For the Penrith to Alston via Hartside....I presume you'll route via the excellent Bakery at Melmerby, then head North towards Renwick before the climb (avoiding the madness of the main road)
A bimble through the byways of Cumbria
- Thread starter geotim
- Start date
Enjoying this already
Melmerby is a yes, probably lunch there. Renwick is a possible, but we may just go straight for the Hartside climb. Done it before and it’s long, but consistent gradient generally.
Will depend on battery levels at Melmerby (bicycle and internal
).I can guarantee we will NOT be taking the C2C off-road route, which comes across the moor and up by Selah Bridge…
(Edit - it’ll be Friday up Hartside so shouldn’t be as mad as it gets on Saturday/Sunday).
Day three.
The butter in the fridge has worked well, both bicycles safely tucked up underneath their protective covering.
Time to start packing the panniers…
His ‘n’ Hers Ortlieb are the preferred method.
My trusty old Carradice bags would only create comment here in Cumbria, so we have gone ‘conventional’ and the yellow ones add to the general message of “cyclist!!!!” that I’m trying to send out.
Onward, more later.
The butter in the fridge has worked well, both bicycles safely tucked up underneath their protective covering.
Time to start packing the panniers…
His ‘n’ Hers Ortlieb are the preferred method.
My trusty old Carradice bags would only create comment here in Cumbria, so we have gone ‘conventional’ and the yellow ones add to the general message of “cyclist!!!!” that I’m trying to send out.
Onward, more later.
And the day went well…
Starting off it was a little overcast, which was actually a blessing as we had a steep and serious climb out of Kendal and over toward the Lune Valley.
We had some great small lanes to follow, with the occasional tractor to contend with (grass gathering season!), but all in all a delight.
Leaving Kendal and heading east we started to see evidence of the Borrowdale Volcanic sequence. Dark grey units, appearing as craggy outcrops and in dark road cuts.
The road up alongside the M6 through the Tebay gap is very pleasant. We met a couple of gents on motorbikes, but no other traffic apart from the local farm workers.
Reaching the top of Shap I spied a large chunk of ‘Shap Pink’ by the roadside. For those interested in all things geological, Shap is the site of a large granite intrusive. The rock is quarried for decorative purposes mainly, a lot of kerbstones in London and other major cities comes from here. The ‘pink’ refers to a particularly feldspar rich pocket in the intrusive, with large pink phenocrysts, which give it a distinctive colour and texture.
Continuing over to Shap, we stopped for a quick bite. Again on a geological theme, interesting to note the contrasting stonework of St Bees Sandstone (red) against the limestone blocks of the walls at the tea shop.
This area is the boundary of the Carboniferous Limestone, and as you travel north you see more and more evidence of this, sometimes very obvious, especially in the dry stone walling and wall capping, and the occasional lime kiln.
Finally arriving at our lodgings for the evening, I was pleased to see they had put the flag up.
A long ride, a lot of climbing, but thankfully the battery lasted, with what I estimated to be around 4 miles capacity left.
If there had been wind/headwind and rain it would have been a whole different story!
Now for a shower, a stroll around the grounds in preparation for a lazy dinner in the restaurant.
21 miles after breakfast tomorrow, up to Hartside, via Melmerby for a lunch break.
It’s all about the food…
And I nearly forgot to post this last picture…
Dead centre on the skyline is the Shap Pink quarry, seen here with a cloud moving in from the west. This is where I met my good lady wife in April 1982…
You can’t fault me for being a romantic at heart!
Tune in tomorrow for the next stage of this bimble…
Starting off it was a little overcast, which was actually a blessing as we had a steep and serious climb out of Kendal and over toward the Lune Valley.
We had some great small lanes to follow, with the occasional tractor to contend with (grass gathering season!), but all in all a delight.
Leaving Kendal and heading east we started to see evidence of the Borrowdale Volcanic sequence. Dark grey units, appearing as craggy outcrops and in dark road cuts.
The road up alongside the M6 through the Tebay gap is very pleasant. We met a couple of gents on motorbikes, but no other traffic apart from the local farm workers.
Reaching the top of Shap I spied a large chunk of ‘Shap Pink’ by the roadside. For those interested in all things geological, Shap is the site of a large granite intrusive. The rock is quarried for decorative purposes mainly, a lot of kerbstones in London and other major cities comes from here. The ‘pink’ refers to a particularly feldspar rich pocket in the intrusive, with large pink phenocrysts, which give it a distinctive colour and texture.
Continuing over to Shap, we stopped for a quick bite. Again on a geological theme, interesting to note the contrasting stonework of St Bees Sandstone (red) against the limestone blocks of the walls at the tea shop.
This area is the boundary of the Carboniferous Limestone, and as you travel north you see more and more evidence of this, sometimes very obvious, especially in the dry stone walling and wall capping, and the occasional lime kiln.
Finally arriving at our lodgings for the evening, I was pleased to see they had put the flag up.
A long ride, a lot of climbing, but thankfully the battery lasted, with what I estimated to be around 4 miles capacity left.
If there had been wind/headwind and rain it would have been a whole different story!
Now for a shower, a stroll around the grounds in preparation for a lazy dinner in the restaurant.
21 miles after breakfast tomorrow, up to Hartside, via Melmerby for a lunch break.
It’s all about the food…
And I nearly forgot to post this last picture…
Dead centre on the skyline is the Shap Pink quarry, seen here with a cloud moving in from the west. This is where I met my good lady wife in April 1982…
You can’t fault me for being a romantic at heart!
