Day 4 - Annan to Middleton-in-Teesdale

Another prompt start today, however we found a beautiful spot behind the Blue Bell pub last night: under a  rowan tree was a bench that was afforded a view of a sweeping bend in the river Annan. We both agreed that Dad would appreciate this little spot, so after breakfast we headed there to sprinkle some more of his ashes.

We woke today in an oven - not literally, but someone forgot to turn the radiator/clothes drier off before sleeping. The weather outside was considerably less warm - overcast and cool ,but dry at least. The breakfast at The Old Rectory in Annan was very good indeed. Lee again opted for something a little lighter, but I now feel it's my duty to try the full cooked breakfast option all the way down the country - a kind of Pepsi challenge for pork lovers.

We had a chat with the B&B owners after breakfast who were originally from Oxfordshire, Didcot to be exact (small world), so after catching up about the changes over the last few years since their departure we thanked them for a comfortable stay and we headed off.

The climb chart as you'll see here appears very flat at first. Lee opted to do the first session, which turned out to be even flatter than the graph led us to believe, and driving along it made me feel a little jealous of the ride he had in front of him.

Very soon we were passing through Gretna Green and into England, where Lee let out a rather loud 'wooo hooo', to the bemusement of one passer-by.

From here we headed east and a little north to Longtow - not a very big place but pleasant enough, and it somehow felt a little more English, I stopped for a photo opportunity then we pushed on towards Brampton.

With a total mileage for the day of 64 miles, we decided again to break it up into a 'bottom friendly' four chunks. The first stopping place I could find was about 20 miles into the journey, just north of Brampton, so we changed here and off I went with a 20-mile stint of my own. By the time I hit Brampton, three miles in, the bottom numbness/pain had started, as usual - I guess this will become a constant theme throughout my journey, but I'm hoping that I'll become accustomed to the saddle at some point and the pain will subside a little. I'm certainly paying the price for not getting on my bike enough in the weeks preceding the ride (I blame the weather!).

The route was easy to follow all day and I got stuck in with the intention of trying to average 14mph. All was going well, and then I hit Northumberland. All too soon after crossing into the county the strong headwinds started, as did the hills and then the rain. This continued until the moment I crossed back into Cumbria. The winds were so strong that often cycling downhill into the wind was 6-8mph slower than going up them. To say I felt cheated out of my rewards for climbing uphill was putting it mildly! If the weather had been like this all day long it would have beaten Day 1 hands down in the 'worst weather' competition.




However, a few dry miles later I arrived Alston, the planned lunch break and swapover point. Alston is by far the prettiest town we've seen on our journey so far, and tourism is obviously rife here as there are surely too many pubs/shops/tea rooms to be sustained by the local population alone. The tourism hasn't spoiled the feel of the place though and the cobbled streets around the very centre make for quite a charming picture (though as a surface to cycle up, combined with it's steepness it is not ideal).

We went for lunch at Blueberrys tea room where we both succumbed to a pork-based sandwich before getting started again, which we were keen to do as we could taste an early finish today. The next two stints were nice and short at around 10-11 miles each, but this is where all the real work started - this is the price Lee paid for taking the flat easy run this morning. 

He immediately had to start climbing up out of Alston for over three miles without let up. He was rewarded with a short downhill section, only to hit the bottom of another climb at three miles, again without any break in the ascent - by far the hardest work he's ever done on a bike he assures me. I think it'd have been the same for me too but I was cheated out of this workout by his eagerness to start this morning (I'm sure I'll get over it, especially as tomorrow's climbs make today's look like child's play, on paper at least).

Lee handed over to me with 11 or so miles to go. What he hadn't realised when jumping at the start section today was that the finish section, albeit a short one, was pretty much all downhill - a fair payback for the 'Northumberland saga' I think, so our cycling world has equilibrium again.

A very enjoyable 40 minutes ensued with only a light splash of rain. Reaching speeds of over 30mph, I soon ran out of effective gears so had to freewheel a lot of the way (here I needed a road bike) averaging almost 18mph for my 'leg' (an average I don't think Ill see the likes of again on this journey). I arrived in Middleton-in-Teesdale at the Belvedere Guest House before 4pm.



NEXT STOP: Threshfield near Grassington - 62 miles and six big climbs, two of which are category 3. Lee's big climbs this afternoon were only category 4s, (4 being the easiest on the scale, 1 the hardest). GULP!!