The Hills of Yorkshire - Again!

Now that we've ridden the tandem for a few hundred miles, it was time to take it back to JD Cycles in Ilkley for a tuneup and check - make sure all is working properly and discover if any of those noises were significant! Since Ilkley is in Yorkshire and a 'mere' 40 miles away, we decided to make an overnight trip of it and ride over and back.

Beautiful sunny day leaving Blackburn, so nice that we decided to ride 'over the top' and drop down into Whalley. Then we skirted around the foot of Pendle, going through Whiswell, Pendleton and Downham, Rimington - some of the prettiest villages in the area.

There was quite a bit of uphill going on, and somehow we had a 'net uphill' all day! It was a good ride in what I suspect is Yorkshire's most beautiful time of year - all the gardens are in full bloom. Many of the stone houses are covered in climbing roses.

Very nice B&B in Ilkley and after an exploration of the town (a mini Harrogate perhaps), we went to Bar T'at named after the song Ilkley Moor Bhat 'at (translation: on Ilkley Moor without a hat) and had the place to ourselves, along with more than we could eat. On of the things we're finding is that many restaurants and tearooms are closed early in the week so finding a place to eat can be tricky, but this was very good!

Full English breakfast to fuel us for the day and over at the bike shop for our 9:00 appointment. We had a long list of things to be done and the final bits of kit needed for the big trip. Didn't find
most of the kit, but we did get a good tune up and some advice on braking and cornering. And after a very Italian coffee at a shop around the corner, we headed off for Austwick.

This was going to be our short day, about 20 miles - which was good because the day before's 40ish had been quite rigorous. Unfortunately the cookie we used as a map measuring device did not provide the necessary accuracy and our 20 mile day turned out to be 40! Ack! And guess what? Net uphill again!

We even came over that monster hill into Settle, from the opposite direction!

There were two 'I can't pedal anymore' stops, but we aren't totally pathetic. We are going further, faster and in higher gears so that's some consolation - I think!

Austwick is nestled in a valley (some downhill, yipee!), flower-covered stone houses many of which were built in the 1600 and 1700's. We stated at the Gamecock Pub, owned by a French chef and oo la la, the country French cuisine was wonderful! After a charcuterie platter with the best pork terrine we'd ever had, I had the cassolet and Steve had lapin. No dessert, we were too stuffed!

On the way back from Austwick to Pleasington, we went over a big hill - a very big hill! It took us two hours to get up it and 5 minutes to get down! Key learning for us - if there are no bicycles on the road, there must be a reason why!

Reaching New Heights of Geekiness!

This is part of the 'Embarrass Our Children Campaign'. I think we're well on our way!

A Navigationally Challenged Day = 50 Miles

An interesting day, if a bit navigationally challenged...

Started the day with breakfast at the B&B. This by itself is not unusual, but the setup of this breakfast was different than any we'd had before. At every other B&B we'd been to, the breakfast room consists of little individual tables where Steve and I and the other guests sit by ourselves and have a fairly quiet breakfast. We do say good morning and good day, but that's really the extent of the conversation. The design of last night's farmhouse B&B did not lend itself to that so instead everyone was seated the same big table in front of the fireplace in the very country dining room. It was the best breakfast we've had so far.

We had a very lively conversation with Jeremy, Eric and Sylvia of Toronto and Clearwater, with Bruce from Watford, and Joan and Arthur from Nottinghamshire. Travels, motorbikes, trains (UK and Canada), sailing, motorhomes, and spoons were all discussed. It was lively, interesting and a great way to start the day. It was so good, I'm surprised more B&Bs don't do it, but having read several books on running B&Bs, they all seem to recommend the separate table setup - too bad, one big table was lots more fun!

Today was our big day, 40 miles back home. If we could do this, then the chances are pretty good we'll be able to do our 45 mile days in France. We headed out back through Linton, just as pretty as the night before (no houses for sale though, not surprising) and then through Hetton. Our route took us through Gargreave where we stopped for tea in the Dalesman Cafe which is all decorated with antiques, has one room done up like the interior of a canal boat and is very much like an old time sweet shop. The hills were smaller, but the scenery was just as beautiful. We're quite enamoured of the very narrow roads with no traffic! After a nice wind through the country, we spotted Clitheroe in the distance and knew we were headed towards home.

