Day: Clun to Runcorn.

I slept well for 4.5hrs, then lay awake thinking of things to write in the blog! Oh dear! I did get back to sleep and got further rest. The mileage today is over 80 miles, and we are heading for the Holiday Inn next to the motorway. We don't intend to join it! But there is lots of traffic at the end of the day in the Friday rush hour when we will be tired. I have to remember to disengage my SPD shoe from the left pedal at every junction. It should be 2nd nature now after 2 weeks and 500 miles of riding. Hopefully the habit will stick.

If you think this cyclist knows alot about bikes, you are wrong! I am a non- DIY mechanic, and an ignoramus about bikes. I haven't discovered what SPD stands for; there is a huge variety of clip-on pedal/shoe combinations even amongst those on the tour. I have a raised metal "triangle" on the ball of each shoe which is laterally and medially shielded by the plastic of the sole, so I can walk up the steep inclines and elsewhere without damaging the mechanism. Just walk carefull across cattle-grids if you have to! I push-off with my right foot which is great where we drive on the left of the road. I would be uncomfortable and "cack-handed" with my feet in Europe. I engage my right shoe so it is clipped in, and on pedalling i have to get the SPD side of the pedal on top for engagement. Sometimes it's a bit of a fiddle. The advantage is that pedalling is no longer power on the downstroke, but also in the forward and backward parts of each pedal rotation. It's a cyclist's version of fuel-injected turbo charge! Am I going faster? Maybe. Do I do better on the steep ascents? I think so. In wet weather my shoes don't slip unpredictably. That's a huge plus. The underside of the SPD pedal for me is flat, so I could use trainers. Some have double-sided SPDs. How do you disengage the SPD? You swing the ankle outwards about 25 degrees, and it unclips. The mechanism can be adjusted for snugness. I have the right firmer than the left. At dismount I have to remember what to do with the right ankle, or the whole bike moves with my right leg-raise - panniers and all!

Well at 1645 Graham and I turned into the Holiday Inn at Runcorn, having added a couple of miles to the route when we got lost near Horseman's Green. Today was a much flatter day after we had climbed north out of Clun. I cycled down Hope Valley at >30km/hr for 11 minutes on a continous down slope - a good three mile descent, and not as hairy as the Corfe one a few days back. It was cold enough to need to keep cycling than free-wheeling. Then the van was there at 18 miles for the first drinks stop of the day.

Got to the pub for pre-orderd lunch of vegetable linguine, followed by sticky toffee pudding. Neil was photographing each tour cyclist as we returned to our bikes. Graham and I set off for the last 40 miles. The speedy ones set off after us, and shot past us soon afterwards.

When we took a wrong turn and asked for help at a nearby B&B, I swept my hand across the Garmin, and suddenly found myself staring at an Ordinance Survey map with an arrow in centre screen of where we were! You understand I do technology by trial and error! One of the leaders has said he will upload the Garmin route maps onto the Edge 800 Garmin I have. We tried to do it at home, but think we failed, but we may discover it did load before, and it is a question of finding them on the gadget that clicks firmly on my bike's handlebar stem.

I thought i'd write a little about the tour group, in case you want to join one or send a relative on one! There is a 22yr old who is a frustrated racing cyclist. His job interferes with training and competing is expensive and a commitment, but he is fast. He is from the North East, so I misunderstand what he tells me. I roomed with him in Glastonbury. I've done alot of travelling with Graham from Aberdeen, a retired business entreprenour, and I shared a room at the Galleon Inn at Fowey. He lost his mobile there, but it has been recovered since. He has had leg injuries but cycles and hikes a fair bit. I have shared lodgings most often with Philip, who is about ten years younger than me, and a road bike speed merchant. There is a hospice nurse from Staffordshire, a married couple celebrating his 50th on tour, and another turns 60 today. The women are outnumbered 18:2 in this group. Both the ladies are faster cyclists than me, but the nurse leads out some of the slower cyclists.

Forecast for tomorrow; grit the teeth and put on the wet weather gear! We fit into the north forecast now! We are making progress. Sunday's weather sounds dry. Thanks for journeying with me.