Day six.

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Morning dawned damp and misty. Calum advised me that I should do stretching exercises before cycling. It helps avoid cramps and is especially important when the weather is like that. Well I haven't suffered a cramp before when cycling but I gave it a go. Never again, I was limping for two days after that. We set off up Argengarthdale, another long climb but by now we were getting good at this, or so we thought. After about twenty minutes of climbing an old man on a sit-up-and-beg, flat cap etc. caught us up and chatted amiably for about ten minutes. I struggled to catch my breath to hold the conversation but he was not troubled at all. Eventually he turned off on to a track and we were left to struggle up the dale anonymously. The ride across The Stang is supposed to be very beautiful, the mist was so thick we were lucky not to crash in to each other.

After shopping in Barnard Castle we tackled the second climb of the day through the most superb moorland scenery over the moors to Stanhope. Then we had the pleasure and enjoyment of a third big climb in one day, the well known Crawleyside Bank. I remember tackling this several times as a teenager and it was well known as a savage climb. Now as a thirty something and with fully loaded panniers how would I cope. My mind had been on this climb for several days as it happens so I was mentally prepared. I engaged low gear (I knew it was a long way to go) and made slow but steady progress. As it happens it wasn't as bad as I expected. A combination of low gears and a week of practice made the climb a pleasure which is as it should be. Once again the mist enveloped us over the moors making the trip strangely quiet and we arrived at Edmunbyers just as the doors opened at 17:00. This was a special place for me, it was the first hostel I ever visited. I was on a school trip in 1973 so I suppose Alan would have been there too. I was aching for the warden to ask if I had been there before so I could say “Yes back in '73” but she never did. Bert and Alan cooked dinner, a mixed stir fry with fruit cake to follow. That night we went over to The Punchbowl and met Terry for a couple of pints. Now it just happened that there was a pub quiz on so we took part, just to be neighbourly. Well we won didn't we? It was looking a bit dodgy for a while until someone had the great idea of donating the prize (beer tokens) to the runners up. We couldn't have used the beer tokens anyway, they were only valid in that pub and it guaranteed us a safe exit and passage back to the hostel.

Day seven.

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It was still misty in the morning when we set off. We managed to find the disused railway at Shotley Bridge which is now The Derwent Walk. This was good quality cycling all the way to Swalwell, very fast too with only slight gradients. We were back in Dunston by 11:30 and were able to catch the England v. Argentina game in the Dun Cow. That night we met up with several others to celebrate George's fortieth birthday. The cycle holiday had truly been the 'thirty something' tour. Nearly every day we did thirty something miles and we were all for the last time thirty somethings.