Today myself and my companion from Stoke woke early and hit the ground running. Yesterday's merriment had concluded at 1am and aching heads were order of the morning. A commiseration dump/leftover kebab munch soon buoyed my spirits and out of the door we rolled...



This was to be - particularly snared in the angst of a seething hangover - probably the hardest day of the tour yet. Why? Well, for one, we had to negotiate the Manchester/Liverpool conurbation, and secondly...

My first puncture of the trip, on the outskirts of Wigan...



and thirdly, off course, my second puncture of the trip... just outside of Preston...



Solace subsequently had to be sort...



And the Family Platter, for one...



Ups and downs, then, on this 64 mile leg.

Will be sorry to see my other mate from Stoke bugger off on the morrow...