But that's when things became a bit challenged. We turned onto a road which was supposed to lead us towards Downam, our lunch stop. As we were pedaling along, I noticed a house which I admire each time we go by it on the motorbike, I admire it as we are heading away from home and this was supposed to be a road I'd never been on before. Hmmm, after a map consult, we'd headed in the opposite direction. That was okay, because we could take an alternative route and after a restorative chocolate bar we headed off again. Actually we headed off into uncharted country (i.e., Steve had never been there before).

We wandered over hills, dropped into valleys, climbed back up hills! We went through several towns that were totally new to Steve which was interesting because we were back in Lancashire now and he's been all over on his bicycle and motorbike. We found a very good pub on the top of a hill with a gorgeous valley view - I wish I could tell you where it was!

After a restorative tea and cookie break, we encountered territory that Steve recognised and started to make some headway towards home. My first familiar sight was a Blackburn roundabout which was nice because then I could sort of picture how far it was to home. We came through town and pedaled up New Preston Road towards our street. As we turned the corner onto Billinge End Road, I wasn't sure if we'd make the sharp, steep hill that it starts with, but with much huffing and puffing we got up there. The freewheel from the top down to our house was one of the best ever - and so was the drink in the tub after!

Steve counted, we did 50 miles in hilly country fully loaded with luggage. I think we'll be okay in France.

(There may be a GPS in our future...but where's the fun in that?)

And We Thought There Were a Lot of Hills in Lancashire!

That was until we started bicycling in Yorkshire! Started yesterday heading out of Settle going up hill. As we left town, we passed an old man working in his garden who shouted after us, "You've a long way to go and it's all up hill. Four miles ALL UP HILL!". Then we saw the sign, 1 in 5 grade (you climb 1 foot for every 5 feet you travel). Oh goodie...

I'd love to say we perservered, dug in and heroically made it to the top, but that would be stretching things a bit (or a lot). We actually went about a quarter mile further and then had to get off and push! We didn't have to push the entire way up, but there were two steep bits that we'll save for another time.

Stark, barren, lonely and beautiful is how I think of the Yorkshire Dales. When we got to the top, we could see for miles. It's one of those places where you feel like you've reached the top of the world and the whole thing is spread out before you. There was no one up there but us. All we could hear was the wind whipping through the grass. It's a very alone place and very beautiful.

We continued on with bits of downhill and a very nice headwind. The wind keeps you cool, but if if you're pedaling into it it slows you down. We were pedaling right into it!

After a lovely and fast dowhill run, we dropped back into the valleys. We pootled around the lanes going through Kirkby Malham and stopping for tea, a scone and a bacon buttie in Malham. Some children were there on a field trip and walked by looking at and photographing the tandem. Their teacher said it was the most interesting thing they'd seen so far (nice, but did they not have their eyes open?!).

We had a picnic lunch on the edge of a new mown field. Our view, hills rolling into the distance covered with fields lined with stone walls. The houses in the country parts of Yorkshire are mainly stone, small cottages and bigger houses, many covered with climbing roses or ivy. This time of year the gardens are in full bloom. We admired the view and had a doze in the sunshine.

A bicyclist in an orange beanie hat stopped by for a chat, where have you come from, where are you going type of stuff.

We finished the day by pedaling to Grassington, having a drink and a wander through the shops. We bumped into another couple on a tandem, very serious tandemists - in training for the Lands End to John O'Groats trip (top of the UK to the bottom) planning on doing a hundred miles a day and camping on the way. This means that they will have to carry the camping gear on their bike. I'll ask the more experienced bikers in the group, is it possible to do 100 miles a day for 10 days loaded up with all that gear? Also there are hills, lots of hills!

