Smurfy
Naturist Smurf
- Location
- Smurfette's Kitchen
This thread is awesome! Your pictures and accompanying blurb are fantastic!
lellow bike, 'nover lellow bike exclaimed the little girl...
- Thread starter SatNavSaysStraightOn
- Start date
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OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
It was weird cycling in the Preston area for us because we spent 3 years there at poly/uni where we met!
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Well done getting over Wrynose and Hardknott.
(Who cares if you pushed a bit - you still made it under your own power. 
)
I spy the boathouse at Wray Castle in the day 3 pics - I presume it was the Low Wray campsite you stayed at.
(Who cares if you pushed a bit - you still made it under your own power. )I spy the boathouse at Wray Castle in the day 3 pics - I presume it was the Low Wray campsite you stayed at.
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
Well done getting over Wrynose and Hardknott.
I spy the boathouse at Wray Castle in the day 3 pics - I presume it was the Low Wray campsite you stayed at.
yep it was - seemed the best option. We had considered the campsite at Rydal water which has just had a new toilet block but the traffic on the road was a touch busier than we would have slept through so went for the NT campsite instead...
nickyboy
Norven Mankey
- Location
- You want hills? We got hills
Having gone to school in Lancaster, born in Carnforth near Bolton-le-Sands where you stayed and lived in Kendal the photos bring back a lot of memories. Looks like a lovely holiday
gavgav
Legendary Member
Fair play to you even attempting Wrynose and Hardknott @SatNavSaysStraightOn !! @Rickshaw Phil is determined to get me cycling over it one day.........hmmm, we'll see!
- Location
- Glasgow
Somebody posted a link on here recently, I think it was about the 10 hardest climbs or such, the video showed a peloton cycling over the Hardknott.
Only a handful did not walk some. Well done, Emma!
Only a handful did not walk some. Well done, Emma!
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
Day 5 (Part 1 of 2) - Wednesday 3rd September 2014
Boustead Hill - 104.15km
It’s proving hard to remember everything that happened today. It was a long day. I know we both slept well, and I know that we took down a totally dry tent (inside and out) and were off the campsite for 8am. I also know it was uphill from the word go and it was a steep uphill to start the day on.
Sometimes, I 'find' photos on my camera that I know I didn't take.... this is one of them
. They are hit and miss if they work because my OH knows little about photography and that means whatever setting I had the camera on when the last picture was taken, is what is used... this one has worked. "Sunrise" from the tent this morning...
But, I’ll start with the name of the journal. Just as we were leaving St Bee’s, we passed a little girl in her pushchair waiting at a bus stop with her mother. The little girl spotted me, or more accurately my bike and announced to the world in general and with great delight “lellow bike”. Then she spotted Stuart and his bike and got very excited in the way only a young child can “nover lellow bike”. We both smiled and turned to wave at her, getting a wave back in response and an apologetic smile from a rather embarrassed mother… A little bit further up the road and Stuart told me we now had the name for our journal…
So, back to the cycling – well that first uphill was a good climb which was one of those steeper at the bottom easier at the top climbs, but the view when we got to the top made stopping very worthwhile. It was looking back at the mountains of the Lakes and they were in layers of soft apricot that only mountains do so well…
Before long we dropped over the top and down into Whitehaven, found the HCW and found the start of the C2C route… well we are doing a coast to coast of sorts, so that start was also photo’ed. In fact, really we are doing 2C2C if you think about it. We also met another tourer just starting his C2C and had an interesting chat with his about the Power Extreme solar panel charger we have (useless) and an alternative which we have seen several tourers using now (Voltaic Systems).
Well we are doing 2 Coast 2 Coasts, just not one of the 'official' ones...
From there, we followed the railway and the promenade out of Whitehaven which meant we had a nice flat section and before long we soon found ourselves in Parton where we picked up one of very many disused and converted railways which took us into and out of Workington without really seeing any of it…
The easy way out - along the sea front.
A route 72 marker...
