The day started with the knowledge that the local bike shop couldn't
sort out the problems Adam had with his bike, so he faced a taxi ride
to Kendal. Conspiracy theorists have started to remark on the
coincidence of Adam's two mechanical failures that have necessitated
taxi rides and the most gruelling days of hill climbing, but we
personally pay no credence to those rumours.
In fact it was a huge shame to not have him with us for the opening
stretch because this was the most dramatic section of the whole ride
so far. The lowest gears corresponded with the highest heartbeats as
the ascents took us 500 metres into the Penines. You could easily get
Wordsworthian up there, but what are words worth to try and convey
what it was like?
The descents were occasionally terrifying, even with both hands
clamped to the brakes, but when we arrived in the almost ridiculously
quaint village of Dent, we'd had the most exhilarating 11 miles to date.
After Dent, the countryside was similar, but the weather broke. It was
still very slow going, and we were grateful for Tom S.'s local
knowledge to speed up navigating. We finally met up with Adam in
Tebay, and continued after a change of clothes. Shortly after, it was
Tom Lee's bike that was in trouble. A pedal came loose and fell off.
The bolt was lost, and Tom was facing a taxi ride too until James had
a moment of great mechanical ingenuity and got him tempoarily patched
up. But we'll be back in a bike shop today...
The rain relented suffciently for us to make it into Duftom, nestling
at the bottom of the Penine's most formidable peaks. Tom Lee knew the
hostel and pub from his own solo John O'Groats to Land's End walk of a
couple of years ago, one of the inspirations for this venture.
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