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| View from Forrest of Bowland |
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| View from Forrest of Bowland |
Lots of hills today! Up to 1350 feet over the Forrest of Bowland (including a descent back down from 1050 to 750 in the middle) into a strong, cold northerly headwind. It was hard work, especially for Lynn who had convinced herself it would be difficult, and doesn't do so well on early morning climbs. The ride was through bare moors, rather gray under overcast skies. Once we reached the top, there were great views of the sunny Lake District and Pennines to the north. Then there was a long glide down hill to High Benton, where we restoked on chocolate shortbread and flapjack, and bought me long cycling pants which seemed a good idea after the cold descent, as well as fabric to make waterproof pannier covers when we got home from the fabric store overhead.
The weather was now better, and by lunchtime it was warm and sunny, and we had a picnic lunch of bread, cheese, tomatoes and cherries in the sheltered corner of a field with pretty views over the hills.
After lunch there was one more climb back up to 1000 feet as we passed between the Lake District and the Pennines, over a hill into Tebay - the M6 had co-opted the valley route. At Tebay our route and the motorway rejoined, and the town was noisy and and at first glance did not seem very attractive, so we cycled on to Orton, a smaller village two miles further on away from the motorway. We asked the Post Office proprietor about the road onwards, and were told to expect an "undulating road", so decided to stay the night in Orton at the George Hotel. There we had a nice relaxed dinner in the warm bar. The evening was sunny, and I walked around the village admiring the sunset over the white church.
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