Two more days done since the last update.

Day four saw us leave Chester backpackers at our normal start time of around 0830 (we have been aiming for 0800 all week…). We grabbed breakfast and snacks from Tesco and cycled out north-east towards Warrington on our way to Penrith (a long long day!). Our first stop came at Westhoughton (Bolton), where we found a great sandwich shop.
Leaving Westhoughton, we followed the GPS – I have been using online mapping along with a Garmin Edge 705 – north up a steep hill. All was going well until the tarmac ran out and the road turned into a track. Being adventurous (stupid) we continued along the track MTB-style, and it was slow going!

(This photo doesn’t do the terrain justice!)

We ended up having to walk down to the road to complete our off-road detour, as the surface was completely un-rideable! Once we were back on the roads, we met up with a very friendly local cyclist who had a bit of chuckle when we explained where we had been and said the he liked to take his mountain bike along that route! Eventually we went our separate ways and we trundled over to Preston for a second stop. We found a great café and enjoyed sandwiches and jacket potatoes outside in the sun – Deli-licious!

After Preston, we pressed on (ha-ha) to Kendal, where we were in desperate need of food so grabbed a MacDonalds. Eventually we came into Penrith after about 135 miles (the longest day), but it was all worth it, since the Fellfoot hostel was almost certainly the best night so far!

Day five, shorter than day four thankfully, began with a fantastic breakfast at the aforementioned Fellfoot hostel but on the downside it was raining. Not only that, but the forecast used words such as incessant, heavy and widespread! We were soaked within minutes, but there’s not much to do about it really when you’re travelling on a tight time-frame. We stopped first in Lockerbie (in the welcoming Cafe 91) and then again in a motorway service station in Abington where made a futile attempt to dry clothes. Eventually we made it to the B&B near Cumbernauld and tucked into a massive Indian takeaway.

(Largest naan I’d ever had!)

That’s it for now – time for bed!!