The day started with dramatic scenery, the dark clouds around Howgill Fell and the sun lighting patches on the massive hills.
Dramatic climbs too! Then left Fells behind and flatter riding in the borders.
Rounding a corner in a hamlet in middle of nowhere and outside the pub was a band of merry Morris Dancers banging their sticks and waving their hankies for an audience of 20 if that!
It reminded me of when the English families organised to do some Morris Dancing for International Day at Grace International School, Chiang Mai.
We kept crossing over and under the M6 and the Carlisle main trainline in the Lune Valley.
The day had started quite overcast and chilly but eventually the sun peeped through and started to warm up.
Our lunch stop was at the Shepherd’s Inn in Langwathby. A very nice welcoming pub and the waitress paid for our meal as a contribution to our fund raising for Cancer United!
Although the afternoon was sunny, a strong headwind developed making it really challenging to progress and forcing us to focus on the handling of the bikes. We were having to pedal in a low gear even to make progress on a downhill!
Thankfully we changed our direction of travel which made progress easier – until we encountered another Road Closed! This one was definitely impassable as the bridge over the river was inaccessible!
Thanks to Carol’s initiative in using the Ordnance Survey App, we managed to find an alternate route using a bridleway and lane that took us across the river further along and under a viaduct.
Back on route we progressed on to our accommodation Brampton near Hadrian’s Wall.
We had to take the bikes down into the cellar for the night!
Claire’s granddaughter Ava treated us to a daily joke: What do you call a boat full of buddies? Ans: A friendship! I think that Comedian Steve Legg would have approved of that one!
Claire’s Video:
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