CC Ecosse Lakes tour 2016

[Pale Rider]

Actually @ShooglyDougie arrived about quarter to midnight and had navigated by a public toilet app - no idea what he needs that for...

Great write up Pat!

Aye, @Pat "5mph" has captured the slightly chaotic but fun nature which also characterizes my longer rides.

The account from @Rasmus is an equally good read, but he sounds much more organised - a proper touring cyclist who knows what he's doing.

Not something I recognise, but can admire.

 

[Fubar]

Aye, @Pat "5mph" has captured the slightly chaotic but fun nature which also characterizes my longer rides.

The account from @Rasmus is an equally good read, but he sounds much more organised - a proper touring cyclist who knows what he's doing.

Not something I recognise, but can admire.

I reckon a trip to the Co-op with @Pat "5mph" would be chaotic but fun, never mind a tour - @Rasmus on the other hand is still smarting at being overtaken by me (not to even mention my 200k AAA Audax...)

 

[Pale Rider]

I reckon a trip to the Co-op with @Pat "5mph" would be chaotic but fun, never mind a tour - @Rasmus on the other hand is still smarting at being overtaken by me (not to even mention my 200k AAA Audax...)

I have first hand experience of @Pat "5mph"'s approach to bike rides and I like it.

I also have first hand experience of @Fubar's approach to Pat's approach to bike rides.

Let's just say he can get a little cross with her, in a grandfather/grandchild sort of way.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Actually @ShooglyDougie arrived about quarter to midnight and had navigated by a public toilet app - no idea what he needs that for...

Oh aye, now I recall, he was reading the maps on public toilets using his bike light, not the road signs. I never knew there were public toilets on top of Hardknott, don't hill walkers and cyclists both use the bushes?
Never knew public toilets in the lakes have maps either, we don't have public toilets here in Glesga, you're supposed to use the River Clyde.

I also have first hand experience of @Fubar's approach to Pat's approach to bike rides.
Let's just say he can get a little cross with her, in a grandfather/grandchild sort of way.

You're mistaken, he means it in a sort of fearless, determined, audacious, all encompassing CC Ecosse leader way.
We are actually contemporary in age. I know, I know it's hard to believe

Anyhow, got a spare hour to continue with the tale of our adventure.
So now it is Saturday morning, our first day in the Lakes.
It is, of course, raining heavily.
The boys, not heeding the forecast of a rainy morning followed by a sunny afternoon, set out for a ride in their best lycra.
Us girls decide to wait. Personally, I could have slept the day away quite happily, but as per my usual perked up in the afternoon.
There is, in this tale, an undercurrent of woe: breakfast woe for @flyingfifi, combined with the mysterious absence of a salad. The absent salad was at dinner, but still ...
Her breakfast at Moffat came exactly as she ordered it. Basically it was a cooked sausage, some black pudding and a bit of toast.
She enjoyed it, but after she complained of it sitting on her stomach while riding.
Her breakfast in Carlisle I can't recall, but the one in Elterwater was to be memorable. Now, this is all hearsay, because I don't eat breakfast, I normally sit outside drinking a gallon of coffee while having two fags, but, allegedly, the CC Ecosse's table was the only one missing the fancy basket of toast (plus the egg was undercooked).
Wot? No toast! She says - after the breakfast is finished, the waitress is clearing the table.
Wot?? No toast!! She says again.
Waitress, who is also the chef, apologies profoundly, offers to make some toast immediately, our Fifi say no thanks. Whisper, whisper ... wot!!!! Nootoaast!!!! And no fruit either!!!! All the other tables got t-o-a-s-t!!! We didn't!!!
Our Mark @Fubar puts on his intrepid leader hat: give it a rest Fifi or I'm gonna find some toast and throw it at you!
A break in the weather, the boys are off on the road, while MB Dougie is away to find himself a trail.
I did some washing, some bike oiling, then the heavens opened again. It did not stop until around one. Fiona and I set out to Ambleside along the cyclepath we saw signposted earlier, while @annedonnelly resorted to the bus, because her bike was looked up in the shed, the hostel owners had disappeared with the key.
The path started lovely and flat. We encountered two mountain bikers that told us we would enjoy it, because it was lovely and flat (their words). A local lady told us it was lovely and flat all the way to Ambleside. Do not trust the locals in the Lakes: after not even two miles I was facing a mini Everest.
MB Dougie, who was on his way back from his ride had joined us: I told him and Fiona to go ahead over the hill, and took my time to get to town, where I had the most "Doh!!" moment of my life: who would have thought that "Gaynor's of Ambleside", one of my favorite online shopping sites, is actually in a town called Ambleside? Not me, obviously