Steve and I would like to do that trip, but we'll pass on the camping.

Because we hadn't had enough exercise already, we walked to Linton where there was a great pub, The Fountaine, gastro rather than pub grub. Tried their 'beat the clock' special where what you pay is the time you order. A very, very nice meal for 6 something each!

Our B&B is on the banks of the river that winds slowly through Grassington and our room in this old stone farmhouse overlooks the river and the gardens. Breakfast is sharp at 8:45! (We'll need it because it's 40 miles home!)

Yorkshire in Tandem

Sitting in our B&B bed looking out at a fabulous view of a Yorkshire hill covered with rambling stone Walls and watching the scrambling of sheep as they dash from eating spot to eating spot - sheep rush hour perhaps?

On our first overnight tandem trip cycling from Lancashire through a bit of Yorkshire and back again. We're staying in Settle on the first night and Grassington the second and doing between 30 and 40 miles each day.

Had a beautiful ride on back roads yesterday, a few surprise hills, but not too many. The bike is definitely heavier when carrying packed panniers and we think we'll continue our 'training' for France with them on. It would be a real shock to get used to riding without them and then put them on for 500 miles!

The Settle Lodge is where we stayed last night and it's very nice, we would come back. Some places make that little bit of extra effort, offering us a cup of tea with cake when we arrived for example, that costs very little and makes a significant impression on a guest.

Had some great pizza at the Olive Room, might be the best pizza I've had in England. Definitely had the best scone with jam and cream at a little tea shop on Waddington - probably should have ridden over Waddington Fell to burn it off!

Today will be a big climb (might be a walk!) out of Settle and across the Dales to Grassington.

Tandem Tumble

Lots of rides out on the tandem now. We're touring the beautiful country around Pleasington - Whalley, Rivington, Pendleton and all over the Ribble Valley. The trips are ranging from 15 to our trip yesterday of 37 very hilly miles!

Really enjoying the tandem experience and starting to get our act together as a team (mostly!). There's a bit more to riding a tandem than simply hopping on a single bike and taking off. There's the synchronization aspect of two people of different capabilities trying to do the same thing at the same time and the compensation factor particularly for the person in the rear (the stoker) who cannot see the road. We're starting to come closer capability-wise, or to be fair I should say my capability is growing. I can tell my legs are getting stronger and am less bothered by the hills. Steve's getting the gear shifting down, he says he uses a lot more gears a lot more often than you would on a single bike. He's also getting very good at with the running monologue that he needs to communicate the conditions of the road and what he's about to do gear-wise to me - "Big change up," "Big change down," "Bump," "Another bump," and "Lots of bumps!"

We've also discovered that the tandem is not as maneuverable on corners as a single bike as we took a tumble as we turned a corner in front of the Black Dog Pub in Belmont. We now know not to take corners so fast and not to change gears while cornering! No major injuries other than a skinned knee and a sore wrist, and pride - of course there were people sitting outside the pub who witnessed our tumble!

Did our biggest day yet yesterday leaving Pleasington and heading towards Abbey Village, through Belmont, Chorley and Withnell. This trip involved lots of hills, but particularly several long climbs up into the Pennine Moors with spectacular views at the top (which we really enjoyed once we got our breath back!). We had thought that it might be close to 30 miles, but when Steve added it all up it was 37 miles total. With all those hills, we figure we're getting close to being able to handle some of those Brittany days of 45 to 50 miles!

Over the Top of the Nick O'Pendle

The tandem rides have continued (no, it's not just sitting in the garage!) and we've been getting out on it 2-4 times a week. This is training for our bicycling trip to Brittany in September where we'll spend about 10 days covering 500 miles. The rides each day run about 45 miles with the big day at 63 miles. Training for those of us who have sat in front of a computer for the past 3-6 years is a must!

"It's surprising that the Northwest produces so many good riders," Steve said sarcastically as we gasped our way up yet another hill. The Northwest of England is littered with hills. Seems like every place you look, there's another one. Makes for beautiful scenery and very tired legs on a bike! And our house is at the top of a steep hill so the ride home is always uphill!

