will the goodies never cease?

one of the purposes fo my little bike ride around the Lakes and Yorkshire Dales was to test out my kit.  what did you learn i haryou say? Well one thimg i learnt is that carryimg 20kg of stuff on abike is hard work and anythimg that can be done to lighten the load must be grasped.  the books i carried: Bible, readimg book, maps and loal guide all mount up to quite a weight.  so........i've taken the plunge and bought (well been given as an early birthday pressie) this kindle thimg which alllows me to gaveaall my books on one small digita toy.  will it lightn the load? undoubtedley.  wat further justifivation do i need.

You want to take your bike with you?

Well, yes, I do actually. Cycling from the Canadian border down to the Mexican border will be a bit more challenging if I don't actually have a bike.


Hmmmm. The logistics of getting a bike as excess baggage on the plane and then shipped home from Los Angeles is proving a bit tricky. FedEx suggested it would cost me $900 for this shipping. Come on, get real man.

Should I just dismantle the bike entirely and secret it about my clothing as I get on the plane?

My trusty steed.....

...note the socks drying on the front pannier :)

Now about sheep.....

...You know what a shepherd's crook looks like don't you? Yep, of course you do. I bet you starred in your primary school nativity play brandishing a stick with a tin foil-covered coat haNger fashioned to look like a shepherd's crook. Well, my question is....have you ever seen a shepherd's crook used? Yep, I know you've seen David Massey catch Michele on the heel in the nativity play dress rehearsal...but have you ever seen a SHEPHERD use one to catch a sheep? No I guessed you hadn't. Me neither until I espied a shepherd catch a lamb about the neck this morning. So what? Well I concluded that shepherd's crooks actually have a use beyond nativity plays and tripping up the girls at primary school.

That's about as profound as my thoughts got this morning as I pulled my hAlf-hundred weight bike and panniers up the Yorkshire Dales in the driving rain and aganst the wind.

Another thought.....if sheep were frightening, dangerous or aggresive animals then wouldn't the farmers' job be much more difficult. I wonder if the adrenaline rush of herding a bunch of man-eating sheep would attract a different sort of person into farning?

Now that we are all wearing synthetic fleece
Where does all that wool go?

Why do you only see Cumbrian sheep in Cumbria but as soon as you cross into Lancaster they are nowhere to be seen. What's that all about eh?

Why haven't sheep evolved to be a little less timid of humans? Whenever one passes them they run a mile like their lives were at stake. (hmmm, perhaps they know what their ultiate fate is...and at the hands of man. So, I guess they've got good reason to be frightened of every approaching human).

i am definitely a digital immigrant.....

..Because as I lie here in my tent in a field in the middle of North Yorkshires (Hawes to be precise), looking up at the limestone escarpments, the dry stone walls and the sheep grazing I thinks its PRETTY NEAT that I can update my blog. Yep, I know Anna and Joe would roll their eyes at this because it's OBVIOUS that this is possible but I think its really clever.

What's the day held for me? Calls of curlew across the fields, peewit chasing each other and doing their amazing acrobatic stuff (do they do this just for fun or are they catching food on the wing?) And oystercatcher screaming as if I've offended them greatly. Now what are oyster catcher doing on limestone hills eh?

One further noteworthy thing: almost every field has a neat and well-kept little barn in it. We saw these before when Ja£mes and I walked the C2C but why are they so prevalent in Yorkshire but not elsewhere?

Cycled further than planned today (76km) and the last third into th eheadwind. Which takes it out of you. Washing done, bike computer safely charging in the site office. Time for a little rest I think.

not to self.....

Don't leave your only pair of cycling shorts 'drying' on your tent and then disapper to the pub which the thunder storm passes over. Your shorts will NOT get dry and you'll end the evening loitering next to thee only heater in the toilets, like some sad old flasher, waiting for your shorts to get dry (?or just warm and damp?)

when is a campsite not a campsite?

When it's a Caravan and Camping Site....which doesn't allow campers! Thanks Violet Caravan and Camping in Cockermouth. With a few extra kms under my belt I found a nice CAMP site in Low Lorton.

Coast to Coast....tick

Much harder than antiipated because of the fierce Easterly which made it hard work evene going downhill!

Now embarking on a week's circumnavigationof the Lakes. Luxuriating in the bluebell and garlic covering the woodland floors where new green leaves are appearing on the trees. Swifts spotted :). With all this cycling I am wondering if I'll have had quite enouigh time in the saddle by the time the Sierra Cascades ride begins.