August 2011 Big Trip - Day 3

Day Three - Wednesday 10th August

Haltwhistle > Alston > Hartside > Melmerby > Appleby-in-Westmorland

Day 3. First of all, the weather. We'd had plenty of advance notice that bad weather was going to move across the north on this day. Oh well, this was always going to be the gamble, booking something months in advance. This was bad news for us, as this was the day when we had to cross the Pennines at Hartside. We were mentally prepared for heavy rain but as it happens, although the day was wet the rain was mostly light but constant; Thursday turned out to be a much worse day. The fact that it wasn't lashing down actually cheered us up a bit.

After another hearty breakfast, we set off into the drizzly gloom at about 9:45. Leaving Haltwhistle to the south, for 3 or 4 miles route 68 follows the bed of a former railway line. Sadly the route taking you across the Lambley Railway viaduct was closed. Instead we had to follow a diversion that took us up a nasty steep hill (just as the rain got heavier) onto the main A689. After a short distance the diversion directed us back down the hill, where we would then have to climb again up the other side of the valley. "Sod that," we thought, and carried on down the main road for another mile or two before rejoining the cycling route a little further down.

It was pelting down when we arrived in a chilly Alston at about noon. We had a quick break to buy provisions and have a coffee. Then it was time to cross the Pennines via Hartside. We'd experienced this hill before, of course, during our C2C trip, but approaching from the opposite side.

The climb up Hartside was a grind, especially with the wind howling and rain lashing you. I went on ahead. The experience was quite disorientating. Due to the rain, the visibility was limited to the stretch of road in front of you, but nothing much to the sides. What you had no way of knowing was how far you were from the summit, where the cafe was the sight we all ached to see. This was mental torture. All you could do was keep pedalling, inching onward and upward but longing for the torment to end. Eventually I arrived at the top and feeling frazzled, crawled into the cafe for a restorative mug of hot tea and a slice of apricot cake. The other two arrived about twenty minutes later.

Leaving the summit we enjoyed a giddy descent through the mist down the other side. I found myself singing out loud the Velvet Underground song "Heroin", in a semi-hysterical state. I blame the cake.

We eschewed the NCN route and stayed on the A686 to Melmerby before picking up the 68 once more. Once we got onto the western side of the Pennines the weather quickly improved. Well, it was still a heavily overcast day but at least it stopped raining.

The final two hours of the day's cycling were mostly uneventful, as the route took you along mostly flat country lanes, occasionally passing through picturesque villages.

We were actually booked into the Broom House B&B just outside Appleby in a hamlet called Long Marton. We arrived there just before 4. We received a very warm welcome from the lady who ran the place, with a splendid afternoon tea laid on. After a cold, wet ride, it was a very nice surprise. My cycling wasn't quite over though. I set off on my own to cycle the couples of miles into Appleby in search of a cash machine. On the way back I decided to take a detour and visit some of the nearby villages of Brampton and Dufton, just to bump up a few extra miles. Typically, I was caught by a vicious shower of rain on the way back to Long Marton. Urgh.

In the evening we went to the local pub. Sadly it was fully booked for serving food when we enquired, but I wasn't feeling particularly hungry anyway, having spent the day munching my way through mini pork pies and flapjack. A pint soon filled me up. I looked forward to my breakfast in the morning.

And finally... Somewhere in between arriving at the B&B in Haltwhistle and departing the next morning, I mislaid my cycling glasses, plus the extra lenses I'd packed. Gah, annoying.

Day Stats
38.72 miles to Long Marton, 51 in total
Average speed: 10 mph to Long Marton, 10.6 afterwards
Top speed: 34.1 mph
Wheel time: 3 hrs 52 mins to Long Marton, later 4 hrs 48 mins

Click here for day 4.