I think the second day of this sort of trip is psychologically the hardest. Full touring fitness has not yet been acquired (unless one regularly rides around all day with bricks in one's panniers), and there is a long way to go. Why am I doing this? I don't have to. I could just stay in this uncomfortable and slightly damp bed...
I picked up route 55 on the outskirts of Stoke - not unusually for an NCN route it was hard to find, but worth seeking out. A really nice run, presumably an old railway line (since such useful facilities are rarely built from scratch). Two young guys on mountain bikes kept overtaking me, then I would pass them when one of them was checking their phone.
The route was a good run north to Congleton, at which point the signs send you down some steps. And then the signs dried up. Some faffing later I found it again, went through a park, and then I was back on roads heading north east. I had planned to take a few extra miles to pass Jodrell Bank, but feeling fairly fed up I was trying to decide whether just to head straight for the campsite. I ended up taking a wrong turning which made the decision for me, and the big dishes will have to wait for another day.
Curious cows. Alas not very good at giving directions.
The campsite was mainly a trailer park (a bit American but I'm not sure what else to call it). For my little tent and bike it was £12.50 plus £5 deposit for a key to the shower block, which was the most I paid on the whole trip and the site was nothing to write home about. The washing up room was locked in the evening and I didn't want to run out of time to wash up after dinner, so I had a few oatcakes, a cereal bar and a macaroon.
Although nice (and sunny) the tent area was full of trees, so I had to wipe off some large bird droppings in the morning with a bracken leaf.
