Where was Bertie? Sunday - the same minor road by Braithewaite as was used by Erica on 1 May; Monday - the same pull in on a B-road by Shap we've used a number of times before.
Weather: Glorious! 22 degrees on Monday (Sunday got warmer as we drove south, topping out at about 20)
On Friday I looked at where we might go on Sunday for Mick's long run. Options included taking a detour between Montrose and home to go via Braemar (for a circuit of the Lochnagar hills) or Dalwhinnie (to do a circuit we'd wanted to do pre-TGOC, if circumstances hadn't kept us at home).
Then it occurred to me that the detour to the Lakeland 100 route between Braithewaite and Dacre was not only minor* but it's also the only part of the route that is suitable for support to be provided from a vehicle of Bertie's size. Someone then pointed out that it was not only a Bank Holiday weekend, but also school holidays, and thus the Lake District was likely to be a busy place. My concession to this fact was to move Mick's run to Monday; otherwise I decided that the places I wanted to park wouldn't be significantly affected by the holiday.
Having left Arbroath (after going out for breakfast) late on Sunday morning, and with stops for groceries, fuel and a late lunch (the first two almost together; the latter much later), it was about tea time as we arrived in Braithewaite and settled Bertie into the side road for the night.
View from Bertie's front bumper this morning
We're both still in need of more sleep, but in the interests of heat avoidance Mick was up at 6 and out the door at quarter past seven. Not many minutes later I set off too, for a remarkably quick and easy drive along the A66 to some parking on a minor road that lay 17km into Mick's route.
Mick duly came along, ate his sandwich, necked a pint of water, had me top up the food and drink that he was carrying before trotting off again.
My intention had been to stay in that road until Mick was almost done, whereupon I would tootle a few more miles E along the A66 to wait in a layby. Perusing the map whilst I killed time, I explored intermediate places I could park and calculated that if I drove to a parking area on a minor road near Troutbeck and got the Brompton bike out then I may just be able to intercept Mick as he reached the end of the Old Coach Road.
As it turned out, by the time I'd parked, faffed, got the bike out and huffed and puffed up to the high point of the A591 between the A66 and Ullswater, I was cutting it too fine. A message from Mick said that he was 500m away from where I'd wanted to meet him and I was too far away. Not all was lost. The downhill involved in going via Dockray wasn't welcome (for the ascent it would involve on the way back), but it did speed me along to reach that point before Mick did. I met him half way up the minor road to the W of Dockray, about 30 seconds after a cyclist had told me that no, they hadn't recently passed a runner.
Mick, water bottles topped up, half a sandwich added to his food, and back off down the road towards Aria Force
My trusty steed for the day. On 2 May Erica was the only vehicle in this car park; rather more popular a place today!
A bit more toiling uphill, then the amount of whooshing downhill by far outweighed the ups.
There's Bertie, patiently awaiting my return.
I didn't move to the end-of-day pick-up location until just before I expected Mick to get there. A layby on a dual carriageway section of the A66 was never going to be a pleasant place to sit and wait, but I timed it well and wasn't there for more than 10 minutes.
Another 15 minutes had us in this pull-in by Shap to while away the rest of the afternoon and spend the night.
My route on the bike. 14.5km with 250m ascent.
Mick's route on foot, using rather less informative base mapping (I've used a screen grab from Strava for this one). 42.2km, 1200m ascent.
Snaps from Mick's day
There was a much bigger forest there a month ago!
(*It would have been a more minor detour if the driver hadn't been so interested in what was being said on the radio as we left the M6 that, rather than joining the A66 they sailed merrily back onto the M6, resulting in a 20-mile round trip to get back to that roundabout. The navigator did exclaim "Where are you going?!" as the wrong exit was taken, but (thinking that the driver knew which exit to take and thus didn't need direction) but not in sufficient time to prevent the error.)
Weather: Glorious! 22 degrees on Monday (Sunday got warmer as we drove south, topping out at about 20)
On Friday I looked at where we might go on Sunday for Mick's long run. Options included taking a detour between Montrose and home to go via Braemar (for a circuit of the Lochnagar hills) or Dalwhinnie (to do a circuit we'd wanted to do pre-TGOC, if circumstances hadn't kept us at home).
Then it occurred to me that the detour to the Lakeland 100 route between Braithewaite and Dacre was not only minor* but it's also the only part of the route that is suitable for support to be provided from a vehicle of Bertie's size. Someone then pointed out that it was not only a Bank Holiday weekend, but also school holidays, and thus the Lake District was likely to be a busy place. My concession to this fact was to move Mick's run to Monday; otherwise I decided that the places I wanted to park wouldn't be significantly affected by the holiday.
Having left Arbroath (after going out for breakfast) late on Sunday morning, and with stops for groceries, fuel and a late lunch (the first two almost together; the latter much later), it was about tea time as we arrived in Braithewaite and settled Bertie into the side road for the night.
We're both still in need of more sleep, but in the interests of heat avoidance Mick was up at 6 and out the door at quarter past seven. Not many minutes later I set off too, for a remarkably quick and easy drive along the A66 to some parking on a minor road that lay 17km into Mick's route.
Mick duly came along, ate his sandwich, necked a pint of water, had me top up the food and drink that he was carrying before trotting off again.
My intention had been to stay in that road until Mick was almost done, whereupon I would tootle a few more miles E along the A66 to wait in a layby. Perusing the map whilst I killed time, I explored intermediate places I could park and calculated that if I drove to a parking area on a minor road near Troutbeck and got the Brompton bike out then I may just be able to intercept Mick as he reached the end of the Old Coach Road.
As it turned out, by the time I'd parked, faffed, got the bike out and huffed and puffed up to the high point of the A591 between the A66 and Ullswater, I was cutting it too fine. A message from Mick said that he was 500m away from where I'd wanted to meet him and I was too far away. Not all was lost. The downhill involved in going via Dockray wasn't welcome (for the ascent it would involve on the way back), but it did speed me along to reach that point before Mick did. I met him half way up the minor road to the W of Dockray, about 30 seconds after a cyclist had told me that no, they hadn't recently passed a runner.
A bit more toiling uphill, then the amount of whooshing downhill by far outweighed the ups.
I didn't move to the end-of-day pick-up location until just before I expected Mick to get there. A layby on a dual carriageway section of the A66 was never going to be a pleasant place to sit and wait, but I timed it well and wasn't there for more than 10 minutes.
Another 15 minutes had us in this pull-in by Shap to while away the rest of the afternoon and spend the night.
(*It would have been a more minor detour if the driver hadn't been so interested in what was being said on the radio as we left the M6 that, rather than joining the A66 they sailed merrily back onto the M6, resulting in a 20-mile round trip to get back to that roundabout. The navigator did exclaim "Where are you going?!" as the wrong exit was taken, but (thinking that the driver knew which exit to take and thus didn't need direction) but not in sufficient time to prevent the error.)
Good to see you enjoying the trip home after a busy couple of weeks...
ReplyDeleteSomehow we still seem to be getting up earlier than is reasonable, though. Looking forward to a lie-in at some point!
DeleteMakes my 6.5 miles (sort of walking) yesterday a bit tame (post WIP.) What's happening with Erica - may have been more suitable for this trip?
ReplyDeleteI think the length of your outing versus Mick's needs to be taken in context of what has gone before it!
DeleteErica came to the Lakes with us for our two trips in April and early May, but it wouldn't have made sense to use her for this trip, given we were driving past the Lakes on our way home from Scotland in Bertie. Happily, the Braithewaite to Dacre section of the L100 route is perfectly supportable in a Bertie-sized vehicle, thanks to not needing to make any significant deviation from the A66.