It was intended to ride to Chester today, three of them, but Tom Idle, who lived in Manchester, rather than the rest in Bolton, never arrived at the meeting place in Warrington.  The weather was poor today, a very strong gale, then a twisted crank which had to be fixed, and it must have been particularly cold because Charlie and his companion lingered in a cosy fireside café for two and a half hours at lunch time, before getting out into the lovely Cheshire lanes.  After following a very circuitous route all afternoon – Charlie describes the route in detail but summarises it as zigzag – they made for Ringway and another cosy café which required more intensive lingering in view of the plummeting outside temperature.  And yes, Ringway then was a quiet rural area, now the centre of a very busy Manchester International Airport.