Day 15: Floods on the plains

March 18

Shrewsbury to Frodsham 81km

The landscape in North Shropshire and South Cheshire is wonderfully flat. It a cyclists dream. Today was strange because there was hardly any wind. It was strange because over the last 10 days I have grown accustomed to the buffeting and noise of the wind. Today I could here the birds singing.

There are some interesting houses in this area. I love this brickwork

And these patterns

The hills were the bridges. This one from over the Llangollen canal.

This one from a bridge over a disused railway line

I thought it fantastic. You buy an old station and then lay your own track complete with signals and level crossing gates. I think the owners are definitely railway enthusiasts!

Lots of interesting villages

The River Dee is in flood and roads are closed. Happily not on our route.

Just for a change we had some rain in the afternoon. Oh well, life wouldn’t be the same without it I suppose.

Again the hotel found somewhere for us to store the bikes in a safe and dry place. At every place we have stayed they have gone out of their way to help us. It is a lovely reminder that the world is full of helpful folks.

Day 14: Replanning

March 17

Shrewsbury 0km

The day was spent resting and replanning our next two weeks. We are running out of time so we have changed our route in a few places to help speed our travel.

We have compromised on some of the narrow country lanes which give slower cycling and we are going to use some bigger roads which are always faster.

A big difference to our approach is that we have identified every overnight stop for the rest of the trip and have booked a fair number of them. Now we are committed and every day we have our target. Our way is laid out in front of us – all we have to do is to keep to the timetable.

The weather forecast for the week is not bad.

I cannot believe I have cycled all the way from Lands End to home. It’s amazing what can be achieved by just doing a bit every day. What wonderful countryside we have seen.