Last night was my turn to pass out and Andy's to write the blog... but as he already said, it was the longest and toughest day to date, so neither of us had energy to write much.

The day started with my slightly over-eating at breakfast and then facing a huge hill straight out of the door. In the comfort of my armchair at home, I planned the route thinking 'why would be go all the way round there, when we can go straight across here'. The answer: a big, steep hill. Getting up it was fine, however getting down it was another thing altogether. It seems that I seem to have lost all confidence and when the road steepened, I walked. At the beginning of this trip, it was the other way round... with 8 days to go, I hope I get over my fear as it's still a long way to Scotland!

After that, we decided that the little white roads were no good for my mental state, and so skipped the Stiperstones and stayed on the A road though the Shropshire Hills, which was quiet and scenic. The sun was shining on us today and we finally were getting the trip we signed up for. We continued on through the Shropshire countryside, hearing the birds, feeling the sun on our back, avoiding tractors... it was bliss. We even saw two eagles, one still circling, the other making off with a rabbit.

We were both feeling tired and progress was slow, but we eventually made it to Whittington castle, which to my delight was right on the main road and didn't require any hill climbing to get there. We took the opportunity to have an ice-cream as we wondered around the ruins. We then headed to Chirk Castle, which was also our second and last visit to Wales on the trip. Chirk was at the top of a hill which we slogged up in hope of lunch at the cafe (a bit like singing for supper), and worth it. We enjoyed out lunch sitting in the courtyard and there was a guide giving a tour at the time, so we got to learn a bit about the castle at the same time.

Down the hill and as we approached Wrexham, it was time to say goodbye to the traffic free country lanes. We were running short on time and worried about our ferry, and so bypassed Chester (we're going there in October anyway) and headed to Merseyside and a labyrinth of dual carriageways, fast cars and lorries. Sadly, there was no way round it and even the road that our guidebook suggested as the quietest, was littered with signs of accident statistics! We were glad when we turned off it. We had planned to stop at the Eureka Cyclist Cafe, which apparently has been a cycling cafe since the 1920s, but it was closed. This meant that we were 45 minutes early for the ferry, having just missed one, and enjoyed sitting on the banks of the Mersey looking at the Liverpool skyline.

By the time we got to our hotel it was 7pm, so was a very long day. But at least the sun was out! Not sure I can say the same for tomorrow (today).

Todays Statistics:
Distance: 143km
Elevation: 1075m
Breakfast score: not sure.
Treat of the day: should have been Birra Brith whilst in Wales but I was too full :(