Xmas Week

 

Ullswater, early morning

I only rode my bike twice last week. The weather in the Lake District was too good to miss getting some walking done in the hills.  I didn't feel too guilty though, there's a a good cardio workout to be had in fell walking. Whilst I was slogging up some steep inclines it crossed my mind that it was as good as all the leg strengthening exercises I'd been doing at home. Even when coming downhill you know that it's doing some good work on your joints.

I had one really good ride on Christmas Eve though, the only really cloudy day of the week. I set off from the cottage at Newby (near Shap) and headed to Penrith, and from there around the shores of Ullswater.  The light on the scenery was simply spectacular, but as I headed closer to Patterdale the clouds were pretty thick over the mountains.  

"Caution, Red Squirrels Crossing"

My target was an ascent of the Kirkstone Pass. I felt a bit nervous as I was on my very heavy winter bike with a lowest gear was 39 x 23. 

 

The Kirkstone Pass

After stopping to put my lights on as the upper reaches were shrouded in mist, I set off on the climb and into a pretty stiff headwind blowing down the valley. 900ft of ascent, 1.8miles at a slow average speed of 6.4 miles and an average cadence of 48rpm tells the story. It took me 17 mins to reach the Kirkstone Pass Inn at the summit.

The descent to Windermere was misty and it had been raining so I took the switchbacks pretty carefully. A good job too as I was nearly knocked off by a group of sheep!

The main road to Kendal was pretty busy and was the worst part of the ride, but it couldn't really be avoided. Once out of the town the second major climb of the day started. It's a 10 mile uphill slog all the way to Shap summit, not steep but steady. Fortunately I had a slight tailwind and was bowling along quite nicely at a good high tempo pace. The last 5 miles were fog bound and all my lights were turned on. Once over the top, the cloud disappeared and I enjoyed the last few miles back to the cottage. It had been a good day out, the highest TSS scoring ride since last winter at 240tss.