But we are (I am) getting used to it. I was always put off bike riding because of the hills, but now in some instances I even enjoy going up hill - great way to get warm fast! My 'sit bones' are starting to toughen up and the legs are getting stronger.

We've done 8-9 good sized rides now including a 30 mile jaunt around the Ribble Valley and the loop around Hoghton Tower a couple of times. We've made it up the 3.5 mile Pleasington Hill and the 6 mile mostly uphill climb back from Long Ridge.

The two really big hills in the area are Pendle Hill and Waddington Fell. Yesterday we tackled Pendle Hill for the first time (for me and for the first time in a really long time for Steve). We started out by doing a quick climb up Revidge (no sweat now!) and dropped down through the outskirts of Blackburn into Langho. We stopped at Kath and Jack's in Langho to say hello as we hadn't seen them since we've been back. Then it was up 'over the top' through York and down into Whalley with gorgeous views of the Ribble Valley to our left the whole way. Right at the roundabout in Whalley to head for Sabden. Jack had recommended an antique shop and cafe in Sabden as a good 'tea break' spot so we stopped in there. The cafe wasn't open, but the antique shop was so we had a good rummage around all three floors.

Sabden is at the foot of Pendle Hill so as we turned left out of town we were confronted with the upward climb. The bike has 27 gears, but we dropped quickly down into the lowest one and then it was just peddle, peddle, peddle from there on up. The grade climb on Pendle Hill is 1 in 5 or a climb of one foot for every five feet you traverse. The sheep may have been walking faster than us, but we kept going. At one point, Steve offered to stop (giving me an 'out clause'), but I wanted to see how far we could get. We finally and slowly peddled over the crest and up the remaining hill to the top. WOW, what a view and WOW, look how far up we are!

The top of Pendle was a great place for a picnic and after the climb we enjoyed every bite. After lunch we zoooommmmmmeeeddd down the hill and turned the corner into Pendleton. From there we took a tiny road to Whiswell and then dropped back down into Whalley intending to treat ourselves to a celebratory tea and cake - but the Toby Jug Tea Shop was closed! Oh, no! We had been planning on stopping in at Steve's Uncle John and Auntie Margaret's after Whalley so we just headed off there instead for our cup of tea and a chat. Then it was the long peddle back up Revidge hill and Billinge hill to the house where we got off on very shakey legs!

Steve says even in his cycling days the Nick O'Pendle wasn't something he undertook lightly. It's a good sized hill. The tandem is really proving to be a great bike and it's great to be able to talk (when we aren't gasping uphill, that is!). We're also pretty pleased that we made it over the Nick without stopping!

Close Encounters of the Chicken Kind

A gorgeous sunny Sunday morning, too nice to sit inside! We took the tandem out for an early morning loop. There are some wonderful leafy lanes around here, back roads called B roads. Sometimes not even wide enough for two cars to pass, they meander all over the countryside past farms, sheep and hidden old country houses. The terrain is quite hilly, but the scenery is so beautiful it distracts you from how hard you're pedalling. Shady lanes with the sun filtering through, hedgerows lining the sides with breaks here and there where you glimpse a field, a pasture, the view across a valley. The flowers are out everywhere and the gardens are lush. The rhododendron trees (yes, trees!) which grow wild in the woods here are in full bloom adding a shade of purple to all the green.

And as you pedal down the lane, it smells like summer! Do you remember when you were a kid and you played outside all day during the summer? In the woods, the field or the pasture? Remember how it smelt, hot, a hint of dust, a whiff of flowers and new mown grass? For me, that's the smell of summer.

Along with the flora being out, so was the fauna. We had a close encounter of the chicken kind as one ran out into the road and right in front of the bike as we were zipping along down a hill! Luckily there was no collision and we all rode / flapped away from the incident.

After the leafy lanes, we circled past Houghton Tower . We passed the Houghton Church as they rang the bells for the 10:00 service. The church bells in England sound just like the ones at the end of the movie Scrooge, that very old Englandy sound, very distinct from other places.

