Yorkshire Dales Day 2
With yesterdays warm up under our belts we now knew more about cycling up steep hills so the rest of the trip should hold no surprises. As it was only 50ish miles today I had included the option of an additional 20 mile loop at the end of the day for those interested (that would be me then, or would it?)
After yesterday’s late finish I was keen for pedals down today to be by 9.00. However these plans were soon in tatters as Big George had to fix a slow puncture, and buy a new tube while Andrew spent ages faffing about getting his luggage on his bike. I was worried it could be a long day.
We set off straight up a hill which my Garmin said would be the first of 10 on the route. I also knew that a couple of them were very, very steep which would test all of our not walking up hill records from day 1.
At least today was starting sunny so morale was high as we once again enjoyed delightful views as we entered the Dales proper. 
The first 11 miles had half today’s climbs so going was slow. I set the faffometer to record how much time was being wasted waiting at top of hills, taking photos and eating energy bars etc. And it was ramping up quickly.
This was an official cycle route following a goat based sign that made things easy compared with my made up route of yesterday.
Our first cafe stop was the Old Barn cafe at Malham Cove. I had been here before and thanks to keeping records I knew the hot chocolate was poor (Data saves Disappointment).So for my science experiment I gave it a 5 and had tea instead.
It was now time for the first super steep climb which would need to be done fully loaded and straight after cake. It was a mile long and average 9% but no Monte Zoncoln.
Everyone performed better than expected and we all made it to the top without getting off and pushing. Well done us.
After we had gone a bit further we stopped for lunch featuring take away cheese sandwiches. It was here big George dropped a bombshell. Rather than rush up every hill he was going to take a more leisurely approach and leave me and Andrew to push on ahead.
We continued with the now familiar scenery to Ingleton falls cafe.
Using forensic analysis I decide falls cafe was rather poor. First I spotted the dreaded catering tin of Cadbury’s drinking chocolate, next the cake selection was very light and finally it was full of noisy tourists.
Although to be fair the tea and flapjack were good. However it was nowhere nearly up to a normal cycle cafe making it 2.5- 0.5 in their favour.
We then arrived at what turned out to be the best two climbs of day. They were both tough but isolated with great views. Just the way I like them.
To celebrate I decided to jump in the air at top of last one.
To finish with we had an adrenaline filled descent to Dent and our overnight stop.
Fortunately we were within the time limit I set for the day so we qualified for a bonus 20 mile loop. Hopefully Big George would have made it to Dent by the time we were back (and he was, just).
The bonus loop was excellent with the biggest climb of the day of over 2 miles at average gradient of 9%. It was a lovely road and really peaceful as no one else seems to come this way. It was voted climb of the day, by me.
Once at the top I knew I would have a long wait for Andrew but fortunately I had bought a picnic with me so enjoyed that while I waited.
Apparently it wasn’t the gentle 20mile cool down I had promised although after the big climb at the start it was pretty much down hill for the remaining 15 miles. Plus I had a lovely picnic.
Tomorrow is pretty much the same distance etc as today and hopefully we will get to Reith in time for another bonus loop.
 |
| Day 2 route |
 |
| Day 2 bonus loop |
Route | Miles | Average Mph | Time on Bike | Metres climbed |
Skipton loop | 43 | 11.8 | 3:38 | 1470 |
Skipton to Dent. Plus bonus | 78 | 11.6 | 6:47 | 2414 |
Dent to Reith |
|
|
|
|
Reith to Skipton |
|
|
|
|
Totals |
|
|
|
|
Cafe Ratings
Cafe | Hot Choc Quality | Guest Hot Drink Quality | Cake Selection | Cake Taste Quality | Atmosphere and Ambiance | Total |
Cafe Verde | 5 | 6.5 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 8.1 | 6.72 |
Old Barn Tearoom | 5 | 7 | 7.3 | 8.3 | 7.8 | 7.08 |
Ingleton falls cafe | 5 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5.5 | 6.3 |
Orton Scar Cafe |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kettleware deli |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment