Day 7 - Over the hill

From: South of Lancaster
To: Carlisle
Miles today: 76
Miles – running total: 541

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The flatlands of the past two days had lulled us into a false sense of security. Today the hills came back and took their toll. We are feeling wrecked tonight.

We headed into Lancaster, through its streets and out the other side, starting to climb almost immediately. In theory today was all about skirting up between the Lake District to the west and the Yorkshire Dales to the east. In reality we engaged with both. Our initial climb took us back into beautiful countryside which we had missed in the second half of yesterday, travelling through various urban conurbations. The road before rose and dipped and we ate up the miles enjoying spectacular scenery. We stopped mid morning at Kirkby (the second ‘k’ is silent) Lonsdale. We pulled up in a car park next to a delightful river (see photo left) and munched our snacks overlooking the rushing water.

Onward again we moved deeper into the countryside, finding some more hills to climb having already left Lancashire behind us and moving briefly into Cumbria before dipping east into Yorkshire and the Yorkshire Dales national park. We had been dreading the afternoon as we knew we were facing a five mile climb to somewhere called Shap on the top of the Dales. In reality the climb up to Orton that preceded it was far worse than Shap itself. Lunch in Orton was marked by a street market and unbelievably warm temperatures. I would wager this was the hottest day of the year in Orton.

Back on the bikes, up the moor and down the other side to Shap. From here we aimed for Penrith, moving seamlessly from the Dales to the northern tip of the Lake District. We arrived in Penrith late afternoon and tiring. It was still warm. One more step of circa 15 miles to Carlisle lay ahead, how difficult could it be? One A-road and a rollercoaster from start to finish with some inclines are fatigued legs could have done without. We nevertheless had our, by now normal, late afternoon charge and sped along as best our legs would let us. By the time we found Andrew we were a spent force.

In the course of the day we managed to pick up two punctures, one for Stephen (he now has two to his credit and is catching me up) and Nick had his first. Only Alastair remains puncture free. Our puncture repair process has become a slick operation with everyone now knowing their role in order to expedite matters.

And that is just about England done. Tomorrow we cross the border into Scotland. It is by no means a done deal. Not only do the hills of the southern lowlands lie ahead but the very real mountains of the Highlands. We still have 80 miles a day to crank out and we still have rather more than a third of the distance remaining. Scotland has few people but lots of space.