Faffing From Arnside to Ulverston: Post-Lockdown Ride

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We made a loop of this one by going back on the train. Our initial plan was to go as far as Flookburgh then turn back but that went out of the window after a coffee and further faffing with the map. Most of the first bit was flat, up the estuary and surprisingly quick which made us feel invincible. Actually, Bev was bored because she doesn’t like it flat or easy!

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We headed up a humongous hill out of Grange on the Cartmel Road (to cut a corner). You’d just get around a bend and the hill would go further and further up! Oh, how we can laugh now! After Cartmel we carried on climbing and lunch on the top near Bigland Hall. We saw two other female cyclists who must have just climbed up the other side of the hill and they weren’t even out of breath!

We went all the way down the bloody hill to The Lowood Hotel with our brakes on! Along the river to Greenodd, the first part of the track was lovely and smooth then it went to a single lane walking which was bit slippy and wet causing Bev to swear. You’d need to be on a hybrid for this bit. Over the bridge at Greenodd the track all but disappeared taking up a dual carriageway. It wasn’t nice because traffic was barrelling past and there was no cycle lane so we were bumping over the cat’s eyes in the gutter. We didn’t divert off this track and lost the signs altogether which had been fairly good up to that point. By Ulverston, we were starting to flag and had to pull in for a petrol station coffee. A bit more faffing was in order (we were starting to lose it).

Having exhausted our adventurous spirits we headed to the train station which was quite an amusing experience because we were getting clumsy, delirious and stupid. Despite it being the end of July, we’d started to feel the effects of the wind and cold. Getting on the train was easier than expected as we made sure that our buffs were in place before we did our final faff.

All in all, we’d done far less mileage than we thought and now, looking at the route, I must admit that we could have avoided all the climbing if we hadn’t taken the short-cut, but where would the fun be in that?