Potentially JOGLE Day 10 in many ways seemed to offer the least exciting day of the tour. The first half of the day at least would be through the industrial north-west of England. As things would turn out however the day would be remembered for very different reasons!

All seemed quiet as we left our B&B in Preston and started the day cycling through Avenham Park and alongside the River Ribble.

It was another overcast day, and again for a short while it rained. However, our fortune continued to hold out as each rain shower was brief.

We cycled through Leyland and Eccleston and then started climbing around Appley Bridge. There was a particularly steep climb at Roby Mill.

We continued to climb up to Upholland where we met up with Sarah and Nic at the Pimbo Garden Centre for our morning break.

After leaving the garden centre we headed for Crank and then our second Eccleston of the day, this one being near St Helens.

We then had our first siting of the Runcorn/Widnes bridge.

Lunch was taken at the Morrisons in Widnes. We nearly didn’t have lunch since we reached the bridge before we realised we had missed it. We had to head back in to town. And there we found Nic and Sarah waiting for us.

After lunch we crossed the Runcorn/Widnes bridge and weaved our way through the Runcorn cycle paths to Frodsham.

Then we stepped on the gas and ‘flew’ to Delamere …

The reason being was that I had an emergency appointment at the dentist!

For a few days I had been suffering with painful teeth and the pain had been getting steadily worse. Indeed this morning other team members noticed that the side of my face looked decidedly swollen. Sarah managed to book me in for an emergency appointment at Whitchurch Dental Studio. The appointment was at 5pm. Clearly we were not going to reach Whitchurch in time. So we decided to cycle as far as Delamere. The support van would then take Andy and I to the dentist. I would then attend my appointment. After that the support van would take Andy and I back to Delamere and we would complete the route for the day to Whitchurch. So that is what we did! An x-ray later and I was given some tablets to calm the swelling down. Apparently my wisdom tooth and another tooth are competing for space. Anyway, a big thanks to all at the dental studio.

In the meantime Neil and Tracey made their way to Whitchurch themselves.

Following our return to Delamere, Andy and I continued our cycle ride through Tarporley.

We passed Beeston Castle.

And then cycled a stretch off-road through Cholmondeley.

Finally we climbed up to Wirswell.

Where we took in the late evening sunshine.

Andy and I completed our day around 8.30pm. Tonight we are staying at Sedgeford House B&B in Whitchurch.

Today we have cycled 73 miles and climbed around 3800 feet. You can view our JOGLE Day day route from Preston to Whitchurch below:

[sgpx gpx=”/wp-content/uploads/gpx/jogleday10-prestontowhitchurch.gpx”]

Tomorrow we have a shorter day as we head for Ludlow.