Onwards and Upwards!

Here's my great old pal Dave with his carbon fibre wonderbike and my laden Brompton workhorse at the top of the first (of many!) climb of the day. Dave joined me for the first 20 miles or so this morning from York north on little roads we'd spotted on the map yesterday.

We stopped at Helmsley for a pub lunch in the sunshine (health beer and sport pizza) before Dave headed home and I continued through Bilsdale to Stokesley and on to Guisborough, where I lived 20 years ago. Bilsdale was beautiful, 10 miles or so of gently undulating roads through the valley. To get into and out of Bilsdale was a bit of a struggle because the road climbs and then plunges into the valley, with the opposite at the other end. It's the first time I've used the Brompton on hilly terrain, and I was delighted that I managed without too much effort.

I got a puncture for the first time on the Brompton as well, which was an experience since the gearing setup is unique and I (stupidly) hadn't taken it apart before. After a couple of attempts we got it all back together so there's something that could have been worse - the sun shone, we sat by the roadside on a nice wide lawn and took it easy. A nice way to learn!

Guisborough tonight in a comfortable B&B in a pub, and north again tomorrow. Lovely stuff!