Day 2
Brignall to Reeth
43.2 miles with 4,177ft climbing
When we looked out of the window first thing the weather looked anything but promising, in fact it looked damp and dismal, but after we had eaten an excellent breakfast it seemed to be looking a little brighter so we were hopeful that the weather would be better than the forecast predicted. We left Lily Hall Farm and retraced our route back to Barnard Castle and then along the Teesdale road as far as Cotherstone. We were pleased to find the traffic was very light and cycling was easy and pleasant. at this time it was bright and sunny but as the morning wore on it became more and more overcast. From Cotherstone we took the country lanes towards the reservoirs further along the valley which added some additional interest to our journey, not to mention the hilly terrain we had to negotiate. As we gained height we could see the weather was closing in and sure enough we were shortly hit by a succession of of short sharp showers but not being able to find shelter we had no option but to push on until we reached the top. Our reward was a 5 mile descent at high speed on an excellent road surface all the way down to Brough where we found a coffee stop. While there, we got into conversation with another cyclist who turned out to be a priest on his way to the Appleby Horse fair to conduct a service for the Romany and travelling community. He also told us that his rout so far had been along the A66 and had experienced a couple of near misses along the way. Perhaps his bss had been looking after him.
After we left Brough we had a few miles of country lanes before we met the long climb up to Tan Hill, the highest pub in Britain. It was also the highest (1732ft) point of our entire trip. After a couple of photos we set off for the final leg of the day, an 11 mile downhill dash to Reeth and our accommodation for the night at the Black Bull.
After we left Brough we had a few miles of country lanes before we met the long climb up to Tan Hill, the highest pub in Britain. It was also the highest (1732ft) point of our entire trip. After a couple of photos we set off for the final leg of the day, an 11 mile downhill dash to Reeth and our accommodation for the night at the Black Bull.