In Maryport we found a very nice café in the climbing centre where we were able to bring the bikes inside and for the first time this holiday actually found some dairy free cake – I have been absolutely starving today, so did not resist the temptation to try both dairy free cake options… Chocolate Pecan Brownie (very nice) and Apple Crumble Slice (OK)…. This was in addition to breakfast (porridge with blackberries and (separately) a hard-boiled egg), 2 Nakd bars & 3 choc chip Hobnobs… all before 10am and I can tell you dehydration was not a factor! After some food shopping we left Maryport by another sea level promenade before ‘joining’ the coast road. I say ‘joining’ because this is a sustrans route and the road has a very good new cycle path alongside it (well – very good for the most part that is)… It did remind us of an area of the North Sea Cycle Route in Denmark we have cycled that was until the notice for cyclists to watch of for flying golf balls… How I am meant to dodge one I have no idea…. Now if they meant stationary ones on the cycle path…. But that is not what the sign indicates…
At Allonby we raided a chippy – the Codfather, for some thoroughly excellent chips in large portions… My body seems to have one thing on its mind/stomach today and that is a need for food and peanut butter sandwiches were just not going to do today…
They didn't last long. I honestly think I could have eaten them all by myself!
Lunch view at Allonby - the weather hasn't been great for photos today, but excellent for riding...
Our lunch view...
Boustead Hill - 104.15km
It’s proving hard to remember everything that happened today. It was a long day. I know we both slept well, and I know that we took down a totally dry tent (inside and out) and were off the campsite for 8am. I also know it was uphill from the word go and it was a steep uphill to start the day on.
Sometimes, I 'find' photos on my camera that I know I didn't take.... this is one of them
. They are hit and miss if they work because my OH knows little about photography and that means whatever setting I had the camera on when the last picture was taken, is what is used... this one has worked. "Sunrise" from the tent this morning...But, I’ll start with the name of the journal. Just as we were leaving St Bee’s, we passed a little girl in her pushchair waiting at a bus stop with her mother. The little girl spotted me, or more accurately my bike and announced to the world in general and with great delight “lellow bike”. Then she spotted Stuart and his bike and got very excited in the way only a young child can “nover lellow bike”. We both smiled and turned to wave at her, getting a wave back in response and an apologetic smile from a rather embarrassed mother… A little bit further up the road and Stuart told me we now had the name for our journal…
So, back to the cycling – well that first uphill was a good climb which was one of those steeper at the bottom easier at the top climbs, but the view when we got to the top made stopping very worthwhile. It was looking back at the mountains of the Lakes and they were in layers of soft apricot that only mountains do so well…
Before long we dropped over the top and down into Whitehaven, found the HCW and found the start of the C2C route… well we are doing a coast to coast of sorts, so that start was also photo’ed. In fact, really we are doing 2C2C if you think about it
. We also met another tourer just starting his C2C and had an interesting chat with his about the Power Extreme solar panel charger we have (useless) and an alternative which we have seen several tourers using now (Voltaic Systems).Well we are doing 2 Coast 2 Coasts, just not one of the 'official' ones...
From there, we followed the railway and the promenade out of Whitehaven which meant we had a nice flat section and before long we soon found ourselves in Parton where we picked up one of very many disused and converted railways which took us into and out of Workington without really seeing any of it…
The easy way out - along the sea front.
A route 72 marker...