Tune in tomorrow for the next stage of this bimble…
Day four:
A more leisurely bimble, across the Eden valley to the base of the Pennine escarpment, and then north to Melmerby from where we tackled the mighty ‘Pass of Hartside’…
The day dawned bright and sunny, which led us to leave behind the butter in the fridge, as it would likely melt. Anyway, despite braving the wilds of the Cumbrian fells and heading further north into the Border Rievers country, we had seen nothing to suggest the 20kg of motorcycle chain and lock was essential kit (I may be exaggerating slightly here, but it was flippin’ heavy!) and so the butter in the fridge was probably overkill too.
I am still wondering if I needed to bring the curtain pole…. But as an avid supporter of the collective wisdom of the Tosserati, I’ll keep hold of it tonight (though cycling without it tomorrow will make turning corners simpler… and I’ll look less like I’m entering a jousting competition).
The lanes were again pleasant, some dappled shade in parts, which was a welcome relief.
A pit stop in Melmerby, then onward up the hill…
The climb was ably assisted by gratuitous use of the battery, as it was a short day we felt no shame in going into ‘Sport’ mode.
Arrived in time for a shower and then this afternoon will be a picnic on the patio and a sunset watch over the Solway Firth.
Tune in tomorrow to see if we make it home! We will be splitting the journey with a short section on the train from Langwathby to Horton in Ribblesdale, and then (gloriously) cycling home through YORKSHIRE.
A more leisurely bimble, across the Eden valley to the base of the Pennine escarpment, and then north to Melmerby from where we tackled the mighty ‘Pass of Hartside’…
The day dawned bright and sunny, which led us to leave behind the butter in the fridge, as it would likely melt. Anyway, despite braving the wilds of the Cumbrian fells and heading further north into the Border Rievers country, we had seen nothing to suggest the 20kg of motorcycle chain and lock was essential kit (I may be exaggerating slightly here, but it was flippin’ heavy!) and so the butter in the fridge was probably overkill too.
I am still wondering if I needed to bring the curtain pole…. But as an avid supporter of the collective wisdom of the Tosserati, I’ll keep hold of it tonight (though cycling without it tomorrow will make turning corners simpler… and I’ll look less like I’m entering a jousting competition).
The lanes were again pleasant, some dappled shade in parts, which was a welcome relief.
A pit stop in Melmerby, then onward up the hill…
The climb was ably assisted by gratuitous use of the battery, as it was a short day we felt no shame in going into ‘Sport’ mode.
Arrived in time for a shower and then this afternoon will be a picnic on the patio and a sunset watch over the Solway Firth.
Tune in tomorrow to see if we make it home! We will be splitting the journey with a short section on the train from Langwathby to Horton in Ribblesdale, and then (gloriously) cycling home through YORKSHIRE.
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The Lake District dome and the Pennine Escarpment marked up above…
Goodnight from Hartside!
Lovely wee tale of a thoroughly worthwhile adventure ride
Enjoying it, especially the geological references
Ridden past all those places and never knew
Enjoying it, especially the geological references
Ridden past all those places and never knew
And today dawned bright!
The homeward leg, cycle to Langwathby, train to Ribblehead and then cycle home.
The first 4 miles didn’t see a single pedal turned… downhill all the way, Hartside was delightful. The e-bikes are heavy, and with panniers added, plus a few extra kilos from me, they fairly flew down the hill.
A bimble through the back lanes to the station and then a busy train to Ribblehead.
We decided not to stop for brunch as it is only an hour from Ribblehead home, via Rogers farm for some fresh milk.
All told a little over 100 miles over 4 days of cycling. No punctures or flats, just one change of brake pads. The first and only ‘incident’ occurring half a mile from home in Bentham high street, where some daft ninny decided to reverse her van without looking and nearly flattened my good lady wife (some choice words and banging on the van side…).
Shower time and then I think SWMBO needs to cut the lawn… she’d had her holiday, back to work!
The homeward leg, cycle to Langwathby, train to Ribblehead and then cycle home.
The first 4 miles didn’t see a single pedal turned… downhill all the way, Hartside was delightful. The e-bikes are heavy, and with panniers added, plus a few extra kilos from me
, they fairly flew down the hill. A bimble through the back lanes to the station and then a busy train to Ribblehead.
We decided not to stop for brunch as it is only an hour from Ribblehead home, via Rogers farm for some fresh milk.
All told a little over 100 miles over 4 days of cycling. No punctures or flats, just one change of brake pads. The first and only ‘incident’ occurring half a mile from home in Bentham high street, where some daft ninny decided to reverse her van without looking and nearly flattened my good lady wife (some choice words and banging on the van side…).
Shower time and then I think SWMBO needs to cut the lawn… she’d had her holiday, back to work!
Day one: 27.33 Bentham to Kendal.
Day two: 33.01 Kendal to Askham via Shap.
Day three: 20.65 Askham to Hartside top.
Day four: 23.08 Hartside top to Bentham (with a train hop from Langwathby to Ribblehead) - he 10.71 and 12.37 were either end of the journey.
I find Strava very good for finding unridden roads and tracks....I use the heatmap of the stuff I've ridden and zoom in on areas where there is stuff that has non of my 'coverage'. Found some gems.
I used ‘Cycle Travel’ for planning and navigating this - simple and free app (I upgraded for the massive price of £1.99).
Gives spoken directions etc and shows the cycle routes. You can chose what base map is underneath, a good selection.
Strava is used to prove I did it… and to keep abreast of the lads activities!
The weather gods were kind
Off to Spain next month, but AGAIN not on a motorbike. We did a trip on the RT to the Picos in 2022. This year we are back in the Picos, but in the Smart Car
You don’t need a fancy car to do a European tour, the Smart Car is a convertible, we drove one to Tuscany a few years ago - great fun to have a little soft top on this little mountain roads …!
Camping in a Smart Car…
2013 trip to Tuscany.
As long as the gear goes in it's all good. I probably carry more on the bike.
