Hadrian's Audax - Day 1 Bowness-on-Solway to Grindon

We all met up on the evening of Friday the 26th in Carlisle to make our final preparations and have a few jars of ale. We managed to behave ourselves that night as we were saving ourselves for the first days ride. We stayed at the lovely Howard Lodge Guest House in Carlisle (very cycle friendly). A grand Victorian building set close to the centre of Carlisle. A huge cooked breakfast set us up for the days ride on a cool morning. Maile dropped Steve, Mark and I off in Bowness-on-Solway by car a bit later than we had planned but still at a reasonable start time of 10 am. Maile headed back to Carlisle to pick up her bike and head to the halfway point (Grindon) before catching us up on bike by heading west as we headed east. Confused? Yes it was a logistical quandary.

Our ride east towards Carlisle followed along the south coast of the Solway, just above sea level. Nice and flat, allowing us to warm up slowly and digest our meaty breakfast. The road was mostly closed to road works, so we had a relatively traffic free run into Carlisle. We did, however, have to dodge the occasional cow, sheep or cattle grid. The sky to the north was black as coal but the sun was shining to the South. We were prepared for the worst but hoping it wouldn't materialise.

Once in busy Carlisle we happened to stop and chat to a Swedish phrenologist with an interest in the progression of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Only when you travel do you meet some interesting, if slightly eccentric, people. We now know a few things about cycling in Sweden that would bore the socks off the most hardcore dullards.

Once out of Carlisle we found some very pleasant riding near Lanercost Priory. The lanes were rolling, woody and quiet. With black clouds still looming we climbed steeply through the village of Banks up onto the moorlands and hooked up to Hadrian's Wall, which we would follow all the way to Newcastle. Some sections of the wall are still in good condition, considering they were built ca. AD 122. We stopped at a few places along the wall to take the ubiquitous pictures. Once we started following the wall, we could see quite clearly how the Romans liked to build walls and roads, straight at possible! By this point we were desperate for a coffee. Fortunately we found Slack House Farm near Birdoswald, which does excellent organic coffee, scones and jam. The cheese looked good too, but there wasn't enough room in my bag for cheese. I have enough trouble getting myself up hills, let alone with a block of mature cheddar!

A few miles further on we finally caught up with Maile at Greenhead and the sun came out. It was good to see she was getting on okay, but she had some news for us. We had a 14% graded hill to climb not far ahead! This hill was a pretty good test for all of us. Mark made it up first with me next, huffing and puffing. Steve wasn't far behind with Maile bringing up the rear. Unfortunately she had to walk up some of it as her rear derailleur was playing up. After we caught our breath (some time later) we made good progress along the B6318, stopping for a pint and nibble at some pub whose name I can't remember. Good beer though. A fairly relaxing, and very straight, ride for the next few miles brought us to our halfway point at 4 pm. We had enough time to relax and enjoy the evening. We stayed at the very conveniently located Old Repeater Station, where our host Les kept us fed, watered and somewhat entertained.

Chuck