As I climbed out of bed this morning there were protests from certain of my muscles, unaccustomed as they have become to rough terrain and hills. That wasn't a problem, as today was down as a travelling and chores day, not a walking day...
...but the weather is so good just now. And it's a bank holiday, which suggested that forestry operations were unlikely to be active. And we were going to be driving past Peel Fell anyway. And it wasn't too big an outing.
So, I went up Peel Fell.
Unburying my bicycle from Bertie's boot was quite an endeavour, but it's one that Mick kindly undertook whilst I faffed around indoors and tried to convince my weary body that nipping up a hill really was a better option than having a mid-afternoon kip.
It was gone ten past three by the time I pedalled off up the road, discovering after a couple of hundred metres that there was a layby right opposite the forest track I was to take. Ne'er mind. I'm sure the extra few pedal strokes did me good.
My objective. I stopped lower down in the forest to take a snap from a much better vantage point, but got distracted faffing with other things and completely forgot my reason for stopping
It's always a joy when an outing turns out to be significantly easier than expected, and this was one of those days.
The bike ride (my first time on my bike since Marilyn-bagging in Scotland last May) was a sufficiently gentle reintroduction to the activity, with only one short section of track causing me to click my way into the easiest gear.
Once I'd abandoned the bike at the track end, I expected a tussocky yomp. I certainly didn't anticipate a trodden line, with regular waymarkers, but that's what I got.
It may not qualify as a good path to most people, but it's a definite trodden line, making the going much easier than expected.
Another hazy day puts most of the hills behind me out of view.
Getting back down was a retracing of steps, and I'm afraid that in order to get back to my bicycle I had to break the rules:
Talking of getting back to my bicycle: on my way there I spotted another bike leaning against a cut tree trunk. "How odd!" I thought, as I hadn't seen anyone else on the hill. Where could they have been walking? And how fit must they be to have tackled the path beyond the track end? Then I noticed the track just a few yards away from the bike and realised that it was, in fact, mine. Idiot!
The stats: 2.5 miles each way on the bike and a few yards under 1 mile each way on foot. Around 190m ascent on the bike and 220m on foot.
...but the weather is so good just now. And it's a bank holiday, which suggested that forestry operations were unlikely to be active. And we were going to be driving past Peel Fell anyway. And it wasn't too big an outing.
So, I went up Peel Fell.
Unburying my bicycle from Bertie's boot was quite an endeavour, but it's one that Mick kindly undertook whilst I faffed around indoors and tried to convince my weary body that nipping up a hill really was a better option than having a mid-afternoon kip.
My route. Light red was by bike, bold red on foot.
It was gone ten past three by the time I pedalled off up the road, discovering after a couple of hundred metres that there was a layby right opposite the forest track I was to take. Ne'er mind. I'm sure the extra few pedal strokes did me good.
My objective. I stopped lower down in the forest to take a snap from a much better vantage point, but got distracted faffing with other things and completely forgot my reason for stopping
It's always a joy when an outing turns out to be significantly easier than expected, and this was one of those days.
The bike ride (my first time on my bike since Marilyn-bagging in Scotland last May) was a sufficiently gentle reintroduction to the activity, with only one short section of track causing me to click my way into the easiest gear.
Once I'd abandoned the bike at the track end, I expected a tussocky yomp. I certainly didn't anticipate a trodden line, with regular waymarkers, but that's what I got.
It may not qualify as a good path to most people, but it's a definite trodden line, making the going much easier than expected.
Getting back down was a retracing of steps, and I'm afraid that in order to get back to my bicycle I had to break the rules:
The stats: 2.5 miles each way on the bike and a few yards under 1 mile each way on foot. Around 190m ascent on the bike and 220m on foot.
Chuckling...
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