Running a little late we meet up with Hilly en route just as we set off and he is going to come with us to Settle. The first few miles pass as we warm up along the cycle track through Lancaster and into the hills at the Crook O Lune. The first hill is affectionately known as the Hill of Doom at Caton. It is a nasty little one because it rises, levels and rises again, on a bend. But we have a strategy for the Hill of Doom, for we have practiced it! Ha! If we have a quick breather at the bend we can make it up. So off we go up the hill. Except Zoe has not got the hang of her cleats yet and tumbles into a patch of nettles instead of stopping!
The age old cure of Doc leaves and off we go again, up the hill and off through Wray, which is a delightful little village and through the rolling countryside to Austwick for lunch. A longer than planned lunch break ensued as Gary had to take Zoe's bike to bits thanks to a bent chainring. We managed a temporary fix and headed off to Settle where the bike shop effected a permanent repair with an upgrade to a Shimano 105 chainring :) Highly recommend the bike shop in Settle who now keep a Friday free for those of us who break things in the first 35 miles :)
Now the route coming out of Settle takes on quite a different character as we head into the hills and onto moorland. And it is not an easy ride. If I were to do this again I would make sure I was leaving Settle a lot earlier than we did. The reason is that the terrain really does slow you down now. It's all high and hilly moorland and the average speed really does drop over this section. On a three day schedule I would recommend either an earlier start and faster first section or an earlier stop over at Cracoe or Grassington. As it was the summit at Greenhow up on Bewerley Moor was getting a bit much so late into the evening. We pushed on to Pateley Bridge as the barn owls came out to hunt!
We woke on Saturday morning to the most dreadful weather. That was the reason we had pushed on so late on the Friday night. Given the choice of a late night or a wet morning we had chosen a late night! So it was three hours late when we set off from Pately Bridge. OK so we didn't have to do the bit over from Cracoe/Grassington but we still had 55 miles to get through. Fuelled by a late breakfast we set off into the rain with the forecast predicting it should clear as we headed to Ripon. Indeed it did!
We were only an hour in before the rain cleared and that was the last we saw of it for the trip. :)
The landscape changes as you descend from Pateley Bridge and the change from open moorland into lush, green agricultural landscape is very noticeable on the bike. Not only does it look different, it smells different! The wild garlic this time of year is incredible :) Onto Ripon and a coffee stop...turned into lunch lol so again we were running late and still had 37 miles to do to our next overnight at Dunnington, East of York so we still had to go through York which was going to slow us down again. So it was time to up the pace a little and we did a good hour at 14 mph which at least put a dent in the miles left. Good job too, the bike path leading into York is an obstcacle course! it is rough in places but the control gates (six or seven) have to be navigated at snails pace and even dismounted to get over so there is no real speed to me made over the 5 mile section of the route. York itself was negotiated with relative ease and off out to Dunninton we went. In time for a pretty hearty evening meal too.
The next morning was fine if a little chilly and we set off to do the last 55 miles through the Yorkshire Wolds and onto Bridlington. Again we faced a challenge, that of basically two fields to cross on muddy paths! Not ideal on the road bikes and we slid and slipped across them, walking in places while the pedals, brakes and wheels got full of mud! Free of the mud we could have done with a hosepipe to get the mud off the braking surfaces and it proved to be a problem when the mud on Zoes cleats set like concrete effectively binding her feet to the bike! We had to cycle ahead, jump off the bikes and catch her as she came to a halt, removing her feet from her shoes and pulling them off the bike.
The sun was out now, the shorts were on and onward we pedalled through the Wolds, a gorgeous single track road that snaked over the valleys and hills. Nothing lung bursting, just gorgeous countryside, birds singing sun shining. Next stop was Driffield and again we were later than was ideal. Never mind, not long to Bridlington, only 19 miles and should be able to get in, grab a snack, drop the bikes at the B&B and be back on the front to welcome the boys doing it in one day home.......time to get a bit of a scoot on :) Pedalling over the higher hills towards Bridlington was harder work thanks to the headwind!
But the sun was shining, my legs were turning after the slow stuff and all is right in the world so long as everyone makes it to the finish. Which we all did. :)
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