clairedavieswriter

If yesterday was all about the views, today was all about the wind, the low cloud and the ‘not very nice out’ (cf ‘Day 5: cyclists’ terms for rain).

Happily, today also featured excellent coffee and pastries – c/o Saddlebacks, a converted horse box (geddit?) on Langwathby village green. It had been recommended to us by Brian, and judging by the number of customers on a grey and drizzly Friday morning, he was just one of many fans.

Brian’s second handy tip, for which we were equally grateful, was to avoid a certain Strawberry Hill, which the National Cycle Route’s seemingly sadistic planners would have sent us up on the way into Penrith. It always pays to listen to the locals, especially those with encyclopaedic knowledge of the area’s topography.

Our priority in Penrith was buying a picnic lunch. For obvious reasons this place caught our eye, and turned out to be foodie heaven. As another customer said ruefully: ‘Trouble is, when you come in here you need to be wearing blinkers’. One benefit of travelling by bike is that it reduces the options for impulse purchases. I came away with a bar-bag-friendly haul of a sandwich, a chunk of millionaire’s shortbread, and a square of Penrith toffee.

Did I mention the wind? The BBC euphemistically described it as a ‘moderate breeze’. I suggest they get out on a bicycle and see how moderate it feels: it felt like pretty hard work to us, particularly when we were cycling west or northwest (ie most of the time), with occasional roaring gusts and scudding showers adding to the fun. Suffice to say that we were happy to take refuge from it for a while in this stout little shelter in Skelton, to eat our lunch.

Given the weather, food stops were all important. Captain (Major) Tom joined us for tea (and millionaire shortbread).

We did as we were told but none of these little chaps obliged us by appearing.

It was windy but mercifully much less hilly than yesterday. We reached Carlisle by 4pm, with time and energy to explore…

The Citadel…

The Castle, where English Heritage was flying its flag with Pride…

And the Cathedral…

With its magnificent ceiling, where we were fortunate enough to coincide with choir practice…

Finally, we noted the name of the main thoroughfare – a reminder that tomorrow we will be riding into another country.