From Greenhead to Corbridge (Day 3)

We crossed the Pennines!

Distance: 30 miles. Elevation Gain 1766feet

First of all a huge thanks to all of you who sacrificed their wine to the Weather Gods. The Met Office weather forecast today was for heavy rain most of the day. Well, it was a grey start to the day but as the time moved on the rain held off and we arrived in Corbridge in sunshine. Saddle describe the ride as the most dramatic of the trip, and dramatic it most certainly was. The views were absolutely amazing and it was stunning to hear nothing else but birdsong and the baa baaas from the sheep.... Oops sorry ... there was also the sound of our curses for the first 60% of the ride. We had completed this ride 7 years ago and revelled in the challenge, but this time the undeniable fact was that we are older and much less fit. So we spent much time pushing our bikes up these hills. Bob was a trooper in that he would push his bike up these 1in4 gradients and then walk down to help me push mine up. However, the descents were mind blowingly wonderful.

What was so extraordinary was the sense of isolation when at the summit,

The summit - with an overiding sense of isolation.

One of the joys of the day was seeing all the flowers inn the verges. Dog roses were everwhere and were incredibly delicate and beautiful,

Dog roses everywhere

All day we have been following Hadrian’s Wall. The wall goes up and over the Pennines and we are in awe of the soldiers/slaves who built it. Again using a human metaphor, those hills are not only the sadistic psychopaths that I described last night but today they were serial killer psychopaths. They showed no mercy on us and would have shown no mercy to the soldiers and slaves who would have been carrying and building the wall with these huge and heavy stones. Our joy at reaching the summit today was enormous.. it was the highest point of the whole trip. Whilst there we saw Bambi! You may think that all baby deer look the same but this one was most definitely Bambi.

Joy at reaching the summit!

After all the pain of climbing we were treated to a superb descent into Haltwhistle. - the Centre of Britain.

The Centre of Britain

We continued into Corbridge to arrive at Fellcroft B&B where we were greeted by Tove, our host. She has been one of the best hosts ever. She made us so welcome, reserved a restaurant table for us and drove us there and back. She, along with all the people we have met over the years cannot be complimentary enough about Saddle Skedaddle.

Signing off for tonight with love.

Annette and Bob