I tested out picture taking from the back of the tandem. Taking photographs from the back of the motorbike is something I've been doing for a while now and I was curious to see if it could be done on the tandem. It's so beautiful, I want to take lots of pictures along the way, but it's rather inconvenient to stop every five minutes to take a photo. Seems to work fine except for the delay on my small digital camera, it's an older one with a short pause before it takes the photo. With that, 'on the move' photos can change from the time you press the button from a scenic vista to a Ford Fiesta.

Came back, packed for the motorbike trip to Ireland and planted the rest of our garden (our garden consists of containers on the patio). Julie and Andrew stopped by and we toasted the English sunset. Lovely (and busy) day!

Up Hills and Everything!

Yesterday was a gorgeous, sunny, warm and not rainy day so we took the
tandem out for a tour around the Ribble Valley. We're starting our
'training' for our bike trip to France in September. Steve has just
informed me that one day we will be pedalling 53 miles! Now on a tandem
bike, there is no 'get out clause'. I cannot get tired and call a taxi,
it's just too big to fit so I have to be able to do the mileage!

We headed off from our house and stopped to pick up a few things at the shop
for lunch. This is what we'll be doing on the trip so we wanted to test it
out. We now know that we need a Swiss Army knife or somesuch for cheese and
opening things and that we cannot forget napkins. Also we need a lunch
container that doesn't get mooshed when strapped to the bike with bungie
cords.

Immediately after the shop, we headed uphill. Unlike biking in Florida
which is all flat for miles, the Northwest of England is loaded with hills.
As a matter of fact, if you're not going down a hill, then you're going up
one! And hills have never been my thing. On the tandem, hills are better -
and that's not because Steve does all the pedalling! It's not so easy to
'opt out' mid way up, but there's the sense of being in it together - plus
Steve understands what gears to use to make it easier. It's very funny,
there's one gear that's so low, people walking pass us!

We did 17 miles. Now for the bicyclists in the audience, that's baby stuff,
but for me it was amazing! I've never done more than 3 or 4 miles and I
didn't like that much (actually my idea of exercise has always been turning
the pages of a book!). It was beautiful riding along the country lanes,
past the hedge rows and coming up over the top of a hill and seeing the
patchwork quilt of the valley before us.

After yesterday, I think I can do this except for one thing - 'bicycle
backside'. I thought with the padding I have on my backside plus padded
shorts, spending time on the seat of a bike wouldn't be a problem - not so!
Those 'backside bones' immediately found a direct connection with the bike
seat and proceeded to grind, bounce and bruise over every inch of those 17
miles. My legs were fine and wanted to continue. My lungs were fine and
ready to go. Not so the backside! Steve says it's one of those things that
you just have to keep going and after 6 weeks (WEEKS!!!) or so it will be
fine. Oh goodie...

Other than that and the silly hats, it's great fun!

A Changing View

And the thing that will change our view this summer! The tandem has arrived!



Actually it arrived at 7:25 in the morning (what delivery company delivers at 7:25?!) and woke us out of a very deep, jet-lagged sleep - but we didn't mind because we've been excited about this one for a while! Steve immediately got up and started putting it together. It was all done in a couple of hours and ready to go.







Now we're just waiting for the rain to stop!

On a Bicycle Built for Two!

Went to Ilkley in Yorkshire today to JD Cycles to test out and make a final decision on getting a tandem bike. We had ridden a tandem in Key West and really liked the experience, but weren't fond of the bike (heavy monster, no gears, reverse pedal brakes (remember those from when you were 8?!) and no up-hill ability which is a must in northern England!). That ride lead to one of this year's Red Book goals which was a European Tandem Tour!

We arrived at the tandem shop and were having a look around. The tandem bikes were priced anywhere from 250 to 14,000! We stayed far away from the 14,000 side of the room! As we were wondering where to start, Jamie of JD Cycles came up and started to talk tandems and assess our knowledge (z-e-r-o). We said we'd been on one and liked it. So he took us outside to try one. He also gave us about an hour and a half's worth of instruction - did you know there is a special way to get on a tandem, that the rear rider never puts their feet on the ground and that there is a whole communication language between the 'Captain' and the 'Stoker'?!

