Day 8 – Riding and Running

On first venturing out of the Hark to Bounty pub to load the car, I found that the forecast of rain was correct.  Today would be the first wet weather ride.  We had a good breakfast and prepared to ride.  Today’s route had 3,840 feet of ascent – the second highest of the whole trip.  I delayed our departure slightly when I put my new shoe covers on the wrong feet – durhhh!  When Fiona checked us out, the Landlord said that he got more Coast-to-Coast riders than End-to-End riders.  An interesting crossing point!

Rob and "Fogbow"

The "Skaithe" snaking across the moor

We left the village and soon hit the first climb.  As it got steeper, Rob was swiftly off the Brompton and running up the hill.  I think he has invented a new sport of Long Distance Brompton Running!  The rain was heavy drizzle and we saw several beautiful rainbows close to us.  One of the rainbows was only a couple of hundred meters across and Rob invented a new word – a Fogbow – as the weather closed in.  When the fog cleared we could see the single track road called the “Skaithe” snaking onwards and upwards across the moorland.  After about an hour and a half of climbing we reached the top at the Cross of Greet and celebrated with a photograph in the drizzle!

We descended through High Bentham, Bentham and Low Bentham in steady rain and reached the village of Hornby rather cold and very wet.  We were pleased to find a tea shop and stopped for a hot cuppa and a piece of cake.  Revitalised we headed on as the weather cleared up.  We had one smaller climb out of Gressingham which got us warm again and managed to stay the right side of the M6 as we headed into Burton-in-Kendal.  We were overtaken by Fiona heading for the Kings Arms where we met for a hot lunch and a chance to dry out.

No entry - except for cycles!

We still had over 40 miles to ride and knew there was much climbing to do, so we pressed on towards Kendal.  In the centre of town we enjoyed the no entry sign where cycles are excepted and were soon through the one way system.  We climbed the steep hill out of town and on to the busy main road towards Windermere.  We were pleased to join a cycle path and then to descent down to the lake.  We continued to Ambleside enjoying the view of the hills topped with heavy low cloud and arrived just in time to get a cuppa and cake at the tea shop on the jetty before it closed.

The final stage of the day included a big climb up from Grasmere to the Dunmail Raise.  The road was wide with fast traffic, but we rode and ran onwards and upwards with our bike lights shining brightly in the darkening gloom.  Eventually reaching the well preserved old AA Phone box at the top, we turned left to ride along the west side of Thirlmere with Helvellyn looming above us to the east.  It was a beautiful, peaceful and flat part of the ride.  With the big climbing behind us, we were both confident of making it to our overnight stop in Keswick so paused to take photos of the Brompton against the Lakeland backdrop.

"We rode over that ..."

We had one small final climb and saw Keswick appear in the dusk as we crested the hill.  We were pleased to arrive at our B&B after just over 10 hours riding.  The route book had said this is one of the days when the Land’s End to John O’Groats ride could be won or lost.  We had certainly won by completing 70.3 miles in 6½ hours moving at an average of 10.6mph and a maximum 30.1mph.  We had done the equal biggest day of climbing on a single speed and a running Brompton!  After a quick shower we headed into town and enjoyed a well-earned pie and a pint!