Day 6: Leylands to Carlisle

Update 31/08/07
Stats are
Distance: 167.4km
Total: 1010.3km
Time: 7hrs 35mins
Average: 22.0kph
Maximum: 54.6

No stats right now for this leg of the ride (they are in my room and I'm down in the internet cafe right now). Distance wise it was about 165km, certainly enough to take me over the magic 1000km mark.

This was an excellent ride. Gentle sun and although the wind was against me it wasn't too strong. From Preston into Lancaster the roads were very flat and I was able to spin along at a decent 25kph or so thanks to the generous food and rest the night before.

Tim texted me in the morning to tell me to look forward to the scenery beyond Lancaster and he was right. Cycling into Kendal for lunch was an awesome ride and although there was now a distinct upwards gradient I was still pushing a good pace.

After lunch I climbed the 18km up to the 1400 feet Shap fell. This was a climb I'd been looking forward to all day. It had been described to me by a cyclist in Warrington as a "long, steady climb". Was much more satisfying to climb than the relentless hill-ettes in Devon and Cornwall. Some good photos when I get back. Wish I could have spent a bit longer in that part of the country, but I had to push on.

The ride down to Penrith was good and almost all down hill. I cycled with another tourer, Mel, for a while who I met there. It turned out she was a professional demonstrator, which I should have guessed by the "No Oil" sign on the back of her bike. She was cycling back to Glasgow after doing "some environmental stuff" down South, including as it turned out the Climate Change Camp at Heathrow. Made for interesting conversation.

I made a stop for tea before Carlisle with some past neighbours of my Grandparents. It turns out I'd never met them before; the last time they'd seen my Dad was 1978 but they are still in touch with the Grandparents. They very kindly offered accomodation for the night, but with the aim of getting to Glasgow tommorrow I felt I should push on.

Hostel was pretty easy to find and I even had my own room. Overall a great ride