Time seemed to hang heavy, so getting out the old bike I started off at 10.40am with a howling wind behind me. Running through Atherton and Leigh I came to Winwick, noted for the lunatic asylum – no, I was not staying here – and then on to Warrington. Through the famous bottle neck across the Mersey, over the Ship Canal, and on to the Lymm road I travelled, pausing awhile at different points en route. At Lymm I had a walk in the park, and after refreshments, I took the Altrincham road. The road is terribly cut up, but otherwise it is an easy, well graded seven miles stretch. From Altrincham I had a rare old struggle against the wind, but I reckoned I had got the best half. Arrived home 3.10pm.

47 miles, 4.5 hours