Day 6 – Catterall to Shrewsbury

Will, Guy's brother, rejoined us yesterday evening to watch the England World Cup match, turning down the opportunity to have a night out in Durham. Thanks Will! That said, we were certainly apprehensive about his return. Will kindly drove us to John O’Groats at the beginning of our trip but was part of two unfortunate incidents, one including a lack of handbrake and one including a rear windscreen (see Day 1’s post – John O’Groats to Tain).

Last night Will found it tough to sleep as Guy started sleep talking, calling Will’s name before waking up and saying, ‘sorry Will, I was sleep talking’. Guy is not the only one struggling, by 9pm all three cyclists cannot string a coherent sentence together, the ride is taking its toll!

The terrific support team of Pippa and Robin unfortunately left us this morning leaving Will in charge, enough reason to be worried about the day ahead. The day kicked off in usual fashion, as Steve managed to leave another item behind, this time it was James’s pump. However, Will excelled in his first job collecting the forgotten pump.

The route took us through some of the least attractive scenery of the trip, cycling through Preston and then Wigan, with all due respect. Our mentality was to just keep cycling and get out the other side as soon as possible, after all the grass is always greener on the other side. On stopping in a bicycle shop in Preston, Steve mentioned that we were heading through Wigan, receiving a quick response of, ‘oh, why would you do that, it’s an absolute hole and they speak funny!’. Coming from a man with a strong Preston accent and given that Preston is about 15 miles from Wigan, we thought this was a bit rich to say the least! charge, enough reason to be worried about the day ahead.

The day kicked off in usual fashion, as Steve managed to leave another item behind, this time it was James’s pump. However, Will excelled in his first job collecting the forgotten pump.

Having met up with Will at lunch, we then ploughed on ... through the wraps and then cycled through Cheshire raising spirits with some fantastic scenery and truly beautiful properties. Into Shropshire we went but enthusiasm waned as the sight of more tarmac and overtaking cars continued. Nevertheless, our attention was caught by a field ‘splattered’ (onomatopoeia) with cows! On seeing a cow urinating, in typical James fashion, he commented, ‘there’s enough there to shower under!’ It can be tough keeping yourself entertained for 8 hours a day while saddle bound!

Despite that, this was definitely our most challenging day both mentally and physically! Tired legs never warmed up and we were constantly fighting a mental battle to keep going! However, the thought of a cold beer back at the B&B gave us the motivation to push on through at around 18mph for the last 20 miles. On arrival into Shrewsbury, ‘Tom Tom’ led us astray taking us around the houses and up another hill or two before reaching base. What a relief!