Glenridding
Ant at Kirkstone PassWritten by Anthony
Presumably, at some point in the relatively near past it must have seemed a good idea to ride 50 miles through Lancashire and Cumbria and then climb the Lake District's Kirkstone Pass.
Shortly after we left Preston, Steve's triple-armoured rear tyre succumbed to a second staple. What are the chances of that? Very suspicious. Almost as if someone were trying to slow him down...
A fierce crosswind kept us on our toes all the way to Cumbria, and the ride into the Lakes reminded us of its vigorous ups and downs.
At Windermere, we stopped briefly to give Steve time to tell me how much Kirkstone was going to hurt. But the signs did a somewhat better job: 8 miles and 1500 vertical feet (and the rest!) to the top.
It felt somewhat more punishing than that, hard enough to be disorientating, and at times the only thing reminding me I was going uphill being the stream coming down the middle of the road.
But at the top, the marvellous Jane of the Kirkstone Pass Inn, with free beer (duly converted into sponsorship) and tales of previous End-to-Enders coming through her doors.
Eight days of travelling England's length has only served to confirm to us the spectacular nature of the Lakes, the hospitality of its pubs and the size of its dinners. Fantastic. The pass was a great plan!
Steve at Kirkstone Pass
Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
PrestonDumfries
Statistics
- Miles today:
63 - Average cycling speed:
12.3mph - Total miles: 503
