Pedalling over the Lyne

Today’s guest picture is another shot of the appalling working conditions my daughter has had to put up with in Venice.

I had been asked by the minister if I would care to accompany him by bicycle to Lanercost where he attends a morning service on Wednesdays.  As he now owns a Bianchi bicycle, I felt it would do my bike credibility a great deal of good to be seen in his company so I agreed.  On the down side, the scheduled start was 7.15 am but I managed to get up in time and we started off promptly.

It was decidedly chilly at a thin 7°C but it was a beautiful day with a light wind and we kept up a good speed down to Longtown.  Once through Longtown, we stopped at the bridge across the River Lyne for a photo opportunity.

It really was a perfect morning for cycling.  It is 26 miles to Lanercost Priory by the route that we took and we managed it at 15 mph with the result that we were a bit earlier than we needed to be.  Luckily there was a bench where we could sit and chat in the sunshine and when Scott went off to his service, I pedalled along the road to revisit the old bridge over the River Irthing. 

It was looking very nice on the sunshine…

…and as I had time to spare, I pushed my bike up onto the bridge.  It is easy to see why it is no longer open to traffic…

…but it is certainly a lot better looking than its replacement.

The view from the bridge was good too.

After the spiritual refreshment of the service, the minister needed a little physical refreshment too and we enjoyed a cup of something and a cake in the Priory cafe before setting off home.  The route we had come by was flattish and rather dull so Scott acceded to a suggestion that we might look for a more adventurous route home.  It was three miles shorter but somewhat more hilly…

….as you can see by looking at the second half of the elevation profile for the ride.   In  fact it was unendingly hilly and quite a challenge with a total of 2300ft of climbing for the whole journey, the vast bulk of which was on the return home.  Considering Scott has only recently taken up serious cycling and that he weighs over four stones more than I do, I take my hat off to his strength and perseverance in getting up and down so many steep hills.

We did take a little time out at Harelaw when we had just climbed the worst hill of the day…

…as the bikes needed a bit of a rest but that was our only stop, except for an occasional moment to read the map as I had never travelled along some of the roads that we followed before.

I was afraid that the hill climbing might do my hip a bit of mischief but I ended the fifty mile ride feeling remarkably perky though I must admit that a slight feeling of tiredness came over me later in the afternoon.  By slight I mean more or less total collapse.

I recovered enough to have a walk round the garden.

Happily, a white poppy had come out while Mrs Tootlepedal was there to see it.

I picked and ate a plum or two and some raspberries and then went inside in the hope of catching a flying bird through the kitchen window.  

I saw a perching blue tit…

…but flying birds were very scarce and never appeared at a time when I had the camera ready. 

Mrs Tootlepedal and I thought that we might combine a little shopping with some bird watching so we went up to the Moorland feeders in the car to see what was about.  Mrs Tootlepedal had her binoculars and was able to watching buzzards soaring  above the moor as well as catching a glimpse of a harrier flying low across the heather but they were too far away for my camera…

….so I watched less predatory birds.

There was not a lot of action though and I resorted to taking pictures of ex flowers…

….and pheasants, enjoying the last few weeks before the shooting season starts…

…before we went home again.

In the absence of a flying bird, those interested may see details of our bike ride by clicking on the map below.