Last weekend was the Eden Valley Sportive – an early season 58 mile bike ride from Penrith in the Lake District, round the Eden Valley, taking in some spectacular scenery. I took the opportunity to turn the event into a weekend in the Lakes, doing Sharp Edge on the nearby Blencathra on the Saturday morning in distinctly wintery conditions.
Sharp Edge in winter conditions
On the Sunday the weather started off promising with blur skies but degraded over the course of the morning with lashing rain, though it was still a memorable ride… Although I would quite like to forget my failed track stand which resulted in me falling from standstill, whilst attached to my bike, into mud, in front of 20 or so other riders!
Tea, coffee and thousands of sandwiches, cakes and biscuits were served about half way through the course, thanks to the local Scout group. The roads were predominantly country roads and I only counted one traffic light, excluding a handful right in the centre of Penrith itself. As always, it was great chatting with other riders and riding with similarly paced cyclists.
All in all, an excellent weekend!
Keep cycling
GeekintheHills
Geek in the Hills 