Day 8 Conder Green – Penrith

Sunday 11th June 2017

Map

Yet another great day of riding a bike.  The UK has so much beautiful scenery and one of the best ways to see it is from on a bike.

Todays ride started well with a 9 mile ride along the banks of the Lune river on a cycle/walkers way. Peak Tours  route planners most have though we needed a day off from big climbs first thing in the morning.

The inevitable happened straight after Lancaster with todays first big climb. This climb was 200 meters over about 3 miles but produced the first of what seemed like hundreds of wonderful views.

It was gentle up and down until we reach the edge of the Lake District and at 25 miles an even bigger climb with a lot of long steep sections that required a couple of stops to admire the views – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

The route planners got their revenge for the gentle start to the day with the biggest climb of the day straight after a very nice lunch in the Cross Keys pub in Tebay. M6 users may have been to the services at Tebay which are, I think, the best on the motorway system. This final climb was a monster and probably the longest and steepest of the tour so far – lots of view stops.

It seemed that every time we turned a corner there was another photo opportunity but I was either struggling up a hill or, the best bit, flying down one.  One more picture from today.

The weather forecast this morning had been for heavy showers after lunch. Fortunately the showers kept away though we could always see then around us. It only rained a bit for the last 5 miles of the day.

Tonight I am in a boarding house near the centre of Penrith. Had a quick walk round the town centre and it looks very nice.

Did not fancy a meal tonight so just bought a sandwich and a drink. After a big breakfast and eating often during the day it is sometimes hard to face a full dinner.

I have not spoken about the other people on the ride in the blog so far. There are 26 riders and 3 guides in all. The riders are a mixed bunch though they largely fall into the age group of 50+. I am not the oldest, that falls to Tubs (he only likes to be called that) who is 70 and this is the second time he has done LEJOG but had to give up last time in Edinburgh because his wife was unwell. Others include 5 blokes from Newbury, 2 couples from York, 1 couple from the USA, 4 blokes from Leeds, one Canadian chap that lives in Abu Dhabi, 2 Scotsmen, 3 chaps from Norfolk and one Italian.  During the day at breaks and on the road you get to chat away to different people which adds a great deal to the experience of riding across country. There are 5 of us who generally seem, though not always, to be riding at the same pace – a little peloton. Me, Tubs, Graham from Aberdeen, Simon from Newbury and Dario from Italy. There are still some riders that I have not had an opportunity to chat with but I am working on this.

We enter Scotland tomorrow – must find out where to change our money and where I packed my passport.

Todays stats:-

63 miles

1,293 meters upward

5 hours 43 minutes in the saddle

Average speed of 11.02 mph

 

Ride so far:-

542 miles – well over half way now

10,631 meters skyward – nearly 8 times up Ben Nevis

48 hours 08 minutes of riding – two whole days out of the last 8 days.