The weather was positively sunny now, I found a bike shop to fix a minor glitch on the bike, then I found @annedonnelly who was having a wander!
Then, having locked up the bike intending to wander myself, I found Fifi too!
We went for lunch, she had just left the boys who got soaked earlier on their ride.
@Rasmus had sheared the bolts on his seat post, so he had to buy another one.
Ambleside is a very busy touristy town, with some unusual to us buildings that we just had to take pictures of.
We also drooled over the bikes in Biketreks, where, for a laugh, I sat on their bum measuring device and where we saw an electric mountain bike priced £ 4,000. Well, it really was £ 3,999 ...
On the cycle path to Ambleside from Elterwater
Ambleside city centre



wishing well
£ 4,000 electric mountain bike!
We took the road back to the hostel, even Fiona had had enough of the hilly cycle route. When we got there, the local lady asked us if we "did enjoy the path, and, oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you about the big hill half way ... "
You don't say!
That evening we had a lovely meal at the Britannia Inn, the pub mentioned many times by @Rickshaw Phil on his Lakes holidays reports.
They could not accommodate us the night before, it is a very busy place, but we had booked this time.
The lamb I had was scrumptious, the salad missing from Fiona's dinner is presumed to have been similarly appetizing
During the meal we started planning our next tour, it has been agreed for a couple of horses to add as support vehicles. The horses will be tied to @Fubar's bike rack for the time being, until we sort out the logistics.
I did only 10 miles on the Saturday, my recovery ride after pushing up Kirkstone, still don't believe I managed to turn a pedal that day
I sleep like a log normally, but that night I managed to sleep through howling owls, low flying planes, Fiona falling off the bunk bed above me!
The next morning, Sunday, was to be an early rise again. An illustrious guest, @I like Skol, was coming from Manchester to join the Cc Ecosse for a ride!
Bahh - marvelous!
Elterwater Herdwick

Amblesite Herdwick
... to be continued ...

 

[I like Skol]

An illustrious guest, @I like Skol, was coming from Manchester to join the Cc Ecosse for a ride!

