Introducing June, Cathy, Paul, Sandra, John, Sara, me, Kay, Niki (Rachel and David missing)
After an evening in the Ratty Arms in Ravenglass and a real ale, had a great night's sleep. Shared a family room with Niki, Kay and Rachel. Woke at 7.30am for breakfast and to witness the early morning rain. We had a lovely view of the estuary from our attic room. Stunning. Even on a wet morning.
Lovely breakfast in the B&B and then off to pack and find the support van to drop bags and collect bikes. I needed to fit my new race blades (clip on mudguards) and managed with the rear. The front was more challenging and there was insufficient time for it - the group were chomping at the bit to get going.
A 50 mile ride out to Silloth today for dinner at the golf club.
We had a very beautiful route to follow. Route 72 on the National Cycle Network. Starting out across the estuary over a narrow bridge and then a coastal path alongside the sea next to the dunes. The rain eased and it gragually brightened. I even took off my waterproof coat at one point and cycled in short sleeves. Lush.
A section on an off road but smoothly tarmacadamed path caught me unawares. A deceiving right hand bend was either a) misjudged or b) tighter than tight. And I was off into the grassy verge. It was soft. It was wet. It was really stingy. I somehow came unclipped from my pedals and left my bike to land also in the grass. Lucky really. I was fine. But then I looked up to find the carnage which was Niki in a heap on the pathway, unable to steer around me. She had her right foot still clipped in to her pedal and was twisted. She was holding her right arm and elbow. She had a ripped right knee on her lycra 3/4s and .....blood. My attention immediately went to her. There were other cyclists coming up behind too and she was in the pathway. Kay helped too. Niki was unclipped and helped to the side of the path and her bike cleared. She was shaking and shocked.
Rachel opened her vast pannier to reveal a full first aid kit and whilst I had my 300+ nettle stings coated in tiger balm and rubbed with a dock leaf, Niki had wipes, remedies and a drink.
Paul checked over the bikes only to find that my steering headset was.....well....not tightened. That may have contributed to the incident. Niki's bike seemed fine.
After a few moments, and lots of apologies we were off again. Laughing about the incident. Laughing about the flattened patch of grass.
We lunched at Whitehaven and saw a group setting off on the C2C route. It was a lovely day by now.
The route continued into Silloth where we checked into the Queen's Hotel (with secure cycle storage - LIKE) and had time for a shower and a mini sleep before dinner. It was raining very hard when we were heading out for dinner so that we hopped into the back of the van for a lift.
We had a lovely meal and then home to bed....via the bandstand on the front for a moment of quiet reflection.
The day started and ended....GLOWING
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