Day Three – Monday

We didn’t bother with breakfast as last nights meal was still laying heavily.

After a little research we discovered that their was a Hein Gericke shop in Carlisle and Paul rang them for directions and made the discovery that they were over stocked with tanks bags, so had reduced their prices. Result!

We planned a suitably scenic route to Carlisle and packed all our gear into Paul’s small tank bag. All I could carry was a map in my bags magnetic base. It always feels odd when I ride without the tank bag on as I’m so used to it being there in front of me.

At 11:30am we set off north through Keswick on the A591, with me leading the way. It was quite a good road surface with some twisty bits here & there and light traffic. At Bothel we turned right onto the A595 towards Carlisle, which was mostly straight and not very interesting. We made a loo stop on the way, only to discover the chosen petrol station didn’t have a public toilet, despite signage to the contrary. Paul led the rest of the way to Carlisle as he had the telephone directions.

We found Hein Gericke fairly easily, with only one minor wrong turn. The bloke Paul spoke to on the phone, Rawson, wasn’t joking about being over stocked. They had every conceivable type of luggage you could want, in various colours. My choice was between a straight replacement, an Oxford 1^st Time expanding tank bag or an Oxford Sports Expanding one. The sports model was must better quality, with a lifetime guarantee, but at nearly twice the price I wasn’t sure I could justify it. After much mulling I settled upon another 1^st Time model. Paul bought a fancy head LED torch and after fitted the new bag on my bike and repacking everything, we set off south on the A6.

Within a mile or so of the shop we came across a Police speed trap, which consisted of two cars in a lay-by and 100 yards later a bike hidden in someones driveway. Paul wondered if they had permission from the land owner to use the driveway. We were of course OK as we are good boys and always obey the speed limits…..honest we do Officer 8-)

After a further couple of miles we were starting to get hungry, so we stopped at a mobile grub van for lunch. We both had a Cumberland sausage & bacon bap and tea. I have to say that it was probably the best roadside food I have had any where. It was truly superb. It was run by a friendly Husband and Wife team and they were very interested to hear how we came to be so far north..

While we were going through the now well rehearsed procedure of ear plugs, radio and helmet, we were joined in the lay-by by a Police car. They drove in, gave us a quick look over as if to say “Don’t even think about speeding” and then proceeded to shuffle their car around awkwardly. They didn’t seem to know what they were trying to achieve and looked rather silly with all the manuvouring. We left them to it and headed south on the A6 towards Penrith, checking our mirrors carefully as we went.

The A6 to Penrith was quite good and fast, but south of the town it was absolutely awesome. All twisty, smooth and almost completely free from traffic. We had a wonderful ride, up and down the mountains and round & round in circle. Brilliant stuff. When we got to Kendal I considered suggesting that we go back and do it again. We both highly recommend this route.

Paul made the mistake of thinking about the low curbs and steep drops at the sides of the road. I however just ignored it and enjoyed myself. After all, thinking makes my head hurt. I therefore avoid it as much as possible.

On the way back from to Keswick we stopped at Ambleside for an expensive ice cream. We sat on a bench overlooking Windermere to eat them while sweating in our waterproofs. Then it was time for a quick photo section.

Photo - P.Moulding

Photo - C.C.Pittock

Photo - C.C.Pittock

Photo - C.C.Pittock

Back at Castlerigg Hall we hung out our sweaty biking gear, de-flied our lids and calculated distance travelled.

Today = 109 Miles.

Total So Far = 452 Miles.

For dinner Paul cooked potatoes, sausages, bacon, onion and half a very hot chill, all rolled in spices and oil. He stuck it into a roasting tin on gas mark 6 for about 40 minutes. It was excellent as always and extremely hot due to the chilli. Thank goodness we only used half of it. Paul had this to say about the chilli,

The name of the chilli was Habanero and it ranks as a 10 on the heat scale. It's even hotter than a Scotch Bonnet.

I did the clearing and washing up, feeling a bit mean that Paul had thus far done all the cooking.

Photo - P.Moulding

After dinner Paul played around with his camera and new LED torch (result above).