Day 5 was the hardest of the lot.
By this stage, our legs were feeling a bit heavy and as we set off in the morning, the 105 miles we needed to cover in the day seemed an awfully long way. We knew that not only was it a long way but it would also be along major roads which never provide pleasant or relaxing cycling. Our route also went through quite a few town centres – Preston, Wigan to name a few (to avoid the motorway ring-roads) – and as predicted, we got lost a few times and the miles on our bike computers seemed to pass excruciatingly slowly.
One strung out town seemed to lead seamlessly to the next in a steady stream of slightly dilapidated housing, closed shops and empty streets. The weather probably didn’t help to lighten the mood with frequent showers of varying strength interspersed with spells of sunshine – leading to some difficult calls with regard to kit choice! Should we bother with the jackets? Was the shower going to last long enough for it to be worth it? Should we keep the long-sleeved underneath the jacket and gilet and risk getting too warm or opt for the short-sleeve/jacket combo and risk chilly arms. OH the decisions. . .
Luckily, we didn’t let it all wear us down too much and managed to stay cheery and positive for (most of) the day! This was helped, as was generally the case for all six days, by the incentive of tea breaks and food stops. It’s amazing what a good cup of tea can do : )
Stopping in Wigan, hopeful to get our hands on a remedial cuppa, we traipsed through a number of streets finding many cafes but none that were open. One café sign led to a boarded over window, the next simply read ‘CLOSED’ in the window. Bank holiday Monday plus the fierce competition from multiple carpet and domestic hardware shops probably added to the lack of suitable tea-drinking venues. We finally found a ‘weatherspoons-type’ pub in the central pedestrianised bit of the town centre. Never before had either of us seen so many single, middle aged men at tables by themselves with nothing but a pint to keep them company. It was an eye opener (especially because it wasn’t even midday!). However, we managed to establish ourselves beside a window to keep an eye on the bikes outside (we managed to forget the lock) and we were pleased to rest our legs and get inside for a bit.
Elsie managed to commandeer a couple of chairs from the table next to us where a couple was sitting whilst I got the tea. Sometime later, the couple got up to leave and approached me on their way out (Elsie had gone to the toilet at this point). They were interested about the trip we were doing and wanted to know how far we were going each day, whether we were doing it for charity and if so which one. I proceeded to tell them about Development Through Challenge and our 6-day adventure. At the end of it all, the man dug into his pocket, got out his wallet and handed me a £10 note. “Well here’s a contribution in that case. Well done you” he said. As Elsie returned, I thrust the money into her hand and told her the tale with a gleeful face. Thank you kind couple in Wigan. You pretty much made our day!
The outskirts of Chester saw us take a couple of wrong turns but eventually we negotiated our way back onto the road we wanted. Another tea stop was needed in the afternoon. This time a pub with a carvery for £3.99 was our host-place.
Re-fuelled we pushed on to the Welsh border where another highlight of the day was the compulsory border-crossing photo. Between a motorway and a fairly busy A-road, we deliberated, was it worth it? The crash barriers on both sides, the long grass and the rubble all the way to the sign wasn’t particularly appealing and made the logistics of getting a self-timed shot rather difficult. We nearly resigned ourselves to getting individual shots but a slightly battered traffic cone saved the day. Elsie duly positioned the camera precariously on top of it in order to get both of us, our bikes and the sign in. The drivers on either road must have been rather bewildered if they looked to the side to see two young ladies with their bikes smiling at a camera balanced on a traffic cone.
A lesson we learnt quite quickly was that A-roads can look exactly same on the map but in reality some can be wonderfully quiet while others can be incredibly fast and dangerous. One such road was the A548 along the Welsh coast which did not provide pleasant riding with the lorries hurtling past at one moment and then slowing down through the next long and grey town. The 80-mile mark always proved to be a bit of a down point and Day 5 was no exception. We were pushing against a strong headwind and were not really enjoying the delights of the A548. To keep our spirits up, we decided to indulge in some singing. Ruthie and I are neither re-known for our beautiful voices, nor for our knowledge of song lyrics. We were going along, screeching out our rendition of Britney Spears when we heard some other voices and some clapping. A group of middle-aged women on the other side of the road had joined in our efforts and were cheering us on – classic!
The support team had arrived at our booked campsite for discover a muddy, smelly, uninhabitable field but had luckily found a much nicer alternative up the hill. When we finally dragged ourselves into the campsite at 8pm, we had a delicious pasta sauce (mum and Dani had developed an excellent system by this stage to make the most delicious sauce possible!) and cheesecake with malteasers. Yum.
Totally exhausted but with only one day left, it was bedtime.
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