DAY 5 FERRY CROSS THE MERSEY

Today was going to be a semi rest day 50 odd miles from Chester up the Wirral accross to Liverpool and up to Southport to see Brian.
Day started bright an early as usuall and there was no sign of Mrs Rottweiller( if only she knew what i'd done in her bush during the night) Bush as in rose bush???My overactive no warning bladder was still a problem.

Today I had a cycling companion, Alun Elidir, Cae Coch Rhydymain. This turned out to be a massive boost to my moral( is it moral or morale!!!!) We basically followed the A41 all the way up to Birkenhead. A busy road with hundreds of stop starts at traffic lights. Alun was a great cycling companion setting a good pace and acting as a windbreak( he's only slightly built but did the job) Stopped at a cycle shop in Little Stanney because one of my nuts came loose and a very helpful lady got me a replacement free of charge.Whilst stopped for repairs I treated Alun to a breakfast and we could have stopped there chatting for hours, but alas we had to cycle on.





Sorry about the picture Alun but its the only one I had!! Apparently taken when a spotted faced ram mistook him for a ewe when he was bending down to tie his shoelaces.




Birkenhead we bought tickets for the Mersey Ferry and within the hour we boarded the aptly names Royal Daffodil. Alun was chatting to everybody and seemed to be quite at home.











The ride through Liverpool and Bootle was uneventful. Stop Go Stop GO, traffic lights all over the place.Walking off the ferry we got chatting to a Scouser and asked the way to Southport. He said that the last cyclist he talked to were on their way to John O Groats and that they must have been F****** Mad. We thanked him for the advice and cycled off.


We followed the A565 up through Bootle and then detoured on the B5193 to Little Crosby ( No relation to Bing I was later told.)


Here we met up with Nia and the Camper and the film crew. As we had a few hours to spare we spent the afternoon doing various camera shots and cycling up and down and down and up according to Catrin the Director's instruction. This was in fact a break for me and I didnt mind at all because all the fees from the tv programme are going towards the appeal.Catrin had been with us on our first day and she had really been extremly helpful in supporting us.


Finally it was time to push on and head towards the Hospital at Southport.



Catrin showing me how to set off to camera and please could I get it right next time!
"Take 27 "....."And make up!! Please can we do something about the ears?"











Getting to the hospital at 18.00 as planned was no problem but seeing Brian outside in his wheelchair was quite something else. I was quite taken by his effort to meet meet me outside the ward and Im not sure whether we shared tears of Joy or sorrow!?
There were quite a few people there visiting Bri and we all had a good chat and shared experiences.
Gareth Lloyd an ex Bala front row forward was there and he had raised money by canoeing down the river Conwy( He must be mad, never ever would you see me in a canoe)
The next hour was very cloudy. My back up team Nia was leaving me at this point and so she spent the hour breifing the next crew member Huw Charles about the do's and dont's and about my dietary needs, what cream went where( it might be worth pointing out here that all cream used during this trip was self applied and that no other secondary parties were involved!!)

Sue, Brians wife had arranged for me to shower in the staff changing area and after a quick change of clothes I felt like a new man( as the actress said to the Bishop.... yawn!!!)


It was quite difficult really to see everybody leaving and going back to Bala. Nia had been brilliant as a back up service and she had done a brilliant job with the camper and kept me going when I hit the bad miles.
Spent a couple of hours with Brian on the ward and did we have a laugh? He had a couple of cans of Irish blackwater hidden away for the occassion and then he started going on about a chap from Corwen who bred monkeys!! When he told me that he took them to various zoo's across the country to let them meet new monkeys and stop inbreeding I had to leave the ward and collapsed outside laughing.. The nurses were in tears laughing at us laughing!!!!!!!!!.
After a couple of hours I retired to the camper for my first night with Huw Charles. He was a sound sleeper but I thought his pink nightie was a bit tight for him under the arms.


MILAGE 45
RIDE TIME 4 hrs 10 mins
PUNCTURES 0
PROBLEMS Traffic, sore big toe ( no nail) stop go stop go


Today was seen as some sort of milestone on my adventure, It was a day I had not really quite prepared for mentally. Seeing Brian, Saying goodbye to my back up crew ( Nia) there is no doubt that she had sorted out my routine, diet and set the standards for the rest of the journey.


The reality is that Im still under halfway there.........................................