At last! I was wondering when you would get to the good bit

Great write-up, keep it coming.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Are you ready, my faithful readers, for day five of this epic tour?
This is the day of the flying toast, of Pat 5mph leaving the peloton behind, a day of sunshine, ice cream, marathon runners and boutique hot chocolates.
We got up bright and early, ready to welcome @I like Skol, who drove 2 hours from Manchester to ride with us.
Bikes out of the shed for some last minute fettling, I see a piece of toast nonchalantly landing at my feet. Toast? T-o-a-s-t???
Soon another piece flies across the hostel's porch, hitting @flyingfifi square in the boobies. Toast? Did you want toast, said @Fubar, here, I got your toast!
He throws another bit at her. As everybody knows, toast always lands buttered side down: this was dry toast, slightly stale, didn't land till it found its target in Fiona, who was never heard mentioning toast again - till we left the lakes, that is, safe from our majestic leader's wrath.
From left to right: @DougieAB, @Fubar in yellow jersey, @ShooglyDougie (MB Dougie) behind him, @flyingfifi, @Rasmus, @annedonnelly, @I like Skol.
@mcshroom is not in this picture but he won't escape my reporter's lenses for long
It was decided we would do a look of lake Windermere, only about 25 miles plus a few more to get to the start and back to the hostel, while MB Dougie went off to find himself a muddy, builder strewn trail, preferably with some streams to cross thrown in.
Before we even set off, I could notice an undercurrent of willy waving: @I like Skol was doing track stands as a warm up.
I take the chance to tag @SpokeyDokey, who, reading on another thread, I have found out lives in the area. I wonder if we did fleetingly, unknowingly, meet? Did you notice a very slow woman on an orange bike with panniers on the day of the Windermere marathon, Spokey?
Oh, yes, the marathon around the lake: they were running one way, we were riding the opposite way, cones in the middle to divide the lanes. I am trying to be an unobtrusive cyclist, got the closest pass ever then firmly place myself in the middle of the road ... sorry, marathon runner who crossed me to head for the bushes, I did not mean to almost run you over ...
A brief stop at the ferry crossing where Skol treated us to a welcome ice cream - thank you Skolly! - then Fiona and Anne head to the ferry for more Ambleside exploring while I ride with the boys round the lake.
Now, "I rode with the boys" is a bit of an overstatement, the truth is that I tagged along trying my best, poor Mark trying to be as slow as me while I tried to shoo him ahead but he wasn't having it. At one point Skol tried to keep me company but I almost had a heart failure at going up a slow incline, so I had to tell him to kindly F*ck off because I can't slog uphill and talk at the same time. My forum name is no false modesty!
All my energy was channeled in avoiding marathon runners, keeping an eye on the traffic, making it up the hills and refraining myself from stopping to take pictures. I so wanted to gatecrash one of the pesky runners water stations, it was right on the best spot of a panoramic view of the lake!
Our first choice for lunch was the Swan Inn, but as already said by Skol in his report, it was not opened yet after the floods, so we went ahead to the Lakeside Hotel a few miles further.
I missed the turn, rode up and back down a hill, stopped puzzled at the next junction, @Rasmus came to get me, so I had to ride back up, then do the hill again after lunch.
Deja-vu for Rasmus, he had to do the same a few years previously on a forum ride, when me and another Belle I had brought along stopped to take a picture, then lost the main group at a junction and carried on the wrong way.
Never a dull moment when there's a Belles on Bikes gal around!
@mcshroom at our aborted lunch stop.
Skol
An exasperated Rasmus: Stop taking photos, woman, let's ride!
The Swan Inn was certainly swanky, real fluffy, single use, hand towels in the toilets. You dry your hands, then put them in a wicker laundry basket.
Scruffy cyclist are welcome in the (very posh) hidden back yard, but you got to make your own hot chocolate:

Going for a wee exploratory walk (and a smoke) leaving the boys comparing Strava stats, I discovered the chippy round the corner on the marina, complete with workmen lunching on chips, beans and builder's tea.
Ride resumed, the hills started to get a wee bit steeper, we were going up and up, the lake's views getting more scenic. The area around High Cunsey (I think it was) is certainly affluent, really nice properties and surrounding grounds.
Like I knew I would, I found myself alone at a junction, a glimpse of @mcshroom disappearing up a steep hill and they were gone.
I reasoned that, being the lake at my right, us going round the lake, if I'd taken the uphill at the junction it would either end in a private property, or the road would just have gone back down towards the lake.
So I rode down, to a "cycle path to Ambleside" sign, followed by a ferry terminal.
A quick look, nobody at the ferry, I start on the Ambleside path, back to the beginning ... simples!
I sent a text to our esteemed leader, telling him I was ok and knew my way back, then had the time of my life exploring the lake path, taking umpteen pictures, generally chilling.
Half an hour later, a phone call: where are you? I'm here! We are behind you! Really, how'd you manage that, I would have thought you'se are in front of me ...
We'll catch up with you shortly ...
Harumph! Cannae get peace, I'm no gonna stop riding ....
Half an hour later, I'm reached by Skol, then by the rest of the group.
Just outside Ambleside we split, some take the road to Elterwater, some the hilly cycle path,
Our two groups arrived almost simultaneously at the Britannia Inn, where we spent a couple of hours sipping refreshments and discussing the forthcoming EU referendum!
All but the indefatigable @I like Skol: he had a brief rest, then went on to attack the Hardknott and the Wynrose passes, over and back in time for dinner.
Much kudos to him!
Some more pictures I took on our Windermere ride:


