Day 7 – 11th April 2007
We awoke to another fine day – clear skies and some spilt-milk mist clinging to the valley floor below.
We wanted to buy a replacement spare tyre today, but we drew a blank in Ludlow – even the well-stocked Pearce Cycles, well out of town on the Fishmore Road, couldn’t supply what we wanted.
Again, the day began with climbing. We threaded our way through the end of Wenlock Edge and again our speed stayed down. It was a very pretty ride – one of the highlights was coming upon a trio of donkeys, one of whom deigned to let us stroke his nose. Has anyone ever done LEJoG on a donkey, I wonder?
The downhill towards Leighbotwood was one of the most exhilarating so far. Never so steep that the bike started to run away, and never completely straight. It reminded me of a bobsleigh run.
We arrived in Condover at about 1.20 and Andrea provided us with a good lunch of soup, bread and cheese, fruit cake and apples. An hour later we were on our way, looking for Stan Jones’ bike shop in Shrewsbury. We found it with no difficulty and they had exactly what we wanted – a Schwalbe Marathon Plus in 26″*1.75″. It seems that the walls of the Schwalbe are much more robust than those of the Panaracer Pasela. We had a good chat with the salesman – a friendly and knowledgable guy. I’d rate Stan Jones as “very good” in the bike shops’ league.
There was a grinding climb out of Shrewsbury which lasted several miles up to Harmer Hill (the name gives it away), but eventually we reached the B5476 to Wem. We had to be alert here as the council were clearly intent that everyone should be funnelled back onto the A49 to Whitchurch, and we nearly missed the turning. However, a look at the map soon put us right and now that the roads were generally flatter as we headed towards the Cheshire Plain, we were able to maintain a pretty good turn of speed.
After Whitchurch we were onto the minor roads through to Wrenbury, no longer in the Severn catchment area, but having crossed the watershed towards the Weaver, which is a tributary of the Mersey. These smaller roads were a relief after the 20 or so busy miles since Shrewsbury, in which quite often a queue of traffic would form behind us as we ground up some hill or other at 5mph.
The last stretch into Nantwich was pretty easy, and Jan was able to take a call from her sister Helen as we rode along. How nonchalant!
We found our digs, but were very disappointed to discover that they were not serving food, which I had been told that they were when I booked – something to do with England playing football. We had arranged to meet Alan and Marge Smith for a drink, and we did so, spending a pleasant hour or so, but finally the need for sustenance became a priority so we went to the Chinese restaurant. Very pricey, but quite tasty.
During the meal, I took the opportunity to phone my sister Tricia and to wish her a happy birthday. I won’t say which it was, but I wished her many years’ use of her bus pass.