In Maryport we found a very nice café in the climbing centre where we were able to bring the bikes inside and for the first time this holiday actually found some dairy free cake – I have been absolutely starving today, so did not resist the temptation to try both dairy free cake options… Chocolate Pecan Brownie (very nice) and Apple Crumble Slice (OK)…. This was in addition to breakfast (porridge with blackberries and (separately) a hard-boiled egg), 2 Nakd bars & 3 choc chip Hobnobs… all before 10am and I can tell you dehydration was not a factor! After some food shopping we left Maryport by another sea level promenade before ‘joining’ the coast road. I say ‘joining’ because this is a sustrans route and the road has a very good new cycle path alongside it (well – very good for the most part that is)… It did remind us of an area of the North Sea Cycle Route in Denmark we have cycled that was until the notice for cyclists to watch of for flying golf balls… How I am meant to dodge one I have no idea…. Now if they meant stationary ones on the cycle path…. But that is not what the sign indicates…
At Allonby we raided a chippy – the Codfather, for some thoroughly excellent chips in large portions… My body seems to have one thing on its mind/stomach today and that is a need for food and peanut butter sandwiches were just not going to do today…
They didn't last long. I honestly think I could have eaten them all by myself!
Lunch view at Allonby - the weather hasn't been great for photos today, but excellent for riding...
Our lunch view...
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
Day 5 (Part 2 of 2)
Somewhere between Allonby and Silloth we were tormented by the smell of a brewery which left me hungry yet again… The daily blackberry picking also happened along this section. About the only interesting thing in Silloth (other than the fact we were missing the beer festival which will be at the weekend) was the church which had a Viking boat for a weather vane/lightning conductor. Oh and the high street is cobbled and long and I am sorry to say that I baled to the pavement at this point… it was, wide, quiet, tarmac and smooth: the road was hell…
Then we entered the area around the Solway Firth – well it may well be an area of “outstanding natural beauty” but the sad truth is that there was very little to see or be seen because it is so flat and the hedgerows to high and we may as well have been cycling on the moon…. We saw nothing of it sadly…
Not long after leaving Silloth, we both noticed that our Cateye Micro Wireless cycle computers were intermittently playing up. First Stuart’s which has always been more temperamental than mine, and then mine, before they both packed up completely. We have seen this effect before when cycling through wind turbine farms, but this time the only thing that was obvious was a radar antenna array… Stuart informs me that it is a VLF (very low frequence) array for submarine communications and the power being put out was (once again) blocking our wireless cycle computer communications…. We lost around 20km off our trip meters from this ‘device’. In the same place, we did finally get a little bit of a view (at Anthorn) where I was able to take some OK shots of the area to give an indication of what the estuary looks like…
The light today has made photography on a small compact camera interesting - that and the totally flat land around here...
Further on down the road we entered the RSPB nature reserve by a gated road. I mention this because the gate is just around a corner and whilst there is a sign saying gate, it has been knocked over and a certain husband of mine didn’t see the flatter than usual sign and…. Well I had to yell at him to stop before he collided with said gate…. We didn’t see much other than cows and sheep in the RSPB nature reserve but it was a marginal improvement on the Solway Firth and the numerous hedgerows we had seen….
Just before Port Carlisle we came across a sign with took me at least a while to work out…
Now I know I am a simple person, but I was left wondering exactly where on the sign the water had to come up to to be 2 foot deep… yeh – I know…. Too obvious, too literal – even the bottom of the sign is more than 2 foot off the ground…. Stuart eventually confessed to the same thoughts before tactfully pointing out to me that the water across the road would be level with the sign…. OK I think we are probably a little tired at this time….
What does my OH get up to when I am off taking photos?
We are now at a small farm campsite, (£15) but we have the place to ourselves. It’s basic but has a surprisingly well equipped kitchen (shared with the stables) which has a fridge, freezer, microwave, kettle & toaster as well as free coffee and tea and there is a shower…
Our evening entertainment was laid on by a Sparrow hawk that repeatedly tried raiding the hedgerow less than 15m from us.
The last of the light...
