wheelieharro: 16th July Harmer Hill to Acton Bridge

16th July Harmer Hill to Acton Bridge - 80 2kms

The day started rather badly with a puncture in my tyre before we started the ride. We stored our bikes in our rooms and I must have picked up a piece of metal/nail which went trough the tyre for a slow leak of air.

Well after starting it began to rain and the first 25kms were a bit miserable in the rain and wind but after that it began to clear and later in the day it was sunny and warmish, The temp at the end of the day of riding was about 20deg.

Also I realized I forgot to put my "bum cream" on in the morning and towards the end of the day I was "feeling it a bit".....

Morning tea was Malpas which is quite a lovely village in Cheshire, where we spent most of the day. the café was a family affair with home cooked scones and cakes. Most of our group descended on the café almost at once which really stretched their resources. Despite taking some time to get us all served the food and coffee was good and it was a chance for us to dry out!

The ride then took us through Cheshire which is a very wealthy part of England. The houses, farms and cars travelling on the roads certainly showed real wealth. I hope you can see some of this in the pictures below.

Before lunch we managed to get lost but it was pleasing we did so to look at Beeston Castle. This castle is perched on the top of a hill which has good views of the surrounding country.

Lunch was in a café in Tarporley. Chris and I had a bowl of orange and carrot soup with lemonade ( home made). We sat in the sun for lunch which was very pleasant.

After lunch it was 15 km ride to our hotel at Acton Bridge, with the wind pretty much behind us.....all good for riding.

Despite a poor start it end up a great day.

FYI we only climbed 682 metres

Shropshire Union Canal...with barges

There seem to be a lot of canals