I woke up pretty early as usual and seing as it had decided to stop raining for a bit, I packed up and hit the road for 7.15 for the second day running.

My first target was Warrington. As it was early, traffic was light, so I just blasted straight down the main road. In fact, I didn't have much choice from my location!

It didn't take long to reach the outskirts and most of the roads had cycle lanes as I weaved my way through the town.

There were some interesting sites such as the mighty Manchester Ship Canal and then a bridge over the Mersey. I was going to get the ferry, but I decided going that far west just for the sake of it wasn't worth it.

I stopped for some food and coffee at a petrol station and noticed that a regular Costa coffee from the machine that every garage has these days, was 10 pence cheaper than every other place I'd been so far. Welcome to The North!

My next stop was Wigan. This took a bit of figuring out as there are so many motorways and main roads criss crossing each other and they get in the way somewhat!

Fortunately, some considerate soul had built cycle lanes along side them all so it was pretty easy in the end.

Once through Wigan, I took a canal path for a bit. The road was fine - I was just getting bored of the constant noise. The canal path may have been a bit rough, but it was lovely and quiet.

It had been raining on and off all day, but it was around this time that I first had to take shelter from an absolute deluge.

There was an old boy walking his dog also sheltering under the bridge, so I had a good chat with him for a bit. And the dog too!

Next up was Chorley, then Preston. This seemed to take an age. There were some very good cycle paths, but I kept having to stop for either rain storms or to navigate my way around some major junction or other.

Once I'd got out the other side, it suddenly turned much more laney and rural. I really felt like I'd made good progress and was properly up north!

I had a few campsites to choose from, but needed supplies first. I ended up doing a massive, unnecessary loop just to get to a Coop, but never mind, it made my choice of campsite easier - the nearest one!

I called them up and they said to rock up whenever. So I took my time to do the last few miles - mainly because it was mostly uphill!

Just as I got to the campsite, I think you can guess what happened. Yup, an absolute downpour!

So for the second day in a row I had to shelter under a tree for an age before pitching my tent.

In the end I got set up and I was amazed that all the stuff that needed to be kept dry (sleeping stuff) was indeed dry.

After much faffing I am finally tucked up and cosy in my tent. I shall sleep well tonight, for sure.