Far from the Malham crowd

Low gear for way more than that, I can tell you!

It was another cold one but stunningly beautiful.  There were lots of late hour cyclists all choosing my main road way out of Ilkley to avoid the icy backroads. I started getting the place to myself as I headed up Littondale.

Apart from meeting one cyclist coming the other way over the moors and the odd car, the moors were my own.  I love it up there. Quiet. Still. And warmer than the valley. Slightly.

It wasn't until Malham Tarn that I started seeing people again - quite a few.  So, I wasn't surprised when this couple warned me that the Dales Way crossing just down from here was mayhem with people and dogs littering the road.  They weren't wrong but I wasn't going at speed anyway with bits of black ice on the roads.  

Malham itself was as crowded as a summer's day - possibly moreso - but there was space for me at the Airton cafe where I was overdue a break.  The last twenty five miles home from there weren't the easiest but I practised a bit of Spanish when the going got tough to take my mind off my legs.

I definitely felt better than my outing to Kettlewell last week which was shorter and less hilly so I'm hoping B9 might just be kicking in.