I left the guys in the pub well on their way to "6 pints???", a joke in the history of CC Ecosse, when, on the last tour, after a particular hard day's riding, some stayed in the pub, had 6 pints, mighty suffered next day.
Meantime, Anne and Fiona had explored a way for us to get to Grassmere en route back to Carlisle avoiding a massive hill. Great going, girls!
We regrouped at dinner in the hostel: a slightly tipsy Mark informs a super excited, muddy, bleeding MB Dougie (I rode through 3 rivers we did 50 trail miles what a downhill ) that after riding the (pretty tame) off road path from Ambleside he wants to get a Mbike, and would Dougie be his new MB buddy?
Promptly a magazine, "mountain biking for roadies" is produced: Mark is getting a green hardtail 29ner, full body armor, cask helmet.
He is not yet sold on a dropper seat post, he needs to find out first what it is
Dougie promises to be Mark's MB mentor, eternally refraining from mentioning toast, while Mark promises to let Dougie use his phone as long as his own is drying up in a jar of rice.
Our chicken curry dinner cooked by the hostel's owners is lovely, while Fiona's mushrooms are not cooked, but she only mentioned this to me next day, when we were far away from our benign leader's ears. Least she should get hit by a big mushroom, I guess.
Speaking of mushrooms, @mcshroom had left us before dinner, as he had an early appointment on Monday.
His journey home turned out to be harder than planned, but as he went on tour soon after we will have to wait for his report.
Skol too bid us goodbye, heading back to Manchester, while we had some more banter around the table.
The morning was to bring an early start for us all, and would be the most adventurous day of the trip for Fiona and I on our first leg of the journey heading back home to Glasgow.
Strava of the Windermere ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/587711737

..... to be continued ....

 

[Fubar]

