From Penrith, we took a more cross-country route to Carlisle. At one point, about 6 tractors came roaring past us on quite a narrow road! It was one of those days when it's a joy to be out cycling - blue skies, a cooling breeze (not too strong!), beautiful countryside to cycle through, and stunning views of distant fells.
Carlisle provided an ice-cream and toilet break, before we pedalled on to Gretna. So we're now north of the border, but as Nathan says, 'the end is still not in sight'! We're over half-way now, but there's still over 400 miles to cycle.
We couldn't do this without Steve - we left him behind at Geoff and Brenda's to pack to car; he caught us up (having been chasing us along the A6!) in Penrith, and recharged our water bottles and provided edible encouragements; after sharing lunch with us, he continued to Carlisle, where he met us again with more water for our bottles and good things to eat; then he drove to the B&B and unloaded the car before meeting us in Gretna where we loaded the bikes onto the car and went to find some tea before coming back here. He's spent the evening sorting out food and water for tomorrow, and generally making sure that we'll be ready to leave in the morning. And tomorrow, he'll probably do the same all over again!
Right at the end of the day, we crossed the border! |
The River Kent in Kendal this morning |
Looking up Longsleddale on our way up to Shap Summit |
Looking back down the road from Shap Summit |
Distances from Gretna, including Lands End and John O'Groats - we really are more than half way! |