Lucky...

On many counts! 

Probably the biggest one was my gear cable waiting for ten miles before home to snap. I went from twenty two gears to two which isn't great when hills are involved. I've been on borrowed time with it for a while as it's gone a few times over the years.  The last ten miles only involved me getting off once for a few yards as I came to a grinding halt!

Next up, the weather! It started off mighty chilly (extra) and I ended up in fog for a little while but that all paid off as the sun came out and there was barely a breath of wind. When I arrived in Rhylstone, the sun was starting to make an appearance and as I stopped for some food, I noticed the daffodils starting to stretch after their overnight collapse in the cold - tiny little movements but lots of them as they started to feel the sunshine. My chin came out at Airton and from then on, the temperature was perfect.

I met two lads on the way up the back of Pen-y-ghent - called me a Beast for coming from Burley - which made me chuckle - especially as they glided on by. I'll never really hit Beast Status but I'm happy for them to think tell me so!

I enjoyed a thoroughly fine outing after convincing myself last week that if I could do seventy miles over two days with more height gain, seventy was possible in one day with less height gain! I had food in every pocket and was back in time for Rich to have a short ride too.