The camping area - no vehicles can get here... (except for the ride on mower...)
http://www.strava.com/activities/194296243
Somewhere between Allonby and Silloth we were tormented by the smell of a brewery which left me hungry yet again… The daily blackberry picking also happened along this section. About the only interesting thing in Silloth (other than the fact we were missing the beer festival which will be at the weekend) was the church which had a Viking boat for a weather vane/lightning conductor. Oh and the high street is cobbled and long and I am sorry to say that I baled to the pavement at this point… it was, wide, quiet, tarmac and smooth: the road was hell…
Then we entered the area around the Solway Firth – well it may well be an area of “outstanding natural beauty” but the sad truth is that there was very little to see or be seen because it is so flat and the hedgerows to high and we may as well have been cycling on the moon…. We saw nothing of it sadly…
Not long after leaving Silloth, we both noticed that our Cateye Micro Wireless cycle computers were intermittently playing up. First Stuart’s which has always been more temperamental than mine, and then mine, before they both packed up completely. We have seen this effect before when cycling through wind turbine farms, but this time the only thing that was obvious was a radar antenna array… Stuart informs me that it is a VLF (very low frequence) array for submarine communications and the power being put out was (once again) blocking our wireless cycle computer communications…. We lost around 20km off our trip meters from this ‘device’. In the same place, we did finally get a little bit of a view (at Anthorn) where I was able to take some OK shots of the area to give an indication of what the estuary looks like…
The light today has made photography on a small compact camera interesting - that and the totally flat land around here...
Further on down the road we entered the RSPB nature reserve by a gated road. I mention this because the gate is just around a corner and whilst there is a sign saying gate, it has been knocked over and a certain husband of mine didn’t see the flatter than usual sign and…. Well I had to yell at him to stop before he collided with said gate…. We didn’t see much other than cows and sheep in the RSPB nature reserve but it was a marginal improvement on the Solway Firth and the numerous hedgerows we had seen….
Just before Port Carlisle we came across a sign with took me at least a while to work out…
Now I know I am a simple person, but I was left wondering exactly where on the sign the water had to come up to to be 2 foot deep… yeh – I know…. Too obvious, too literal – even the bottom of the sign is more than 2 foot off the ground…. Stuart eventually confessed to the same thoughts before tactfully pointing out to me that the water across the road would be level with the sign…. OK I think we are probably a little tired at this time….
What does my OH get up to when I am off taking photos?
We are now at a small farm campsite, (£15) but we have the place to ourselves. It’s basic but has a surprisingly well equipped kitchen (shared with the stables) which has a fridge, freezer, microwave, kettle & toaster as well as free coffee and tea and there is a shower…
Our evening entertainment was laid on by a Sparrow hawk that repeatedly tried raiding the hedgerow less than 15m from us.
The last of the light...
The camping area - no vehicles can get here... (except for the ride on mower...)
http://www.strava.com/activities/194296243
summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
Just before my middle child went to school she told me that cat starts with "ker" (as in phoneticically but I don't know how to write the sounds), dog starts with "deh", and that Lellow starts with "le"! I decided that she was correct for what she was actually saying!
I decided that she was correct for what she was actually saying!
Mo1959
Legendary Member
- Location
- Perthshire,Scotland
I love the way kids mis-pronounce some things. It always sticks in my mind what my wee brother called onions........yun yuns
w00hoo_kent
One of the 64K
- Location
- Maidstone or Greenwich
When little ours used to pronounce 'knife' as 'life' particularly fine when coming out as the sentence, "can you get a life please mummy?" Also pencils were monals, we have no idea why.
OP
OP
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
Day 6 - (Part 1 of 2) Thursday 4th September 2014
Greenhead - 54.34km
Unsurprisingly we both slept well. The Sparrowhawk laid on some breakfast entertainment for us and it looked like we were in for an early start until Stuart failed to bring his bike up to the kitchen area. Going back to find him, I found his bike upside down and him in the process of removing the rear wheel. Neither of us could find the cause of the flat tyre and neither of us could get the inner tube to deflate either! It was exactly the same situation I had back in Brecon in July and it was exactly the same type of inner tube from the same batch (we know this because of the length of the valve – abnormally long, but it was all we that was available when we set off on our big tour). Neither of us was keen to trust the inner tube again, so assuming a valve fault, we switched out the tubes and no longer needed to worry if the supermarket in Carlisle would actually be open when we got there!
