Day 8 Forest Of Bowland To Keswick

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Wonderful ride over the Forest of Bowland at the start, not somewhere you hear much about, but it is now a favourite of mine. As I had to double back last night I was worried about today's journey as I had more distance and a hell of a lot of climbing to do (124km and 1700m). Started well with a steep long climb but then very early on I had lost all my energy. Panicked as I was basically cooked after 30km out of 124, first time I had actually struggled. Then I realised I had not added electrolyte to my water and was dehydrated (can be a big problem for us ileostomates). Sorted that out and about two hours later started to feel ok. Then had a great ride into the lake District. One of the safe routes I had planned was closed (Bowness Ferry out of action) so had to go on the busy A591 which I had wanted to avoid at all costs. In the end had an exhilarating ride on it downhill from Ambleside by going as fast as I possibly could so instead of cars trying to squeeze past me I kept in the traffic (riding a line like a motorbike) which was a lot safer and scarily fast! Now in a B&B in Ashness close to Keswick, a place that has special memories for me with Jo.

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