Well that was a memorable ride today! The icy wind was whipping round the tent when i woke, with sheets of fine rain.. The forecast said it was going to get worse and so I waited for a break in the rain and then packed up. Said goodbye to camper Colin who wished me well on my journey.
As I cycled through Keswick the rain came down. The route followed a steep lane past the Castle Cragg stone circle and then turned to follow a pass. I had seen this gorgeous pass a couple of days earlier but today it was barely visible with the fog and rain.
I came to the turnoff to the Thirlmere reservoir road and it had a road closed sign. I decided that this probably was a message for cars and I would be ok on a bike. The alternative was a very busy road and the fierce winds and sheeting rain made that option unappealing and so I tried my luck. My theory was right and I had a car free ride around the lake with steep rocky cliffs, waterfalls and lush ferns. The road went mainly down hill but due to the winds I couldn't go faster than 12-15kms per hour! It would be gorgeous on a blue sky day.
A turn off to a steep cycle path which ran parallel to the main road for quite a while before spitting me out to ride on the main road with no shoulder in tough conditions.
I took the turn off to Grasmere and sheltered in a bus stop for about 10 mins and had a snack but I was shivering quite badly. I cycled down the hill with beautiful houses and cafes and decided to find somewhere to get some soup and try and warm up. The cafes were all right on the street with nowhere to park my bike.
I pulled into the Wordsworth Hotel as I could park my bike and it had a sign saying muddy boots welcome and hot soup avail. I walked in as a complete drowned rat and they were very kind, found me a table in the overflow dining area and I asked for a heater to be turned on.
They were fussing over me and I started to stop shivering. I thought it seemed like a nice place and so jumped onto the booking site to see how much to stay -320 pounds ($640!!) incl breakfast! Hostel bed 5kms away was $120.
I received a message from Lucy to see how my ride was going in the weather and offering a pickup if needed. I had 15kms to go and then set up my tent. I chose the lifeline and an hour later Lucy walked through the door to rescue me. I was huddled against the heater and she said I looked done in 😂
All sounds rather dramatic but this Qld girl struggled with the hills, 50km headwinds, driving rain and wind chill less than 5 degrees combo 🙄
As we drove to Lucy's place over the pass the weather started to improve and tonight we went for an 8km walk and the sky was clear but it's already down to 5 degrees. Summer in England 🙄🙄
Hoping to be able to continue my ride tomorrow!
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