Celebration

I don’t need much of an excuse to start pedalling and BlipDay No.8 is definitely a good enough one.

I had the luxury of switching on the heating and getting back under the duvet to wait for the van to warm up this morning. I was in no rush. I wanted the air temperature at 800m as high as possible and the wind speed as low.

The sky was blue, as predicted. I was excited, as predicted.

I had breakfast, slotted in all my extra layers into pockets and my bottle cage capsule and began my outing.  I wasn’t sure my legs would be warmed up enough and had planned going past the turning and doubling back. But, I felt like I was ready to rumble and I headed on up. 

I could see the golf ball perched at the summit right from Dufton. I was in good spirits and it made me laugh looking at how close it felt - just 7km to go! 

Rich gazumped my pioneering last weekend so I had a bit of insider information about the gates. Trouble is, if he hadn’t done it, I’d have happily hung around taking photos at them. My competitive spirit was curbed naturally, however, when a cyclist I hadn’t spotted shouted ahead for me to keep the gate open. A Scotsman. That bit’s important later. Waiting for him to come through forced me back into my natural pottering mode and I felt quite content meandering up, although my camera stayed off until the top. There were a few wispy clouds around but that golf ball proudly sat in the sunshine, waiting.

The situation was sublime, the temperature perfect for my clothing and the views outstanding. The Lake District provided a magnificent jagged horizon as I rounded a bend and looked down the mountain and across the Eden Valley.

There was everything you needed to take your mind off the uphill which, although it went on, never really tipped the testing point. Being a dead end, a radar station access road and closed to traffic, the tarmac is immaculate. 

It really has an alpine feel but the comparison with Ventoux is wrong - apart from the golf ball, of course. Ventoux is iconic and stunning near the top but this way exceeded the, at times, monotony of the route we took up. Ventoux is about camaraderie and pedalling in the footsteps of cycling gods. Great Dun Fell is about solitude and weaving through a remote and exquisite single-track road.

And there I was, up close and personal to the giant radar on Great Dun Fell. I gave a few whoops on the last gentle slope up, did a circuit of the station and parked in the sunshine to strip off and don my layers. There was a small pile of slush at one point and a frost shadow still so snow wasn’t far away. I felt extraordinarily lucky. To be here. In this weather. With those views. On my bike. On my BlipDay. It had all come together!

I took every opportunity for a photo on the way down. A couple of women were out walking and kindly offered to take my photo. The Scotsman arrived at the top before me where we had a quick chat - he’d already cycled from Keswick and was heading up to Gretna - fine effort. He must have stopped for a picnic because he appeared behind me lower down as this layer of cloud was passing through. He must have pondered on my anniversary comment because he asked if it was Blipfoto. He’d a couple of friends who used it or had used it - wonder who they might be!

Just as he left to descend, I found myself hopping around excitedly in brocken spectre territory. I spotted the tip of one but couldn’t quite get the angle right for anything more. 

All my layers worked a treat although I did get the body shakes near the bottom. Hungry, I headed back to the van for some basic snacks, tea and a warm up before doing the continuation of the ride. I ditched the extra layers, topped up my water and enjoyed the road to Melmerby where a cafe was waiting. I sat outside, my black leggings soaking up the heat from the sun. Down to Langwathby, it was then an undulating parallel road back to Dufton, full winter kit still required in the cold air.

In summary. Awesome!

If you made it here, thank you, as always, for dropping in to say hello, commenting on my outings or scattering confetti on my journal. Blipfoto has inspired so many adventures - long may it continue. Thank you for being there.