ayearinthelife

By ayearinthelife

Ride the Wind

Given that a) the bike has only had one outing so far this year (and that was for its annual service), b) it narrowly avoided being traded in for a car last month, c) we might be back in lockdown again soon and d) the sun is actually shining today, I thought a decent run out was in order.
Went up to Hartside via Shap, and very enjoyable it was. There used to be a great cafe at Hartside Summit but it burnt down several years back and has not been replaced. There wasn’t even a burger van there, which is surely a missed opportunity given how many cars, bikes and cyclists were making their way up to the top.
Having said that, it was surprisingly windy (and cold) so after taking the obligatory photo, I headed back down. I had hoped to go all the way to Alston but the road was closed just after Hartside Summit and that seemed to be a theme for the day - every time I tried to take a more scenic route home, roadworks, road closures and diversions all conspired to force me back down the A6.
95 miles and two and a bit hours later I was back home. The bike is safely in the garage but it’s going to have to come out at least once more before winter - it’s covered in flies so needs a good clean. Hopefully though, there won’t be a second lockdown and we’ll have a few more fine days. In which case, it might be nice to have some more rides out. Maybe even push the total mileage over 1,000 - it is two years old now, after all!

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