Day 1 Whitehaven to Penrith

Just to say we made it across the Lake District today! 49.99 miles! I’ll blog properly when we get home – it’s just far too tedious typing this on my phone. Lots of photos to bore you with… Anyway, apart from nearly getting run off the road by a load of stampeding sheep we’re fine and absolutely starving so off to find some FOOD!

Update:

Us at the official starting place:

Took a few wrong turns out of Whitehaven, which is not a particularly beautiful place. The cycle route out though, along the old railway line, is great and lasts for about 10 miles, before picking up little lanes.

Beautiful cycle alongside Loweswater,on the way to Keswick:

And

Found a nice place for lunch, in Low Lorton – Winder Hall – photo courtsey of their website:

A real gem of a place and apparently great for overnight stays too.

Then on to climb Winlatter Pass. Actually, not that bad, although due to being nearly run off the road by the flock of sheep, we ended up walking. I find it really difficult to start again, fully laden, once I stop! There is a headstone for someone who presumably died doing the C2C route, along the way, which is a little alarming!
Good views from the top! Makes you realise how high you’ve climbed when the cars are so tiny below, on the main road.

(Main road is at the bottom of the valley in the picture above)

Nic had some bike trouble – creaking crank and also lost a bolt that holds his cleat onto the bottom of his shoe, which meant he was unable to get his foot out of the pedal, leading to a rather amusing few seconds…(at least for me!). We found a good bike shop in Keswick, behind the Pencil Museum, that managed to sort him out.

Keswick itself is great – nice route out via old railway lines and over some really sweet little pedestrian bridges:

and

Lots of cycling through forrested areas.

From there it was fairy straightforward cycle to Penrith, again through some gorgeous scenery and lovely little lanes.
If you’re following the C2C route, though, there is a bit you can miss out, just before Troutbeck, towards Penrith, where you end up doing two sides of a triangle when you could just cut across the bottom. Does involve going on the main road but worth it when you just want to get there!

After a much needed cuppa and shower, we headed off for an Italian Restaurant for much needed sustenance!