Chester to Trentham Gardens

 It shouldn't have been a very difficult day today, only 77 kilometres and not too crazy hills. The wind seemed to be in our faces, but we had known worse and the sun was shining.

We cycled, as almost always on this trip, along beautiful quiet lanes and paths, although there are a few too many cobble sections for my liking. (We are not trying to recreate the Paris Roubais course in the West Midlands.)

After a lovely coffee and cake stop we continued on, and then most of the day was spent on canal towpaths.

Towpath cycling is very scenic and obviously no cars to worry about, but it's quite hard work as the paths are usually bumpy and quite narrow, with the added pressure to not fall in the water, particularly when passing people or dogs.

I was getting tired, so we stopped for refreshments at a pub and carried on along the Trent and Mersey Canal. This pepped me up for a while, but then came an 8 kilometre section with lock after lock all going upwards with steep cobbled paths. Also, two long sets of steps that we had to climb as well. 

My speed dropped and I couldn't keep up, but being a brave soldier, I carried on. 

Even in my sorry state I noticed that the canal was gradually changing colour, and by the time we reached the entrance to the Harecastle Tunnel, there was no denying that the water was bright orange. 

Reading up on it later it is caused by natural iron oxide leaching from historic coal mine workings into the water. It looks really alarming but according to the local council website, 'the water's colour is a unique, iconic characteristic of these specific industrial heritage sites'. So that's alright then, and it was very pretty. 

It was a relief to me too that a few kilometres further along in the Potteries, the water was back to the more traditional blue. 

By now, my energy level was down below zero and I chugged slowly behind Daz to our hotel. Just around the corner was a shop where I bought almost my own body weight in chocolate, which brought me back to life slightly. Then after an all you can eat carvery dinner, and half a bottle of wine I am back to my normal self again. Phew.