We set off from Iains house near Penrith and travelled to Shap (village), over Shap (summit) then descended almost to Kendal, cutting the corner off to reach Staveley via some minor country lanes. A little bit of main road toward Windermere, then cut through to join the road which climbs up to Kirkstone Pass. From Kirkstone it was a pleasant tailwind down to Patterdale, Glenridding, Pooley Bridge and finally back to Askham where we had began 3hrs 15 minutes earlier.
Those are the facts of the day. The stories of the day include me taking a severe whipping at the supreme fitness of Mr Kelly. As the day wore on I was reminded of the big run we did together a year or two ago over the Derwent watershed summits - that day I grew ever weaker but somehow clung on to the pace until we finally bagged the final summit and I could drop down the waiting car. Today I still felt strong until about 4 miles to go but those final few miles included a killer climb which despite being probably just a tenth of the scale of Kirkstone, sapped the last morsels of physical strength from my legs to accompany the mental beating I was enduring watching Iain disappear into the distance.
We had a good day out overall though, really caught up the craic, then enjoyed a superb cup of tea and delicious cakes at Ians gaff before going home (in the van).
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| And here is the star of todays show - Iain 'slippyhands' Kelly at Kirkstone Pass summit. |
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