Whatever were we worried about?

Another surprisingly good day. Regular readers will know we were dreading the trip through the North West because of the apparently unremitting "town ness" of the days route. As it happened it was probably the best day we've had so far. We left Garstang at about 9 after another massive breakfast and rather than the beating sun we had more drizzle. We decided that defence is the best form of attack and just put the hammer down. We were through Preston in no time, then managed to find the A49 to Wigan without the expected hassle. This is a beautiful road, we were through Wigan in a trice and then on to Warrington and suddenly Whitchurch was signposted, OK it was 45 miles away, but we were on the right track. It got very hot in the afternoon and the legs and arms came out, to widespread acclaim. Stu and I are developing two particularly fine examples of cyclists tan (from just above the knee to the ankle and from just above the elbow to the wrist; not a good look, to be honest) and can't wait to expose them to the elements on the beach on Sunday; that'll draw the crowds, no doubt. we have discussed several theories as to the reason for our much improved performance today (16 mph average over 7 hours) and the quality of the roads is a factor as is the slight downhill gradient, however the main factor appears to be the widesprad use of Barbara's baps; just hope we're nt drug tested on the way home; not sure they're completely legal. Our support team also tucked in to the hamfest; unfortunately on double yellow lines at the A+E department of Chorley hospital; they even gatecrashed a wake this afternoon in order to get a drink, but were welcomed in with open arms, and paid their respects and drank the wine. In the afternoon Stu and I were cycling along the magnificent A49 to Whitchurch when we were follwed by a herd of about 50 calves running alongside us; it was like something out of jurassic park and i didn't think "veal" once; it was just great to be out in the countryside and cycling free. I'm writing this from a pub in Shrewsbury from where we will depart tomorow for another 100+ mile day on to somewhere near Bristol; no rest for the wicked. There was a major development on the scientific and technical front this afternnoon, when Stuart's idea that "Vauxhalls are crap, especially the hubcaps" was upgraded from theory to "Gough's Law" on the basis of a statistically significant scientific study. Look in any hedgerow in any part of the country and 80% of the hubcaps will be Vauxhall, I guarantee it. So; Vauxhalls are crap, especially the hubcaps; it's official. You heard it here first.