Cycle Training on the Wrynose Pass

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We started cycling at 1.15 pm an hour after I had wanted to start and we only got 3 miles down the road before and extreme hunger set in for me and we had to stop at Ruth’s hut for lunch. I was starting to get dizzy from low blood sugar but we had friends to stop and eat with, so all was well. The day was beautiful and crisp. And we cycled on to Ambleside and headed towards the Wrynose Pass.

My earlier nervousness was receding all morning when we had been packing I was so nervous. ‘What if I don’t like it?’ I was thinking. We had been planning a trip for years but never come up with any firm ideas until Christmas 2004 when we decided the best way to travel is by bicycle. I immediately wanted to go by tandem so Robin would not leave me behind, but we settled on two mountain bikes. After cram learning about bikes and lightweight kit this was it- we were going to go cycle camping and my tummy was churning.

However our new bikes were great and even though I had to push up the Wrynose pass I loved it. That was until we went down the other side of the pass and we both lost feeling in our hands, it was freezing. Snow was outlining the Coniston hills and towards Scafell was all white.

Our aim was Seathwaite Tarn but his proved to be one hill too many for my first loaded cycle and halfway to the reservoir my legs just would not cycle any more and I started to cry. I knew crying was not the answer but I could not see Robin in the rapidly approaching darkness and I have rarely ever been so tired. Anyway out of the gloom Robin appeared and we pitched the tent by the reservoir for an extremely cold night. We think it was minus 10 Celsius that night. This helped convince us that we need to replace our well-used sleeping bags before we set off to Turkey.

The next day was gorgeous with great views of Harter Fell and soon I realised that it was not just lack of fitness that caused me to cry the day before - my saddle had sunk about 3 inches and I had no power in my legs with it at that height. With relief I altered the bike saddle and we set off up a steep hill to the top of Broughton Moor heading towards a pub lunch at Torver. All the other hills that day were taken slowly and steadily and were even quite enjoyable.

So we have done our first 60 mile loaded cycle trip over 2 days and survived still wanting to attempt to cycle across continents.

We now have to finish our jobs pack up our house and move back to Scotland to put our stuff in storage. (Thanks for this so much Karen and Graham).

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Photos

Robin and Scafell
Robin setting off on Monday morning after a very cold night camped by Seathwaite Tarn

Harter Fell
This was the first proper view I had from our campsite on Monday morning since we had pitched the tent in the dark.

Erika on the Top of Wrynose Pass
Finally got to the top, it was very cold and obviouly we will have to get better at using this new camera!

Comments

[anonymous]

GREETINGS FROM SUNNY CORNWALL
Brill blog. I will watch with interest... good luck with the cycling. Are you going to buy a rug when you get to Istanbul? I went there in 1995 - there is an excellent Turkish bath I know which does a great massage. Good for tired legs. What are you going to do after this? Have you ever considered seeing the world by boat? Love Will, Julie and Nuala - William Sellwood