The Dales; Day 5, Sun 26 June; East Gilling to Grassington

A day of two halves – the morning relatively flat easy fast cycling with quite some wind and then grinding up steep hills from Pately Bridge, but sunny most of the day.

Todays stats: 57.2 miles at 11.3 mph. 5,400ft of climb almost all after 30 miles.

Granny gear; lots. Hill walking ; once, outside Pately Bridge .

And so to breakfast in the Fairfax Arms:

Great omelette . Excellent fruit salad. VG coffee. Leaps into the lead.

Good dining room too.

Off out of the village and a gradual climb to rolling countryside. A good coffee stop in a village I can’t remember the name of.

Through pretty villages .

A sign advertised a live music festival at Easingwold as “Rocking all over the Wold”. Groan.

Then the edge of Ripon and to Studley Royal Park where the Sustrans route takes us up..

We had lunch here in the National Trust cafe. We missed out on Fountains Abbey. Next time. Then twisting climbs and descents to Pately Bridge.

Colin had worked out an alternative route out of PB up various very small lanes. This was much better than the B road which was busy and had a sign saying “Slow Cyclists for 2 Miles” at the bottom.

Tony’s picture of me pushing up the big hill.

My picture of Tony etc etc

Eventually , we reached the top. Then a series of rolling steep descents and ascents, especially at Dibbles Bridge…

Signs warn cyclists to check brakes just below here.

Then in to Grassington and a welcome pint at our hotel…

Grassington is quaint; cobbled streets and higgedly piggedly housing, often seen in films and series such as All Creatures Great and Small.

A good supper of scorched mackerel and pork ramen and off to bed. I felt quite I’ll with flu.

The Dales; Day 3; Sat 25 June. Barnard Castle to East Gilling.

A long day in the saddle with lots of climbs and at times a strong headwind, but great scenery over the moors and through the dales and pretty villages.

The stats; 53.8 miles at 10.3 mph (I blame that wind). Ascent of 4,850 ft and maximum velocity on this tour of 32mph.

Hills walked up; 3 (the shame!) Granny gear grinding: lots.

The Redwell Inn has friendly and helpful staff but is quite basic . I was not expecting much but:

An excellent cheese and tomato omelette . Coffee rather weak.

Off through Barnard Castle:

I’ll visit it next time…

A bit of faffing around as Tony’s tyre was worn so tyre and tube duly changed. Then through the town, past Eggleston Abbey (another place to visit) and 16 miles, a few hills and much huffing and puffing and we were in Richmond.

We meant to have a coffee stop here but missed the centre. A pity as it is a really nice town. But we found a good stop a few miles further on.

Then long descents and a some easy cycling to lunch in Osmotherley, a very pretty village at the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.

Thinking about the next climb…

Then the climb up to Osmotherley Moor. Great scenery:

Colin nearing the top of the moor.

And then a pint in a lovely pub, the Owl at Hawnby.

These villages are immaculately kept and very similar to the Cotswolds – affluent, neat and lots of 4WDs.

Then to the Fairfax Inn, the best lodgings on this tour. It did not disappoint ; excellent rooms, beer and food, in the scenic village of East Gilling. I had hake with mussels, samphire and new potatoes. A short walk around the village, owls hooting and then to bed.

The Dales; Day 2, Fri 24 June; Penrith to Barnard Castle

A great day; hot and humid at times but long slow climbs followed by sweeping, flowing descents on largely traffic free road through great countryside.

And the stats; all up on yesterday – 54 miles at 11.2 mph but with 6,053 ft of climbing.

Those are iPhone feet and seem a bit on the high side but grinding up the 2 big climbs which seemed to go on for ever means it may be true.

So what powered me up?

Not bad. Excellent black pudding, so good I had another slice.

We left the delights of the Premier Inn/Sainsbury’s car park and within a couple of streets started climbing for what seemed like for ever. But it wasn’t as this was repeated as the day went on.

Us descending early on.

We slowly made our way up to:

Hartside Height at 1903 ft.

All happy to have got up here

Great views.

Then coffee stop in Alston, on the moor of the same name. An old town, high up at 1,000 ft.

Alston

So on the left is the hippy clothing shop which seem ubiquitous in remote rural towns such as this – whether in Wales or England.

As ever in the window are Tibetan prayer flags. Who buys this stuff? I looked long and hard at the numerous farm houses that we passed and none of them were trying to recreate the Everest Base Camp of fluttering flags in the ever present wind.

No flags. Or rather no Tibetan ones.

The scenery changed from the scenic Lake District to the moors which appear quite bleak now and would be much more so in winter.

Great cycling. Now in Teesdale.

I’ve never been to this part of the UK before and I’ll certainly come back.

Then a good late lunch in Middleton in Teesdale.

A pretty little town.

Back on the bikes for the last 10 or so miles to Barnard Castle. Unfortunately we missed the last admission ( to the castle, not the town).

We are in a pub on the outskirts called the Redwell Inn. Decent pint then off for an excellent supper at the Three Horseshoes. And so to bed. Eye tests tomorrow ?

The Dales; Day 1; Thur 23 June 2022 – Kendal to Penrith

This is an almost C2C tour across Cumbria to N Yorks and er.…other places I cannot now recall but you can read about below once I have been to them.

Today was hot and hilly; a great first day. Those vital stats:

Distance : 35 miles . A gentle introduction.

Ascent; 4,800 ft .

Average; 10.6mph. As I said, gentle .

We all met at the Premier Inn in Kendal. I opted for the continental breakfast:

Tuck In it says. Coffee ok but otherwise rather tasteless. Breakfasts can only get better.

I arrived here last night after an unpleasant slog up the motorways. Went for a walk to…

Kendal castle – the main hall. Or rather what’s left of it.

The North Tower.

It was built almost 800 years ago; one owner was the great grandfather of Catherine Par a wife of Henry VIII. As ever when travelling around the UK the depth of the history never ceases to impress.

Anyway back to the tour. Off the six of us set, quickly leaving Kendal behind and the climbing started. Lovely sunlit lanes with mainly little traffic.

The big climb was up Kirkstone Pass. I was a little nervous as to how I would cope as my training was just 3 rides, and little climbing. But it was fine especially as the scenery was stunning:

Colin wondering if the top is that big peak in the distance.

At the top we met a group of Welsh cyclists who called themselves the Lon Las Loonies ( see my account of the Lon Las Cymru route below – one of the best routes) and were cycling Edinburgh – Prestatyn.

One of them (I’m studiously avoiding saying member) had a large erect penis strapped to his helmet. The support crew told us that the person who had done the most stupid thing that day was nominated Dick of the Day and had to wear it all day.

They kindly gave us water, Haribo and flapjacks.

The summit. Windermere in the distance.

Then a thrilling descent down to Ullswater, made even more thrilling or rather scary when a sheep decided that just as we were flying down was the time to take a walk in the middle of the road.

Ullswater.

Lunch in Glenridding

Top of the lake.

Then a lovely ride along Ullswater. Went past the Brackenrigg Inn that we’ve stayed in a couple of time on the drive back from Scotland .

Into Penrith and the delights of the Premier Inn. Off to the pub, a few beers and then a good meal at an Italian restaurant. Then lashing rain.

An excellent start and more hills and mikes tomorrow !