After a coffee and catch up on the smartphone whilst waiting for Stuart to do the shopping (when I do it he complains I take too long in the shop, so I have resolved this issue by ‘allowing’ him to do the shopping, double checking he has purchased everything we need and then sending him back for a 2nd attempt… this policy works best if you have raided the café first!).
As we were leaving Carlisle, Stuart announced that Carlisle can be pretty…. We were cycling through a park at the time and had missed most of the centre out!
It wasn't quite as dull as the photo suggests but...
it wasn't the brightest of days either.
And before we knew it we were leaving Carlisle and crossing the M6 for the first time this holiday and on our way to the Pennines. Little really happened until we reached a hamlet called “How” where we found a hill, decided enough was enough and stopped for lunch at the top of it because I was really struggling for some reason. However, we never planned for today to be a long day because we had rigged the route across the Pennies and where a lot of the sights are along Hadrian’s Wall to take 2 days so that we could actually see some of the wall and sights. Stuart has never been and I only have vague memories of being driven passed it as a child, watching the scenery go by… the wall didn’t really feature in my childhood memories – more I wanted to be out in the scenery not in a car…
The sun came out briefly... (looking back towards Carlisle.)
So not long after lunch, we arrived at Lanercost Priory and having spoken with the nice lady in the ticket office, our bikes were ‘watched’ and we abandoned them to their fate whilst we wandered around the priory and church. Parts off the priory reminded us of Waverly Abbey where we used to live in the south of England in the way that the roof had been done.
The priory was actually quite interesting to walk around.
Though the B&B left a lot to be desired…
Some general scenery along Hadrian's Wall.
Greenhead - 54.34km
Unsurprisingly we both slept well. The Sparrowhawk laid on some breakfast entertainment for us and it looked like we were in for an early start until Stuart failed to bring his bike up to the kitchen area. Going back to find him, I found his bike upside down and him in the process of removing the rear wheel. Neither of us could find the cause of the flat tyre and neither of us could get the inner tube to deflate either! It was exactly the same situation I had back in Brecon in July and it was exactly the same type of inner tube from the same batch (we know this because of the length of the valve – abnormally long, but it was all we that was available when we set off on our big tour). Neither of us was keen to trust the inner tube again, so assuming a valve fault, we switched out the tubes and no longer needed to worry if the supermarket in Carlisle would actually be open when we got there!
After a coffee and catch up on the smartphone whilst waiting for Stuart to do the shopping (when I do it he complains I take too long in the shop, so I have resolved this issue by ‘allowing’ him to do the shopping, double checking he has purchased everything we need and then sending him back for a 2nd attempt… this policy works best if you have raided the café first!).
As we were leaving Carlisle, Stuart announced that Carlisle can be pretty…. We were cycling through a park at the time and had missed most of the centre out!
It wasn't quite as dull as the photo suggests but...
it wasn't the brightest of days either.
And before we knew it we were leaving Carlisle and crossing the M6 for the first time this holiday and on our way to the Pennines. Little really happened until we reached a hamlet called “How” where we found a hill, decided enough was enough and stopped for lunch at the top of it because I was really struggling for some reason. However, we never planned for today to be a long day because we had rigged the route across the Pennies and where a lot of the sights are along Hadrian’s Wall to take 2 days so that we could actually see some of the wall and sights. Stuart has never been and I only have vague memories of being driven passed it as a child, watching the scenery go by… the wall didn’t really feature in my childhood memories – more I wanted to be out in the scenery not in a car…
The sun came out briefly... (looking back towards Carlisle.)
So not long after lunch, we arrived at Lanercost Priory and having spoken with the nice lady in the ticket office, our bikes were ‘watched’ and we abandoned them to their fate whilst we wandered around the priory and church. Parts off the priory reminded us of Waverly Abbey where we used to live in the south of England in the way that the roof had been done.
The priory was actually quite interesting to walk around.
Though the B&B left a lot to be desired…
Some general scenery along Hadrian's Wall.
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