THE MILLE PENNINES 1,000KM + LEL 2017 – SO NEAR, SO FAR
… day two. It was freezing cold. ❝ My feet and fingers grew numb. I missed a turn, and at Cautley garage I was forced to retraced the 13km back to the road to Garsdale Head
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Starting the second day of the Mille Pennines © Dean Clementson
West Tanfield I was finally dropped after half hour so I took my own pace, caught two slower riders and eventually crossed the bridge into Middleham where I couldn’t find my way out! Reaching a signpost for “Forbidden Corner”, I returned to find Ian Ryall and others had arrived and were all munching away, under the glow of street lights. I found the almosthidden Leyburn sign and diverted onto a tiny road out to Wensley. It was raining hard, but it had no chance of reviving me! Coasting down hills and on the flats I was very sleepy. I needed the hills to wake me up. With overgrown hedges and with no fence to prop my bike against, I just imagined a wall and stood and dozed in the road until a cyclist came past. Following his red tail light to Hawes jerked me awake and the long climb out woke me up properly. Really “flying” to Garsdale Head, Garsdale and Sedbergh – I made it back for 04.10 over an hour behind my six-man team. 339km in 23 hours.
MONDAY: DAY 4
Leaving at 07.08, I felt okay. I stopped at a friend’s house in Thurnham for refreshment. Ian Ryall rescued me again at Pilling Junction. I arrived at Bispham for 11.48, finishing inside 74 hours! Many thanks to Andy Corless for the lift to Walk Mill traffic lights, which saved me doing an extra 100km, leaving only 36km to get home, and easy, blissful sleep. 34
ArrivéeWinter/Spring2018
The very steep climb out of ❝ town was just a taster for several very severe climbs… later on, a wrong turn took us back up a 20%, immediately after doing a 25% drop, a little disheartening.
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