Day 10

Another day another downpour. We set off in light rain and it stayed that way for most of the morning, clearing up after lunch. Our blistering getaway faltered after about 500 metres when Greg discovered that he had a puncture. The emergency repair team moved smoothly into operation and had the team back on the road in less than half an hour.

Taking the adventure cycling concept to the max we cycled through several northern towns. We decided to keep close formation and to keep moving. Our route took us through a landscape of contrasts. Fields of cereal crops in rural isolation alternated with the red brick terraces, tanning shops and chinese takeaways in milltowns that were once the engine room of British industrial growth.

A feature of the morning was the number of cyclists out on the roads - more than the rest of our ride put together and great to see. We saw a variety of farm animals and wildlife on our travels through northern England - lots of sheep of course, lots of cows and the odd field of alpacas. Our route took us between Manchester and Warrington, over the Manchester ship canal, between Bolton and Wigan (nice view of the Reebok Stadium), through Chorley, around Blackburn (thus avoiding the 4,000 holes) and finally to Whalley. Our approach to Whalley was via high ground to the north of Blackburn with great views towards the Forest of Bowland and the Yorkshire Dales.

In the evening we had a visit from Mum's youngest sister Les, plus son Mark, and Arthur. They came across from Halifax with several tons of food supplies which made for a lovely evening picnic and leftovers to last until the highlands. Les also came with a very pleasant surprise in the form of a £75.86 donation to Parkinson's UK from money she'd collected at her school and in her village - a fantastic effort and a huge thanks to Les, Mark and Arthur x x x