Day 4 leaves the hills behind, and after dropping off the Stiperstones hills the day is mainly flat and should give an opportunity to stretch our legs a little. The end of the day leaves the countryside behind as we enter the industrial towns south around Manchester.

Another 107 miles but only 3133ft of climbing.

Update :

Well, how can two days be more different! Yesterday was wet and miserable and I ended up taking nearly 8 hrs to do the 100 miles for the day… It was just a grind.

Today started dry but a little chilly. The sun soon rose and took the chill off, and then it warmed up.

The ride itself was rolling hills for the first 15 miles (but nothing dramatic) and then mainly flat for the next 90 miles…

Consequently it was a day for getting I to a group and flying…

I’ve found (as I was told and didn’t believe) that by day 4 or 5 your body just gets used to being woken up and being made to pedal all day… Today was the day this happened for me!

So the 108 miles were completed in 6hrs 30 mins of cycling plus a couple of pit stops to take on food…. 8 miles longer and an hour and a half quicker than yesterday..!