We tried out two different ones, one with narrow 'road' tires and one with 'mountain bike' tires. Each had 27 gears and three different brakes. The lowest gear was so 'spinny' you could get up a mountain with it (which we will not be doing soon!). And we were able to find a frame which fit Steve's 6'2" and my 5'4". The ride was far better than we had in Key West (very exciting to see how fast you go!) and the decision was made, we're having a bicycle built for two!

On the way home we took a drive through Yorkshire, which is gorgeous even when it is grey and rainy and February, and we stopped at the Angel at Hetton for lunch. I'm going to have a rave here and say that the food was fabulous! Ham with fois gras to start for me, tiny sausages with a mayo mustard seed sauce for Steve and mains were pheasant and a wonderful soup des poisson. 20 years ago, England was regularly panned for its restaurant food - has that ever changed! England is a food mecca, bringing in and combining the foods of many cultures with its Steve is going to have a very difficult time getting me out of the UK this trip!

Tandeming for Four

Jess took us to Pepe's for breakfast - wohoo, we love Pepe's! It was packed, but the food was great so we didn't mind waiting. After a huge breakfast, we rented the tandem bikes again and introduced Jess and Matt to tandeming through Key West. Southernmost Point, the lighthouse, the beach, the pretty houses, the marketplace, Mallory Square were all visited and then topped off with the biggest ice cream we've ever had! (Note to self, Steve and I have to start splitting these things, they are just too big!). It was a great day out, but very sad to say, we forgot the camera!

Jess's entry into the cocktail competition is deferred until tomorrow night because we used up all the ice last night and forgot to make more. She did do a very nice un-iced cocktail, but the judges decided it was an unequal playing field and allowed another submission - again.

Key West in Tandem

At last! A day off! It seems like it all should be days off, doesn't it? That doesn't seem to be the case yet. There's always stuff we're doing whether it be fixing up the boat (that to-do list hasn't disappeared), fixing the things we have broken, fixing new things we've discovered, making modifications to make things more comfortable or domestics (shopping, cleaning, laundry, getting water / fuel / marine supplies). They say cruising is a lifestyle, not a vacation. But today was a day off with, mostly, no chores to be done.

We locked up the boat and piled ourselves and all our stuff into the dingy (oars, lifejackets, gas tank and dingy bag containing all the necessities we might need should we be stranded in the dingy - handheld VHS, GPS, sun lotion, water bottle, rain ponchos, warmer clothes) and headed across the harbor to the marina and the dingy dock. On an earlier excursion we had seen a bike rental place with tandem bicycles. We've talked several times about a tandem and wanted to try one out. Steve did a great deal of bicycling in his youth and I did not. We'd like to do more of it, but I have visions of riding along with Steve a mile ahead of me - not exactly conducive to good conversation. So we rented the tandem and after a very wobbly (and funny) start, we were off!

Loved the tandem! It was great riding around the tree lined streets of Key West looking at all the houses. I had to admire the scenery on the left and right as Mr. Broad Shoulders blocked the view in front. What a shame to be forced to look as lovely houses, in shop windows and at all the pirates - loads of pirates wandering around Key West!

Perfect day for cycling all over the island, north to south and east to west. Think we did about 12 miles in all. By the time we sat down for lunch, we were beginning to feel the effects of a few miles and we realised it was a very heavy bike! We thought it might be a good idea to call it a day and stopped to pick up groceries at Publix (just a bit cheaper than the marina grocery store, like 50%!). On the way back we encountered a very tiny hill which I had to get off the bike and walk up because the thighs just could hack it! It was a great way to tour around the island, but we happily gave it back and hobbled back to the dingy!

While we were away, the weather changed which made for a wet ride back across the harbor - we got soaked! But the boat was where we left it and hot showers were available when we got there!