Day 6 all done and dusted!!

Today was down to be our shortest day of the ride so far, but it definitely wasn't the easiest!! We set out from camp at 6.49am to another brilliant sunny day. We skirted around the norh side of Ullswater which looked absolutely beautiful. There was hardly any wind and the lake was almost like a mirror. The mountains surrounding the lake were all different shades of blue in the morning haze. We took our time, taking in the scenery (and maybe trying to put off the huge looming ascent of Kirkstone Pass!)  After about 12 miles we were reminded of this by a sign post warning us of the steep gradient we were fast approaching! We could see the road winding steeply up between the mountains and started on the ascent. It was really tough going with a very steep gradient right from the start. At places it evened out just enough for us to catch our breath before the next onslaught. My gears were giving me terrible trouble once again, slipping my chain on the low gears so that I couldn't get a steady rhythm going. We were trying to do the ascent in one go and I thought we had made it, only to reach the top of one grind to see the road winding up and over another! At that point my legs gave up and I had to stop, fighting to prevent myself hyperventilating! In actual fact we were very near the top and if it hadn't been for my gears messing around we'd have made it. At the top, an altitude of 1500ft, we stopped briefly for a photo by the sign warning cars of going down the pass. It had written on it 'The Struggle' which just about said it all really!! On the plus side we had a huge descent down the other side and for about 3 miles didn't have to pedal at all!! We zoomed down to Windermere whereas had a much needed energy refuel at about 18 miles. My legs really did feel bad after that climb and I was really in need of a boost! They didn't really recover though for the rest of the day and the next few miles were a real struggle as our route took us along a very hilly road with frequent steep climbs which made my already knackered legs feel like jelly!! This was the first time on the ride my legs had actually ached at all so I found it really frustrating that I was feeling so held back on the hills now. It didn't help that I was now having to go right down to the low gears for each hill and these were precisely the ones that didn't work!! :o( We got briefly lost in Kendal around one way systems and continued out on the A65 before taking a minor road up through Keasden and climbing up and over Callow Fell, a mountain in the Lancashire Forest. I had spent most of the miles since Kirkstone Pass dreading this second climb as I knew it was around another 1400ft of ascent. With the way my legs felt it wasn't the most joyous of prospects!! Luckily the gradient wasn't as steep as the Pass but it was still hard going and very long. We had great views as we were going up, and met some rather stubborn sheep and cows that seemed intent on getting run over!! We kept passing lots of 'Hells Angels' too on their big 'tractor bikes' which was mildly amusing! We eventually reached the top, and were informed by Pete's garmin that we'd climbed 1388ft. Bombing it down the other side was a bit scary. It was incredibly steep and very easy to pick up uncomfortably high speeds! As usual Pete disappeared down it in a matter of seconds! I was struggling rather to maintain a controlled speed, trying to squeeze the brakes with my increasingly weakened left hand! We both reached the bottom safe and sound, if a little windswept! We passed the amazing Stocks Reservoir which was just like a mirror, it was so still and surrounded by hills and trees. Our average picked up a bit over the next few miles as we flew down and up the hills, with a general downhill trend. Soon we were seeing signs to Clitheroe and we found ourselves in the town centre where the sat nav route promptly stopped, with no campsite in sight!! Unfortunately we didnt know the name of the campsite either! A local man stopped to give us directions to a large campsite but after his elaborate 10 minute description of where to go we were both thoroughly confused so said thank you and moved on! I eventually managed to phone Pete's Dad and got a postcode which I put into my iPhone and navigated with that. The last bit to the site was up a huge hill, which just about finished us off given the days huge ascents! We arrived at 2.02pm completing just over 76 miles at a 13.4 average. The huge hills had really knocked our speeds down over the course of the day! In total we had climbed over 6000ft!! We both felt shattered and the intense heat didn't help with our afternoons recovery. We did however find comfort in the fact that we were now over half way to Lands End!! 

Tomorrow we have a long day of 92 miles and the threat of rain so it could be an interesting one! We've got the marigolds at the ready!!!