The ride today was mostly about just riding. The day started out badly when Mike had a sidewall fail just after leaving town. We tried to reinforce the sidewall with duct tape, but it didn't hold. Next, we booted a damaged tire that had failed on Duane's bike a couple of days ago. That held for a bit, but eventually somehow caused a slow leak. Needless to say, lots of time passed while these repair attempts were made. After this, the day turned into an attempt to make the 84 miles to Chester as quickly as possible. Not to say that the scenery wasn't enjoyable, but it really wasn't the focus.

Finally, as Jodi and I were cruising the last couple of miles into Chester, a local cyclist came up from behind and chatted as we rode. Adrian helped us locate our B&B, then agreed to go out for dinner with our group. While we all showered and changed, Adrian rode home to pick up his girlfriend Agnes and came back to meet us. We walked downtown to get dinner, then Adrian and Agnes treated us to a walking tour of some of the old city, including the Wall surrounding the city, some of the Roman ruins, and the Rows (elevated shops) for which Chester is famous. For me at least, tonight has been one of the high points of the whole trip.

But now it's past midnight, breakfast is at 7:00 AM, and we have another long day tomorrow.

Allen & The Beast