Are you ready, my faithful readers, for day five of this epic tour?
This is the day of the flying toast, of Pat 5mph leaving the peloton behind, a day of sunshine, ice cream, marathon runners and boutique hot chocolates.
We got up bright and early, ready to welcome @I like Skol, who drove 2 hours from Manchester to ride with us.
Bikes out of the shed for some last minute fettling, I see a piece of toast nonchalantly landing at my feet. Toast? T-o-a-s-t???
Soon another piece flies across the hostel's porch, hitting @flyingfifi square in the boobies. Toast? Did you want toast, said @Fubar, here, I got your toast!
He throws another bit at her. As everybody knows, toast always lands buttered side down: this was dry toast, slightly stale, didn't land till it found its target in Fiona, who was never heard mentioning toast again - till we left the lakes, that is, safe from our majestic leader's wrath.
View attachment 130229 From left to right: @DougieAB, @Fubar in yellow jersey, @ShooglyDougie (MB Dougie) behind him, @flyingfifi, @Rasmus, @annedonnelly, @I like Skol.
@mcshroom is not in this picture but he won't escape my reporter's lenses for long
It was decided we would do a look of lake Windermere, only about 25 miles plus a few more to get to the start and back to the hostel, while MB Dougie went off to find himself a muddy, builder strewn trail, preferably with some streams to cross thrown in.
Before we even set off, I could notice an undercurrent of willy waving: @I like Skol was doing track stands as a warm up.
I take the chance to tag @SpokeyDokey, who, reading on another thread, I have found out lives in the area. I wonder if we did fleetingly, unknowingly, meet? Did you notice a very slow woman on an orange bike with panniers on the day of the Windermere marathon, Spokey?
Oh, yes, the marathon around the lake: they were running one way, we were riding the opposite way, cones in the middle to divide the lanes. I am trying to be an unobtrusive cyclist, got the closest pass ever then firmly place myself in the middle of the road ... sorry, marathon runner who crossed me to head for the bushes, I did not mean to almost run you over ...
A brief stop at the ferry crossing where Skol treated us to a welcome ice cream - thank you Skolly! - then Fiona and Anne head to the ferry for more Ambleside exploring while I ride with the boys round the lake.
Now, "I rode with the boys" is a bit of an overstatement, the truth is that I tagged along trying my best, poor Mark trying to be as slow as me while I tried to shoo him ahead but he wasn't having it. At one point Skol tried to keep me company but I almost had a heart failure at going up a slow incline, so I had to tell him to kindly F*ck off because I can't slog uphill and talk at the same time. My forum name is no false modesty!
All my energy was channeled in avoiding marathon runners, keeping an eye on the traffic, making it up the hills and refraining myself from stopping to take pictures. I so wanted to gatecrash one of the pesky runners water stations, it was right on the best spot of a panoramic view of the lake!
Our first choice for lunch was the Swan Inn, but as already said by Skol in his report, it was not opened yet after the floods, so we went ahead to the Lakeside Hotel a few miles further.
I missed the turn, rode up and back down a hill, stopped puzzled at the next junction, @Rasmus came to get me, so I had to ride back up, then do the hill again after lunch.
Deja-vu for Rasmus, he had to do the same a few years previously on a forum ride, when me and another Belle I had brought along stopped to take a picture, then lost the main group at a junction and carried on the wrong way.
Never a dull moment when there's a Belles on Bikes gal around!
View attachment 130230 @mcshroom at our aborted lunch stop.
View attachment 130231 Skol
View attachment 130232 An exasperated Rasmus: Stop taking photos, woman, let's ride!
The Swan Inn was certainly swanky, real fluffy, single use, hand towels in the toilets. You dry your hands, then put them in a wicker laundry basket.
Scruffy cyclist are welcome in the (very posh) hidden back yard, but you got to make your own hot chocolate:
View attachment 130233
Going for a wee exploratory walk (and a smoke) leaving the boys comparing Strava stats, I discovered the chippy round the corner on the marina, complete with workmen lunching on chips, beans and builder's tea.
Ride resumed, the hills started to get a wee bit steeper, we were going up and up, the lake's views getting more scenic. The area around High Cunsey (I think it was) is certainly affluent, really nice properties and surrounding grounds.
Like I knew I would, I found myself alone at a junction, a glimpse of @mcshroom disappearing up a steep hill and they were gone.
I reasoned that, being the lake at my right, us going round the lake, if I'd taken the uphill at the junction it would either end in a private property, or the road would just have gone back down towards the lake.
So I rode down, to a "cycle path to Ambleside" sign, followed by a ferry terminal.
A quick look, nobody at the ferry, I start on the Ambleside path, back to the beginning ... simples!
I sent a text to our esteemed leader, telling him I was ok and knew my way back, then had the time of my life exploring the lake path, taking umpteen pictures, generally chilling.
Half an hour later, a phone call: where are you? I'm here! We are behind you! Really, how'd you manage that, I would have thought you'se are in front of me ...
We'll catch up with you shortly ...
Harumph! Cannae get peace, I'm no gonna stop riding ....
Half an hour later, I'm reached by Skol, then by the rest of the group.
Just outside Ambleside we split, some take the road to Elterwater, some the hilly cycle path,
Our two groups arrived almost simultaneously at the Britannia Inn, where we spent a couple of hours sipping refreshments and discussing the forthcoming EU referendum!
All but the indefatigable @I like Skol: he had a brief rest, then went on to attack the Hardknott and the Wynrose passes, over and back in time for dinner.
Much kudos to him!
Some more pictures I took on our Windermere ride:
View attachment 130234 View attachment 130235
View attachment 130236 View attachment 130237
I left the guys in the pub well on their way to "6 pints???", a joke in the history of CC Ecosse, when, on the last tour, after a particular hard day's riding, some stayed in the pub, had 6 pints, mighty suffered next day.
Meantime, Anne and Fiona had explored a way for us to get to Grassmere en route back to Carlisle avoiding a massive hill. Great going, girls!
We regrouped at dinner in the hostel: a slightly tipsy Mark informs a super excited, muddy, bleeding MB Dougie (I rode through 3 rivers we did 50 trail miles what a downhill ) that after riding the (pretty tame) off road path from Ambleside he wants to get a Mbike, and would Dougie be his new MB buddy?
Promptly a magazine, "mountain biking for roadies" is produced: Mark is getting a green hardtail 29ner, full body armor, cask helmet.
He is not yet sold on a dropper seat post, he needs to find out first what it is
Dougie promises to be Mark's MB mentor, eternally refraining from mentioning toast, while Mark promises to let Dougie use his phone as long as his own is drying up in a jar of rice.
Our chicken curry dinner cooked by the hostel's owners is lovely, while Fiona's mushrooms are not cooked, but she only mentioned this to me next day, when we were far away from our benign leader's ears. Least she should get hit by a big mushroom, I guess.
Speaking of mushrooms, @mcshroom had left us before dinner, as he had an early appointment on Monday.
His journey home turned out to be harder than planned, but as he went on tour soon after we will have to wait for his report.
Skol too bid us goodbye, heading back to Manchester, while we had some more banter around the table.
The morning was to bring an early start for us all, and would be the most adventurous day of the trip for Fiona and I on our first leg of the journey heading back home to Glasgow.
Strava of the Windermere ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/587711737

