the sharp stone that had caused the incision I replaced the inner tube with my spare and fixed the damaged one later in the hostel!
After the small drama the rest of the afternoon passed smoothly albeit rather hilly and we arrived into Slaidburn just after 4. After fixing the puncture, washing clothes and showering we headed over to the local pub for a really lovely meal and now an early night! Lovely hostel in a sleepy village with a dorm to ourselves so hopefully a good nights sleep ahead of another long day tomorrow!
Time on bike: 6 hours 23 mins
Distance covered: 82.82 miles
Average speed: 12.9 mph
Max speed: 35.4 mph
Total distance: 472 miles
I feel for you guys. Ben I hope the force was with you on the tough bits on Sunday...in '75 the old Carlton (then just 4 years old) rode over the moors from Chesterfield and down into Blackburn - the longest day ride I ever did - 76 miles - but in good weather I recall. I also found a puncture though when I rode over a piece of metal in the road... Keep it up guys. We're all cheering you on..maybe you can hear us!!
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