Dent

Last Sunday we set off on our first 100 mile ride over to beautiful Dent. It was a good test to see how we faired up over the day which included almost 7000ft of climbing in beautiful weather. We left Ulverston on the main road for a short way before leaving the busy Mothers Day traffic behind and keeping to the minor roads. Passing through Grange, Levens, Milnthorpe and then a few lumpy bits over to Kirkby Lonsdale.  Stopping briefly to catch our breath on Devils Bridge and to watch the kayak racing underneath in what looked like not very much water at all. Then came the beautiful ascent through Barbondale, this is a great ride as the incline is not too bad all the way up the valley. This is followed by a rollercoaster drop down to Gawthrop and then into Dent. Once there you are spoilt for choice of where to refuel, after wheeling past a few tea rooms we chose Stone Close Tea Rooms - what a good choice we made.

As it was a long day in the saddle quite a lot of food was consumed, some of us had soup and a roll others paninis, although I think we all had the cyclists staple of cake and coffee. All was soon to be burned off on the return journey of a further 50 miles. If you are ever over this way Stone Close is highly recommended with a good menu, service and prices.

After taking on a short section of cobbles (not quite sure how the pro cyclists ride cobbles for a whole day) we set off for Sedbergh. This road next to the river must have been underwater recently as it was covered in debris, thankfully not causing punctures at the time.

After leaving Sedbergh we joined cycleway R20 (Howgill Lane) a tricky steep climb followed before it opened up to a stunning view out towards Kendal.

A couple of punctures followed, that were quickly sorted, before we headed through Kendal and onto Staveley before dropping down the Lyth Valley allowing us then to retrace our steps home.

Our Lejog in a months time will cover at least 100 miles per day so doing this distance in training has allowed us to see any problems that may arise. We now know how long each day may take, how long our rest stops need to be and how quick we can fix a puncture.

Stay tuned team photos coming later this week!