..... to be continued ....

Brilliant Pat! Remind me NEVER to cook/give food to @flyingfifi, she'll only find something to moan about!!

 

[ShooglyDougie]

super excited, muddy, bleeding MB Dougie (I rode through 3 rivers we did 50 trail miles what a downhill )

Aye it was braw*. The whole weekend was great I had a blast. Thanks to all who were there and especially @Fubar for organising it all.


* Translation for @I like Skol so you Ken what it means this time.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I love the write up Pat. Looks like a good was time had by all.

 

[gavgav]

Utterly brilliant @Pat "5mph" . Places I love dearly and wish I was there far more often!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Thank you Phil and Gav!
I was going to write about day 6 now, but it will have to wait a bit, because there is lots to tell!
It was an eventful day for me and Fiona: the day was really hot, and ... next installment tomorrow

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Evening all, my assiduous readers!
The next installment of my tale has finally been born.
Is this never ending, I hear you ask? Alas, sadly, the end is nigh, we are beginning our return journey, soon the challenges of this trip will only be distant memories, for a short while triggered daily by various body pains, soon to be fading like the memories themselves.
A bit like birth pains I guess and just as well it is so, or we would never go on another bike tour again!
Monday morning is another sunny day at the Lakes.
Our wee group, what's remaining of it (remember, @mcshroom, @bigjim, @I like Skol had already departed on the Sunday evening) got up early to catch their trains. Fiona and I were in no hurry, indeed our hostel in Carlisle would not let us check in before 3pm.
We exchanged sloppy kisses (our intrepid leader Mark @Fubar got two from me, like we were not to meet again for a lifetime, when in fact we will see each other again in two weeks time) then one by one we left Elterwater.
@Fubar and @ShooglyDougie were going to ride to Oxenholm station, @Rasmus was headed towards Hawes, while @DougieAB and @annedonnelly were headed to Carlisle station.
Us Carlisle bound had planned to take a different return route, the route that Mark had planned with RWGPS.
On previously studying the map (not me, I did not learn from the Kirkstone pass surprise by @MikeW-71's route, I was gonna go in it blindfolded again; Fiona and Anne did look at the map) another big hill was discovered, Red Bank Road.
Thanks to the girls' scouting while I was gallivanting around Windermere Lake with the boys, a slightly longer route passing through Grassmere was found, avoiding Red Bank.
I since then did Google map "walk" that road and can say I would not have made the hill on the bike, I also would surely have fainted with fear at the downhill view.
@DougieAB left first, not intending to deviate from Mark's route least he got lost, later we found out he got to Carlisle in record time.
Anne left soon after, a bit worried of not catching her train, but she too made it with time to spare.
Fiona and I ... well, we got there in the end, having had some minor disagreements en route, for which I blame the heat of the day
For me this turned out to be the ride I enjoyed most on this trip, we passed through some truly picturesque villages, saw many stunning views on mostly traffic free roads.
This is the route we took from Elterwater to Grassmere, avoiding Red Bank Road: https://www.strava.com/activities/587711707
And this is the entrance to red Bank Road from Grassmere:

