LeJOG Day 4 Northwich To Penrith

 Day 4: Hard day in the heat today. Cheshire is lovely, can see why all those with money head that way. Still getting the love up north, even the junkies on the canal path in Leigh greet you with a friendly good morning.

Lancashire is a cyclists nightmare, at least our route seemed to be. I'd be amazed if anyone owned a bike in Chorley and is alive, the dual carriageway through the middle is a death trap. Through Lancaster and onto Carnforth, a town about the size of Painswick but with a 6 mile queue of cars and lorries through it and a 6inch pavement.. Once through there on the A6 (apparently part of the national cycle network) you need balls of steel as you head to Kendal.

Anyway we got there still alive, for one of the rites of passage for those riding LeJOG - the Shap, a 15km climb out of Kendal. Even though it was nearly 6pm by the time we started it, it was still baking hot. It might not be like riding up a pass in the pyrenees, but after 4 days riding with bags on the bike it felt like it.

And then the final run downhill to Penrith...even though the profile looked like we had a ski slope down, as always with a 100+ mile ride the last ten went on forever, with plenty of little uphills to test your character. Anyway, here now and headed to Glasgow tomorrow, where I'm promised heatwaves never happen