Saturday 3 September to Tuesday 6 September

This is a bit of a catch up as I've felt a bit under the weather for the last couple of days.

Sibling aggression - Alison keeping Don in order! 

a late lunch with Alison and Ivan

Heading for Milnrow out out of Saddleworth my waterproof came out for the first time as we climbed the hill out of Denshaw.  After the initial downpour we had a mainly sunny ride to Todmorden where we stopped for coffee and I indulged in a bacon roll.  A few more showers as we went through Burnley, Nelson and Colne.  By phone I coordinated a meeting with my sister Alison and her husband Ivan and we met at the Punch Bowl just north of Earby.  By this time the rain had become quite persistent and the landlord kindly covered our bikes with a couple of boxes.  Time to catch up on some family news (unfortunately not all good) and another 4 beers to my tally.

Then off to  the YHA at Malham in the rain for a welcome shower and then down to the visit the pubs in the village for food and more ale.  I'm not sure whether Martin's choice of music on the jukebox had a possitive or negative effect on the bar takings!!

Next morning (Sunday) we headed north  past Malham Cove.  Martin was keen to see this, and it is spectacular, but I had visited a couple of times on school field trips and didn't altogether appreciate the climb up.  Cycling down to the main road we hit a particularly hairy hill which tested the effectiveness of my brakes.

Once we hit the main road north I was ahead of Martin (this appears to be the theme, with Martin being "King of the Mountains" but me excelling on the down-hills and the flat).  I reached Horton-in-Ribblesdale and thought it was time for a coffee so stopped at the first pub, left my bike outside, in full view and went in to order two coffees.  Sat outside and chatted to some guys who were doing the "3 peaks".  Also got a mobile signal and had chats with Ben and Alex.  After a while, no sign of Martin, so I rang him and left a voice-mail message that his coffee was going cold.  A while later I left my bags in the pub and, with the necessary tools in case he had technical problems, head back a couple of miles to no avail.  I flagged down a car and asked if they'd seen him, but no!!  So back to the pub to pick up my bags, down a swift half and chase him up the road after a delay of nearly an hour and a half (Briony, make an appointment for him with Robert Doig or Clare Wyman (opticians) when he gets back!!!).

Ribblehead Viaduct

Then off to the spectacular railway viaduct at Ribblehead on the Settle to Carlisle line where a lady stopped her car and gave me a message from Martin that he would meet me in Hawes.  After a pleasant ride in the sunshine down to Hawes it was immediately apparent that there was no chance of finding anyone - the place being mobbed with bikers, tourists, day trippers and locals just out enjoying the weather.  Another half and a sandwich and off to Kirkby Stephen where we finally met up.  During the day my breathing had become more laboured and so out came the inhalers that I hadn't used for over 12 months.  A pleasant ride on to Appleby (the location of the famous gypsy horse fair) with Martin taking a diversion ON HIS OWN to see the  house at Great Asby where his parents used to live.  Then a few challenging hills to round off the day before arriving at the YHA at Dufton,  There was a convenient pub just over the road where I managed to persuade the chef to feed us although they had finished serving food. Today would have been Linda Norgrove's 37th birthday so we toasted her memory in silence,  After a meal and a couple of pints I left Martin blogging in the pub and returned to the hostel for an early night.

I was oblivious to Martin's attempts to get into the hostel after he was the last one to leave the pub.

Monday started with torrential rain which stopped just before we set off.  I have never been bothered when cycling in traffic but the quarter mile that we had to take along the A66 (reputedly the most dangerous road in the UK) was horrendous.  A stop off in Penrith to get advice from a pharmacist and a coffee and teacake (not the Tunnock's variety).  I rang the group practice in Stornoway and  Martin asked his mum to arrange an appointment for me with a GP in Carlisle which she kindly did.

Torrential rain accompanied much of our journey to Carlisle but the last stretch was a pleasant and dry run along a cycle track by the River Caldew which brought us right to Martin's parents' front door.

We received a warm welcome from Enid and David and David took me into the city to Jessops to get the batteries for my camera charged and then to the surgery.

Dinner with Enid and David

By coincidence, as I was in with the doctor, Brian Michie rang me back from Stornoway so I handed my phone over to her so that they could discuss me (not quite behind my back as I did hear one half of the conversation!).  Anyway it seems that I have a slight lung infection so have been prescribed anti-biotics and advised to rest.  I'll decide about the "rest" tomorrow.  Back to Martin's parents for a lovely meal prepared by Enid and off to bed at 9pm!!

Took the sensible decision  to rest up on Tuesday with a long sleep in the afternoon.  This means rearranging accommodation for the rest of the trip and us imposing ourselves for an extra night.