Here we are at Rydal Hall guest house near Ambleside in the heart of the Lake District. It's really quite posh, and a stunning setting. Just across from our guest room is Rydal Mount, the one-time home of William Wordsworth, of Lakeland Poets fame. Tomorrow we have a gruelling day ahead of us, as we are taking the 41 mile Ulswater route to Carlisle. There will be some long and very steep hills to deal with, but lots of beauty and awesome mountains and lakes.
Today we set off from Morecambe sea front in lashing rain and wind, after a good stay overnight. We followed the old Lancaster canal route to Carnforth (where Brief Encounter was filmed - look it up on Wikipedia).
We then began some serious hard riding up through Beetham and Milnthorpe and onto Kendal. Of course it was raining in Kendal (one of the wettest places in Britain). Having refreshed ourselves there (Gregg's vegan sausage rolls & latte and juice & bananas for PK), we faced many hard hills to climb and fast riding down them. Prajnakara thinks I will get much fitter doing this ride. I hope so. But I
am sleeping like log each night and actually
asleep by 10.45. Some kind of record for me.
Kendal to Windermere was an arduous slog against a headwind. I was on the edge of what I can do, and really fatigued. PK, however, was sailing up the hills on his little Brompton bike. But then, he is an Audax rider. He always waits for me with great patience.
The long descent through Windermere, Bowness and finally Ambleside were nice, especially as we skirted the beautiful Windermere lakeside. Once through Ambleside, we found our way to Rydal Hall, where there was proper confusion regarding our bike storage (I had pre-arranged it but the manager knew nothing) but eventually a solution was found and the bikes were stored in a locked toilet.
Today was a hard 40.5 miles, but it was good in lots of ways. Now it is time to find a decent restaurant!
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