Land's End to John O Groats: Day 7

After more encouragement from the manager of the hotel, and a breakfast that wasn't porridge (ceral and toast), we made our way out of Chester. Although the roads were pretty major, there was no traffic because we'd set off before the rush hour.

This was the day we'd been dreading from the start, because it was the longest and was fairly hilly as well. It was good to realise that if we got going quickly, miles could be covered and it wasn't going to be as bad as we thought.

The first 30 miles went well, we managed to cover them quickly as the hills were limited. However, we got tangled up in the industrial north around Manchester, which was one of the worst moments of the trip. The roads were now busy and the views uninspiring, and we still had a long way to go.

From LEJOG Day 7

Leigh was a nasty city, probably the most miserable place we went through. We had lunch near the centre. It was now properly raining, and shortly after setting off again we got fairly lost. The misery of the city made getting lost much, much worse. However, the city was partially redeemed by a white van man who magically guessed we were end to enders, and actually pointed us in the right direction, saying he'd done the same route a few years ago. It's a small world I guess.

We then covered 20 miles or so before we got lost, although this time in the middle of nowhere. However, again, we recieved some help from a passing cyclist and we were on our way again. Towards the last 10 miles we were fairly tired (apart from Sam who seemed to have endless energy), and we were faced with a huge climb. Halfway through the climb we met a group of slightly less helpful cyclists, who said we "definitely" had a few hours left of cycling. Thanks but no thanks, our cycling computers say otherwise.

The climb was hard, but we finished the day on a downhill, reaching almost 40mph on a steep bit of hill. Slaidburn was in the middle of nowhere, and the youth hostel was volunteer run, so they were really friendly. One thing we will never forget is the meal we ate that evening. I wouldn't be surprised if on dark gloomy nights, when the moon is full, the people at Slaidburn YH talk in hushed voices about it (see picture).