Day 2 started with a tasty and disablingly copious breakfast at the Brathen Guest house, Greystoke, followed by a handful of easy miles cruising towards Penrith. Once through the centre, the road kicked up to give a taste of the day ahead and before long we had an expansive view of the Pennine escarpment. So far, the rain was holding off but steely grey clouds were chasing us. Through Langwathby and Renwick, only one thing was on our minds: the climb of Hartside looming large on the skyline. Before long, we gained height on the minor road up from Renwick, joining the A-road from Penrith for a better surface and some satisfying hairpin bends before summiting Hartside and quickly piling into the cafe for a nice cuppa and an apricot slice.
The descent from Hartside top is always a good one, but the tailwind today made it pure cycling bliss, especially when followed by a jacket spud and cumberland sausage at the lovely pub in Garrigill.
The mood changed somewhat after lunch, with a real knee-cracker of a hill out of Garrigill, which seemed to go on for ever.
A screaming descent down to Nenthead started off the rest of the Pennine roller-coaster, with a series of fairly big climbs and descents linking Allenheads, Rookhope and then Stanhope. Here, a tactical tea and cake set us up for the final climb of the day up Crawleyside. The 2-mile climb mercifully ended with a turnoff to the right eastwards on to the Waskerley Way. This wasn't quite the relaxing spin to the finish we'd hoped for, with the gusting southerly wind nearly blowing us off the track several times. Finally we arrived at our destination for Day 2, Bee Cottage, where a warm shower and a hearty meal finished the day off nicely.
The descent from Hartside top is always a good one, but the tailwind today made it pure cycling bliss, especially when followed by a jacket spud and cumberland sausage at the lovely pub in Garrigill.
The mood changed somewhat after lunch, with a real knee-cracker of a hill out of Garrigill, which seemed to go on for ever.
A screaming descent down to Nenthead started off the rest of the Pennine roller-coaster, with a series of fairly big climbs and descents linking Allenheads, Rookhope and then Stanhope. Here, a tactical tea and cake set us up for the final climb of the day up Crawleyside. The 2-mile climb mercifully ended with a turnoff to the right eastwards on to the Waskerley Way. This wasn't quite the relaxing spin to the finish we'd hoped for, with the gusting southerly wind nearly blowing us off the track several times. Finally we arrived at our destination for Day 2, Bee Cottage, where a warm shower and a hearty meal finished the day off nicely.
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