I am not a natural cyclist in fact I am more of an accidental cyclist, but after meeting my bike crazed husband my relationship with biking seemed to develop alongside our own. Many years later I found myself a weekend mountain biker and cycle tourist.
Exploring somewhere by bike gives you a great take on an area, you really feel like you get under the skin of a place. This is why we often rent bikes on holiday or take our own with us. It wasn’t until recently we realised that we have never done any exploring from our own doorstep. So we decided to pack up the bikes, head out with a tent and see what we were missing out on.
We made for Coniston from Ulverston, cutting over the tops and using the quieter back roads on the east shore of the lake. The going was a bit tough in places as it was a warm evening and the bikes were heavily laden, but we were rewarded with great views over the Lakes as we crested the hills. We even came across some really interesting sculptures and features along the way which I have never noticed when zipping past in the car.
We spent the night at the Coniston Hall Campsite overlooking the tranquil waters of Coniston. Emerging from the tent in the morning, you couldn’t be greeted with a better view to eat your cereal by! We set out early and took advantage of the quieter traffic to take the more direct route home.
Despite only being a few miles from home it felt like a real adventure and we still got back in time for Sunday brunch. We did 30 miles in total, saving us nearly £20 in mileage, 9.3kg of carbon and burning over 1300 calories so I smugly enjoyed the rest of my weekend and didn’t feel guilty about eating cake!
For a route map click here http://www.dailymile.com/routes/1500275-cycling-route
and for a catch up on the 1000 mile challenge visit
http://www.dailymile.com/challenges/7489-the-golakes-travel-1000-mile-challenge
