James Rees, Steve Bibb, Jonathan Rees, Alistair Reid, Dean Stromeyer
Day 1
We set off from Newater House at 0930 on a glorious Saturday morning, all in high spirits and confident about the ride ahead. Although none of us proclaimed to be cyclists (Steve getting back on a bike after a 15 year 'break') we were itching to get started on the 95 mile ride to Liverpool.
Heading out of the city centre and straight onto the canal network we covered the 15 miles to Wolverhampton in good time, taking in the sights of the Black Country. We then joined the Shropshire Union Canal, which according to our route plan would take us all the way to Ellesmere Port, on the banks of the Mersey.
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| Making hay while the sun shone |
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| Wolverhampton Locks |
A couple of miles north of Wolverhampton we reached rural Staffordshire and the (relatively) smooth ride of the paved towpath gave way to grass and dirt tracks. Steve prophesied that he would be the first to get a puncture, and it wasn’t long before he fell victim to a rogue thorn, puncturing his back tyre. But with a Formula 1-esk tyre change we were soon back on track, albeit with the addition of a rapidly greying sky.
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As the weather started to turn so did the mood as we were confronted with 30 grumpy fisherman dismayed at our use of the canal towpath for cycling. With the fishermen, poles, rods, nets, umbrellas, tackle, bait and chairs negotiated the rain really started to make its presence felt. Intermittent showers stuck with us for the rest of the day and made the grass towpath very hard going, wet, muddy and slippery in places.
Managing to stay out of the canal, we bravely soldiered on to the 45 mile marker, just south of Market Drayton, where we decided we could take no more of the towpath and would navigate the country roads instead.
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| Where's the path gone? |
Our average speed jumped immediately after leaving the canal and were soon at Market Drayton which provided our stopping point for a spot of afternoon tea. We left the tea shop behind, but not but not before James was publicly admonished by a police officer for cycling on the footpath through the town.
A low-level flypast from a Lancaster bomber brought with it a change in the weather when the sun came out for our arrival at Nantwich (our overnight stopping point). We had clocked up 58 miles of mostly difficult canal towpath, saddle sore and stiff and the thought of a second days cycling was unappealing and daunting. However we managed to distracted ourselves from the aches and pains with a well deserved curry and 'experiencing' the Nantwich nightlife.
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| #Dambusters tune |
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| A well kept secret |
Day 2
The next morning, following a ‘high energy’ (high cholesterol) breakfast we hit the road in heavy rain. It was soon apparent that the wet weather was with us for the day, but it didn't dampen our spirits (well, maybe a little). We quickly covered the 20 miles to Chester where we had arranged to meet Dean and Alistair from the Liverpool office .
Using their local knowledge, Alistair and Dean led us north, once again alongside the Shropshire Union canal, but this time along a well surface track through the very scenic Cheshire countryside. The ride was plain sailing, up until the 'Towpath Closed' sign, immediately followed by another puncture, this time Alistair’s front tyre.
We were soon back on the road again finding our way through the back streets of Ellesmere Port, until Birkenhead .
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| mmmmmm 'soup and batch'! |
After 45 soggy miles we were very pleased to arrive, at Woodside Ferry Terminal. We made the very wet and windy, but enjoyable ferry crossing across the Mersey, followed by a short ride to the finishing line at the Liverpool office.
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| # Ferry 'cross the Mersey! |
With our unplanned diversions we covered a total distance of 103 miles and were able to raise around £300 for Stuart as a result of our challenge, in addition to a very enjoyable and memorable weekend.
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| Drowned Rats |
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