The first 20 miles were relatively easy going on the B7076, which runs along beside the A 74(M) so was very quiet and allowed good, fast cycling without too many hills (at least not in our direction!) Our first stop was in Beattock which disappointed us as it didn’t have anywhere to enjoy our constitutional morning tea break. Forced to make do with some malt loaf and fruit/nut mixture we got back on our bikes and made it to Eccelfechan for our 40-mile stop. Now, Eccelfechan, was far from disappointing!
We found the brilliant Cressfield Hotel which was very happy to provide two weary cyclists with some tea J When the friendly Irish barman asked if we wanted a top-up, I was quick to say “yes please”. We sat there for a good hour, chilling in the nice surroundings and laughing at the big hotel dog who came in, sniffed us a bit before jumping onto one of the chairs by the window, and then sat down, very proud with his chin up, surveying us in our lycra and fluroscent gillets. He was clearly very much at home!
The best thing about this hotel
though was that when I asked for the bill, the Irishman said “ach no, don’t be silly, it was only a bit of hot water”. LEGEND. Clearly not
a very good businessman but certainly made us smile.
Tea in Eccelfechan
The next 30 miles seemed to go on FOREVER. We crossed the border at Gretna Green and got the compulsory photo at the “Welcome to England sign”. I have to say, it was a lot less impressive than the equivalent Scottish one! It got a lot more hilly and going was pretty slow, although it was really interesting to see the villages and general landscape change as we got nearer to the Lake District.
We had a brilliant 70-mile stop in a random field at the side of the road. Sun shining and soft grass – very welcoming and relaxing combination. More yummy cheese and apples sandwiches courteosy of our lovely mother and yet more fruit/nut mixture to keep us going for the last 36 miles.
Our stop marked the start of our turning onto very small and narrow farm lanes which we navigated all the way to Langdale thanks to the help of OS maps and google-map directions – great combination. Lots of up-hills but also quite a few down-hills in our favour.
The number of cyclists on the roads increased dramatically as we got into the Lake District and yet we still saw no other lone-female cyclists. In fact, we saw hardly any at all – pretty much all men. Being as competitive-natured as we both are, we took great pleasure in overtaking various men on their bikes. They didn’t seem to share our pleasure.
We took the direct route from Grasmere to Langdale and discovered what “<<” means on an OS map. It means there is a very VERY steep hill – one of a 25% gradient in this case! With our panniers, we had to be in the lowest possible gear, and standing up all the way (on our “hind legs” as Ruthie describes it), we only just managed to get up it. We laughed at the sign at the top going the other direction which said “Cyclists, test your breaks now”.
Our efforts were rewarded with a long downhill into Langdale where we were staying in the National Trust Campsite.
The night turned into a bit of a drama as Al and Dani didn’t come back from climbing as expected and by 9.30pm we were just about to call Mountain Rescue when they walked into the campsite, both totally sodden. They had had to make a tricky retreat off a climb because it started raining and it had become somewhat complicated. Al’s biggest concern was that he’d had to leave half his climbing rack in the rock and would have to make an early morning ascent to retrieve it before someone else claimed it!
Anyway, all reunited back in the campsite finally, we were off to bed, ready for our ascent of Scafell Pike in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment