Today felt a bit stange having to retrace the first 10 miles of our journey from Hill Top House to the starting point at Cracoe. Even though I had managed a few extra miles from Skipton yesterday afternoon, I didn't really feel that I was in credit until I passed the village of Starbotton on my journey north.
Having said that, I did cycle through some really beautiful scenary in the North Yorkshire Dales National Park. We'll definitely come back next year to explore some more.
First stop of the day was at Buckden Tea Rooms, where I enjoyed an absolutely fantastic pot of tea and warm flapjack.
This fortified me for the climb to Buckden Pike at over 700m before the equally magnificent descent to Aysgarth. From there I picked up the eastbound A684 through Swinithwaite and Wensley (home of the famous cheese) before arriving in the market town of Leyburn and a turn to the north on the A6108 to Richmond. The road sign welcomed you to Richmondshire, apparently a local government district of North Yorks, including the beautiful Swaledale.
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| Ricmond with a threatening sky |
George had been visiting Ripon, Richmond, and the Black Sheep Brewery at Masham (we have some samples) and Morrisons for the picnic lunch.
After lunch the weather caused a few problems - it was a very stop start afternoon as I tried to shelter from the showers, or changed from windproof to waterproof clothing. Having purchased a bargain set of base layer equipment at Bakewell during the rest day, I was glad to be able to wear the tights today. I even encountered some hailstones this afternoon when crossing the A66.
At one point I was sheltering in the lea of some trees when the support vehicle pulled up with a piece of walnut cake beautifully presented on a plate - what service!
Eventually we made it to Staindrop for our last pit stop of the afternoon, with every intention of making it to Crook (a 10 mile gain on the schedule). However, wind and rain forced an abandonment at Toft Hill (this gives me a head start of 5 miles on tomorrow's leg).
Despite the stop start afternoon there have been two notable landmarks today - passing the halfway point of the journey and also completing 500 miles. Tomorrow we head for Scotland.
Tonight we are staying at Redworth Hall Hotel - a Jacobean Manor House dating back to 1693. I has been the family seat of the Crosier and Surtees families until 1950 and is now in the Barcelo group. The Hall is set in beautiful grounds but unfortunately our tight schedule means there is not much opportunity to explore or make use of the spa facilities.
Today's Mileage: 60.4
Duration: 4 hours 43 minutes cycling
Calories burned: 4038
Max speed: 32.04 mph
Total mileage to date: 506 miles
Total pints of Black Sheep consumed to date: 5 by Rich, 1 by George
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