arriving at Platts Fields in Manchester the heavens opened and the few riders who had assembled as early as possible were getting a soaking, myself included. My Dad dropped me off and i stuffed a banana into my face to give me some energy and i clipped into my pedals and rode to the start, i got to the start and soon realised my left shoe was stuck to the pedal, panicking id fall flat on my face in front of others i gently put my right foot down and smiled as I struggled to free my left foot, others commented on how my tyres were like razor blades, i laughed as i knew they weren't aware of my problem. the shoe came away from the pedal and i took it off to inspect it, somewhere between Paris 2011 and Manchester 2012 one of the allen screws in my cleat had vacated its proper position. luckily i had packed a set of allen keys and managed to tighten up the remaining screw to enable me to clip and unclip safely. the time was here and i approached the start line, set my garmin forerunner to start and set off, in the rain, through the puddles and over the absolutely rubbish pot hole ridden streets of Fallowfield and away we went. I'm not a cyclist who can bimble along at the start, i have to get going and get into some sort of rhythm, so i overtook a few people dressed for the mountains their bikes were made for but the traffic lights were holding me up, at one set i was overtaken(the cheek of it) by one of these mountain bikers wheelying passed me, i was quite impressed actually as i sped away from him, HA.
The rain soon ceased and I managed to sight see a few things, Christies hospital, several private golf clubs, Wythenshaw park as we headed off from the urban sprawl and into the countryside. the route meandered through posh areas with some lovely houses and industrial estates with decrepit units, i recognised Ashley post office where i used to collect mail on a Sunday when i worked for the royal mail, after then there was an ever increasing smell of cow manure and some of that was on the roads mmmm reminds me i need to clean my bike. we crossed the busy A556 by the Swan Hotel and were well into jungle by then, rain was holding off and the sun even poked his head through the clouds to say hello. the route was well signposted direction wise but the water stops weren't, the first one at the Kilton Inn in Mere went in the blink of an eye, no warnings just a sign as i went passed it, i decided maybe stupidly to not turn round and top up my water bottle and just keep going, id done 18 miles by then and felt OK so off I went heading towards my home town of Northwich. we skirted by Arley, Great Budworth and Comberbach, at this point i was beginning to feel a little stiffness in my left ankle, this is unusual as its normally my right calf and ankle that cause me problems, maybe it was the curse of the cleat screw attacking my good leg. i stopped at the Spinner and Burgamot for a stretch and a drink, not an alcoholic one just the remains of my water bottle. a quick rest and off i went, through Little Leigh and down to the River weaver, we crossed under the rusty bridge on the A49 and headed off to Crowton, took a right turn up the first steep hill of the ride, I'm unashamed to say i had to get off and walk up the hill, i wasn't the only one!! stiffness and thirst were attacking my psyche but you cant stop an old soldier, we just carry on no matter how slow. the next water stop which was signposted wrongly was at the Tigers head pub at Norley, i missed it and when i got to the next Marshall i complained and he kindly topped up my water bottle, this gave me chance to have an energy gel which id had since the 2011 big battlefield bike ride to Paris, it wasn't in date but it worked, i got some energy and pushed on, slowly!
i knew we were heading through to Delamere forest, i just didn't know it all seemed to be uphill, again I got off my bike before i stalled and fell off and walked up another hill. once we were almost at Delamere the thoughts of it being all downhill to Chester were soon battered, screwed up and thrown to the back of my mind in anger. as we rode up and down and up and up through the forest i was see sawing with a lad on a mountain bike, he was upset too as he was told this ride was a 3 on the difficulty scale, the same as the Manchester to Blackpool ride he had done 3 weeks earlier but he said it was much more difficult, I agreed as i walked up another hill,
53 surprisingly hilly miles were complete and i slumped to the ground and downed another bottle of water, £100 although not the greatest amount in the charity world was raised by my kind friends and will hopefully do some great work for the Breakthrough Breast cancer charity.
surprisingly my body didn't take too long to recover, slight bit of crepitis in my left ankle but not the aching legs i thought i would have, so all i need to do now is think of my next challenge!!
me at the finish
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