Grassmere itself is a lovely village that I would have liked to have time to explore more.
Garmin now loaded with Mark's route, we took the road on the left through country lanes to gradually climb towards the busy A591 while avoiding most of it.
One solitary tractor was all the morning rush hour we got, fantastic! It was climbing, but the pleasant countryside made us almost unaware of it.
Well, I say almost because Fiona never stops quoting her Garmin's elevation stats in ft. Lucky I only understand the metric system or I would have stopped exhausted realizing how much we'd already climbed.
The only way is up! We came from behind that hill, climbed up and now we need to do a short stretch of the A591.
Fiona: "do we need to do that road???"
Me: "aye, SatNav says, but, look, it's empty ..."
... 2 log lorries, a fuel tank carrier, a tourist bus and a formula one car later we join the road, it's a long slog to the top.
We collapse in a heap on the grassy verge, across a farmer's house. He comes out, wants to chat, but we can hardly breathe. He is a man of few words, his words are: "You carry too much luggage ...."
A roadie is emerging, effortlessly, from the brow of the A591 hill. A lady roadie. A lady roadie my age!!!
I say to Fiona: "Look, LOOK at her, the barsteward!"
Fiona, chewing on a stalk of grass, eyes partly opened a' la Clint Eastwood in the famous movie "I'm gonna shoot the pants off you", answers back " Aye, but there's nothing to her".
Yes, nothing to her, skinny barsteward, nothing to her bike, she doesn't even break sweat.
I want to cry!
The farmer's house and our resting spot on the A591. Behind Fiona the hills we left, behind the house the hills we need to have behind us. This is very important, because we did not get it right first time!

From here on, @mcshroom had told us to follow the newly build cycle path off the A road, follow Thirlmere, then rejoin our original route at the C2C sign.
What we did instead was to enjoy the mere so much that we missed our turn, ended up another big hill on the main road, had to retrace our steps back up the hill before finally joining the C2C route.
The new path gives stunning views first over the A591, then along Thirlmere, culminating in a panoramic descent after the damns.
We should have turned right towards the B5322 following Dam road, instead we ended up Nest Brow
I had a feeling when the Garmin was showing us going further away from where we should have been, but the sun impeded my communication skills, anyway Fifi wasn't listening
Views from the cyclepath, Thirlmere in the distance:

Once back on track we were glad of the detour, @flyingfifi took some stunning pictures that she will soon show us
One of mine:


Elevenses were had in picturesque Threlkeld: the village town hall doubles as a coffee shop, the area has some unusual stone walls:

Here is the route we took: https://www.strava.com/activities/587711800
I'm going to split this post because of the picture allowance, so ...
... to be continued shortly!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

After our coffee break in Threlkeld following the C2C to Carlisle was a bit of a meander, we got briefly lost a couple of times mainly because the Garmin started to beep "offff courseee!!!" when there was no other roads to take. Maps are good only if the roads are signposted!
Among roads of no name, the baking sun, Fiona telling an absent Mark "this is no place to get lost, in the middle of nowhere, you hear?!" we developed a routine: I rode around till Garmin was happy, then phoned Fiona to tell her to join me.
At a crossroads where SatNav threw a fit, I had to stop take this picture thinking of @User9609. Was he nearby, perhaps?
Just round the corner from there was a row of little houses, if I didn't have to work I would happily live there with a dozen of cats!
On the C2C route:
A family of sheep, Mum, Dad and 3 wee black ones.



Back roads towards Carlisle, did we really cycle from behind those hills? We must have!

Here's a long one, we did not walk any of it

We were looking to follow a disused railway line into Carlisle. This was a bit tricky to find, the entrance is quite hidden, looks like it goes into an industrial estate at first. It is a few miles after Dalston and follows the river Caldew.
Truly we could have followed the B road from Dalston, when it said 5 miles to Carlisle. The detour does not add scenery, is very badly signposted, the path very popular with dog walkers and families, slows one down considerably.
We are back in Carlisle, dirty, tired, starving in spite of the numerous snacks still lurking in our panniers. We sit on a bench in main street, drinking coffee, laughing, slightly sun burned.
Another ride done, new roads, more hills, a different challenge conquered again.
It was our sixth consequent day on the bikes, we were shattered, happy, looking forward to get home.
We won't be home for another two days, though, what happened was ...
.... To be continued

