Day 15, to Penrith

We had a lovely breakfast with fruit yoghurt and other delights and then off, in trepidation, to get over Shap Fell – which is over 1,500ft of ascent, so whenever I gained height it was dismaying to have to go downhill again.

Eventually, though, we reached the top (although we had to take a couple of pitstops to eat a biscuit or other nice treat). By now, the wind had gotten up and it helped push me up the hill (although I still had to use my lowest gear on the steepest bits). At the top the wind strengthened and I had to get off occasionally when gusts made it hard to stay on course (I didn’t want to go under the wheels of a car).

The descent seemed to take ages – around every bend I looked for a mobile coffee van, but there was nothing until we reached Shap village where we bought takeaway coffees and looked for a picnic spot. The wind was still gusty and cold, and the best shelter was behind the public loo where we sat on the edges of piled up traffic cones and enjoyed our lunch in a sheltered, and relatively warm and sunny spot.

Then onwards, on gentler hills, to Penrith. Nothing much of real consequence happened today.

Today revived my fears about strong winds – a side gust can really be dangerous – and I’d rather ride in driving rain than in strong wind.

I’m so glad that I’m doing this ride – but I really wish that the amount of money raised for Refuge and Women’s Aid was a little higher!

I spoke on Radio WM today as well, you can listen to it here. My interview is at about 2 hours 54 minutes into the show.

Stats

27.8 miles (504.31 miles total), 1,900ft ascent, 1,600ft descent