Our day stared with the usual massive breakfast - although I did decline the local sausages. Not for dietary or religious reasons but mainly because a tough day had dawned before we did.
Just outside the drive to our B & B a 16% incline welcomed us - with a stiff headwind and temp of 6’.
And from then on it was up up up. In spite of arm- and leg warmers it was not exactly warm! And I did not miss the taste if sausages as I was puffing up 14-16% ascents! We went through Slaidburn and Wray ( never heard if them? Me neither!) and Hornby - pretty castle! By the the temperature had reached double figures (plus!!) and we even had an hour of tailwind!!! Very strange to hear the sound of rubber against tarmac again - till then it had been muffled by wind noises!
We had lunch in Kendal - not a mint cake in site but excellent bacon and chicken salad - and a plum porter - yummy!!! From there on to Windermere (should be Headwindermere), Grassmere, Ambleside- stunningly beautiful!! The roads were congested and we tried our luck with lakeside tracks - a mixture of gravel, boulders and something even bigger. Amazing that our tyres survived - and we too! One final climb took us to Keswick where we after the usual routine of first washing lycra, then ourselves and first then sampling local beer. We feasted on an excellent Thai 3-course menu - because we are worth it - 110’ish kilometers with 1600 metres up. A hard but lovely day. Tomorrow we will reach Scotland - goodby bitters - hallo 80 Shilling!!!
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