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Evening my readers!
I have neglected the telling of the last two days of my tour, maybe because I don't really want the tale to come to an end.
Once it's all told it remains for always in the past, a fading memory.
We did it; should we, improbably, do it all again, it could never carry the same magic, the same excitement of a first venture into the unknown.
Bidding goodbye to Carlisle @flyingfifi and I are heading to Moffat.
It was a warm day in Carlisle, we set out at 8am and soon were out of town, taking country lanes till Gretna Green.
It was our seventh consecutive day on the bikes, I was absolutely shattered!
Still, we speedily made the return leg to Gretna ... picture and coffee time!
Back home ... well, almost, another 100 miles or thereabouts to go. The sun is still shining, tomorrow would be a different story!
Rush hour on the NCN 74: "tractor, Fiona, tractor ahead!" ... "Paaatt, tractor coming behind!" ... and so on, to the rate of one tractor every five miles.
The day was quite uneventful, we had lunch in a secluded spot a bit off the path.
We had bought sandwiches the day before, and more cake, of course.
Between the heat of the day and the being squashed in the pannier, my sandwich became almost a panini
Skipping coffee at Lockerbie, by half past one we were in Moffat, greeted by a treacherous freshly laid coating of loose chippings on the road.
A local informed us it was laid that very morning, just for us coming to town I suppose
There was a village I would have liked to explore a bit: (Cream)Eclaire, birthplace of the famous poet Carlyle
How do you pronounce that again, Fiona???

As we had made good time, our fastest so far on this tour our Fifi tells me, why not carry on and cycle all the way home?
Because I'm starving again, I'm sore everywhere, and I want a shower!
By mutual agreement we had an early dinner and an early night.
Route here: https://www.strava.com/activities/587712055

Show me the way to go home!
Last day on the road, our eight: I was severely flagging, soon Fiona was a fading dot in the distance, with my blessing I must add. I was feeling really out of sorts, was trying to get into a slow cycling rhythm along the exposed, steadily climbing B7078 but was not succeeding.
Luckily a fellow tourer that wanted to chat found me too slow, so I did send him along to chat to Fiona hoping he would slow her down a bit.
Nay, the two of them became even faster!
Meantime, the weather had turned for the worse, the wind had fairly picked up and the temperature became lower by several degrees.
Welcome to Scotland, hehe!
We had left Moffat no jackets on, had to have an impromptu stop in Abington to put more layers and extra socks on.
We arrived at the local post office that also doubles as a coffee shop slightly dazed by the wind, much needing coffee to heat us up.
Confused by a push button beverage machine at the entrance, I asked if there was a "real coffee shop" in the vicinity.
The woman at the counter looked at me like I am daft pointing at the big espresso machine behind her ... opsss!
It was too much of a faff finding socks in my well packed panniers: I put on my feet the first item of clothing that came to hand, my arm warmers
It worked, warm feet again!
Our last stop before Hamilton is worth mentioning: the former A74 service station in Happendon. It has an unusual Trevi Fountain style water feature inside and a castle behind. I think the building that hosts the services was erected on the former grounds of the castle, but more research is needed to confirm this.
Here's a picture of the feature that does not make it justice, the light was too dull.


Back in Hamilton, over 300 miles since we set out!
We are so tired but exhilarated, we did it!
Bidding goodbye to Fiona, I walk the bike a few minutes to get my bearings, not being familiar with that part of town, then jump back on to ride the final nine miles home: I know where I am, I know it's all downhill from here, I know BigCat is waiting for me!
Suddenly the sun comes out, it is very warm again, but I can't be bothered to stop to take my jacket off, I just want to be home now.
Regurgitating panniers, dirty kit, I carried two tins of gourmet cat food and four toy mice from Moffat to Glasgow!
A tin of sardines, no fork to eat them with? Really!
The last of the chocolate flapjack that went all the way to the Lakes and back drops out from a spare pair of cycling gloves.
Back to work tomorrow.
The end.

 

[Rasmus]

We collapse in a heap on the grassy verge, across a farmer's house. He comes out, wants to chat, but we can hardly breathe. He is a man of few words, his words are: "You carry too much luggage ...."

I carried two tins of gourmet cat food and four toy mice from Moffat to Glasgow!

You met a farmer with keen observational skills...

Really enjoyed reading your write up. Thanks for taking the time to do it.