Appleby-in-Westmorland > Orton > Sedbergh > Dent > Ingleton > Settle
After another good breakfast, we got away just
before 10. The weather was murky but fine, for the time being at
least.
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| A typically murky view of day four. |
Leaving Appleby, we passed through the village of
Great Asby before climbing a hill that led us up into the clouds on the way to
Orton. Several sheep stared blankly at us as we passed. Bleakly impressive
moorland.
In the village of (Joe) Orton, I temporarily parted
company from the other two. Having consulted the map, they realised that route
68 took you off on what they considered an unnecessary loop out west under the
M6 and back again. Since day 4 was going to be another of our longer days, they
decided to chop a few miles out of the journey by heading south and rejoining
the official route just below Tebay. You won't be too surprised to learn that I
elected to do the extra miles because I'm like that. Mind you, it wasn't long
before I came to almost regret my decision, as first of all the route sent me
down a bumpy farm track that was liberally covered in liquid slurry (lovely)
before throwing a short but horribly steep climb into my path as soon as I'd
passed under the M6 and west coast main line. Going down the other side of the
hill was quite an experience - steep, narrow and twisting. I was grateful that I
didn't encounter any traffic coming the other way.
Passing back under the M6, the road shadowed the
motorway for a few miles. Rain running off the hills turned the road into a
stream for extended sections. Around this point I happened across a pair of fellow cyclists who had stopped to free a sheep that
they'd spotted tangled up in a fence by the side of the road. The poor animal
looked exhausted, so I guess that it had been there for some time. It seemed to
be coming around a bit when I left them.
 |
| Flooding on the road to Sedbergh. |
I caught up with Rik and Bryn close to Sedbergh. We
halted there at 1:45 for a late lunch break. Rik was ready to leave some time
before us, so as the slowest cyclist of the three it seemed sensible to let him
get a head start. It was several hours before we saw him again... Bryn and I set
off in pursuit a little later. We had some trouble picking up route 68 leaving
Sedbergh due to an absence of signs, but we eventually found the right road. The
way took us alongside a river for a stretch and was often flooded in places.
You could see how high the water had been by the
marks in the grass on the bank to our right. If we'd there a week earlier we
would have needed a snorkel to get by. As it was, there were sections of water
where your foot was fully immersed as you pedalled through it.
 |
| Soggy socks on the road to Dent. |
Then we had to climb steeply again, just as it
started to rain. What joy! To add to the fun, my chain kept coming off in those
low gears. The hills echoed to the sound of industrial strength
cursing. I'm informed that the views in this area
are stunning. Not that we saw anything of them. As we learned later, Rik had
taken the lowland route to Dent that follows the valley floor and so missed out
on all this. Lucky swine.
We crawled into the viillage of Dent, home of the highest mainline railway station in England, at 4 pm. My only recollection of the village is that the rain began to belt down heavily here. The road from Dent over Back Gill Head was the worst section of the trip for me. The climb was lengthy and debilitating, not helped at all by the wind lashing horizontal rain into your face so much that it made your eyes sting. We pushed on slowly to a soggy Ingleton, soaking wet and cheerless. We had about 11 miles to go to reach Settle. Rik got in touch to say that he'd already arrived at the B&B. I'm still not sure how he managed to reach Settle a full two hours before us. He must have taken a short cut.
Route 68 delivered us to Clapham a few miles later. At this point we should have followed an off-road road section to Settle that passed through a tunnel. But Bryn and I were tired, wet and impatient to end the day, so we just rode down the main A65 into the town. The road was busy and quite narrow in places, but we didn't mind. There was a terrific hill we flew down just outside Settle, which provided late cheer to an otherwise grinding afternoon.
We crawled into the viillage of Dent, home of the highest mainline railway station in England, at 4 pm. My only recollection of the village is that the rain began to belt down heavily here. The road from Dent over Back Gill Head was the worst section of the trip for me. The climb was lengthy and debilitating, not helped at all by the wind lashing horizontal rain into your face so much that it made your eyes sting. We pushed on slowly to a soggy Ingleton, soaking wet and cheerless. We had about 11 miles to go to reach Settle. Rik got in touch to say that he'd already arrived at the B&B. I'm still not sure how he managed to reach Settle a full two hours before us. He must have taken a short cut.
Route 68 delivered us to Clapham a few miles later. At this point we should have followed an off-road road section to Settle that passed through a tunnel. But Bryn and I were tired, wet and impatient to end the day, so we just rode down the main A65 into the town. The road was busy and quite narrow in places, but we didn't mind. There was a terrific hill we flew down just outside Settle, which provided late cheer to an otherwise grinding afternoon.
The hot shower in the B&B felt wonderful.
In the evening we dined in a local pub and then found the local social club where they were showing Sheffield Wednesday v Blackpool in the League Cup. After a couple of pints it was off back to the B&B and off to bed.
Day Stats
61.2 miles
Average speed: 10.65 mph
Top speed: 35.7 mph
Wheel time: 5 hrs 44 mins
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