Settle, Not Settling (July 25th)

Despite last night’s map reviews, I didn’t know exactly where I was heading today. I had an intermediary destination but not a final destination. I had sent out a Warm Showers request but had yet to get a response – either favourably or negatively. I decided I would set out to the town of Hawes and hope a plan would formulate somewhere along the way.

Before Fee had to rush off to work, I remembered to get a picture with my hosts … I’ve been better at doing that on this tour. With the photo mission complete I was almost ready to pack up and go. There was a minor bicycle maintenance issue I’ve been meaning to investigate for some time now but until this morning, I kept forgetting. It’s not really maintenance but I wanted to measure the circumference of my wheels. My trip computer bases its calculations on said circumference and I’ve suspected for a while that the wheels on my new bike are a bit smaller than my original bike. Fortunately, Brian had a measuring tape and we were able to test my hypothesis. After a quick measurement it turns out that the circumference of my current wheels is in fact 20 mm shorter than my original bike. Not enough to make a significant difference to my mileage calculations but I was happy to get the correct measurement and adjust my computer accordingly.

I set out for Hawes and had a rather significant crosswind for much of the ride. It affected my pace a bit but not drastically so. (Spoiler Alert: It would slow my pace later in the day.) I had a few options in terms of my route to Hawes but in the end decided to take a route that went through a Ministry of Defense Training Area. Brian assured me it was open to traffic. As such, I felt I couldn’t pass up that opportunity.

As I neared the training area I could definitely hear the sounds of some sort of weapons being fired. I don’t know what they were but they were loud. However, by the time I actually arrived at the entrance to the training area everything had gone silent.

I’ve cycled through a few military bases or locations in the past and I find the most interesting thing is generally the signs along the road. Simply put, they’re not signs you normally see. “Tank Crossing”. “Danger Unexploded Ordnance”. “Pedestrian Foot Path”??? Okay, that one caught me by surprise. Less than 100 metres from he “Unexploded Ordnance” sign was a signpost marking a pedestrian footpath. Weird. That said, I stayed on my bike.

I pedalled my way through the training area without incident – although, I did stop for a few photos along the way. Shhhhh. Don’t tell.

From there I continued through the town of Kirkby Stephen. As luck would have it, the White Lion pub had an open WiFi connection to which I could connect. It was particularly lucky in this case because a quick check of my email revealed that I officially had a Warm Showers host for tonight. Today’s official destination was now Settle. The route to Settle would still go through Hawes so my intermediary destination remained unchanged.

As I made my way to Hawes, there was plenty of beautiful scenery to take in including another ruined castle, a couple of beautiful viaducts, and along the way I entered Yorkshire Dales National Park. The ride to Hawes was going very well.

It was around 2:00 PM when I arrived in Hawes. Once there I briefly explored the main street before heading over to Wensleydale Creamery. Again, I’d never heard of it before but apparently they’ve been hand-making cheese there for more than 100 years. And as it turns out it’s a rather popular place. Apparently, it also has a connection to the Wallace & Gromit comic.

I wandered through the gift shop and the cheese shop and even tried a few samples – again, communal food samples are generally not my thing but I thought I’d live dangerously. I tried four or five of their cheeses but didn’t actually buy any because, well … I’m on a bike and I think I already have enough excess baggage.

The route from Hawes to Settle required me to head west for a bit which meant the crosswind that had accompanied me all morning was now a very unpleasant headwind (yes, I realize that “unpleasant” is a bit redundant). However, there ended up being a bit of delay before I would have to face said headwind.

As I made my way towards the steep climb that led out of Hawes, something didn’t quite feel right with my bike. A quick look down at my rear wheel revealed an inflation issue. As in, it wasn’t inflated. Sigh. I pushed my bike about 100 metres to a grassy area back in town which for some unknown reason had a plastic chair just sitting there. At least I’d be able to work on the repair in relative comfort.

As flat tires go, this one was pretty easy to fix. I found the hole without much effort at all and putting the tire back on the rim was infinitely easier with my current tires and rim. Unlike my old bike, no rage was required to reassemble my bike. I won’t lie, that was a pleasant surprise (under the circumstances).

When I got back on the road about 30 minutes later I was hounded by the headwind I had anticipated. On the upside, there was no rain. It was probably about an hour of fighting the wind before I finally got to make a left turn at the Ribblehead Viaduct and gained a reprieve from the wind. It was beautiful. From there the ride to Settle was borderline effortless.

I arrived in Settle shortly after 6:00 PM where I met my Warm Showers host, Richard. Like previous hosts, Rich was very welcoming. I originally expected to be sleeping in my tent in his yard but he had a spare room which I ended up calling home for the night. That said, I still set up my tent as it was still damp from the other day and I figured this would be a good chance to dry it out.

While my tent dried out, Rich offered to do a load of laundry (which is always needed on a cycling tour). After a quick shower, I had a great dinner with Rich who then asked if I wanted to go out to a pub for a pint. I’m not sure, but I think the answer to that question is always, “Yes”.

We ended up going for a mini walking tour of Settle which followed up a bit of a cliff path to reveal a great view of the town. I should’ve brought my camera! On the upside, at least I had my phone – proving that the best camera is the one you have with you.

From there we went to a couple of pubs and enjoyed a beer or two (okay, maybe three). It was great. Side note: I’m still not used to the fact that dogs are allowed in pubs. Personally, I think it’s great but it’s just not something that you would see back home. Anyway, Rich and I chatted a lot about a wide range of topics – travel, politics, dogs in pubs, and so on. It was a very enjoyable night. Oh, and apparently if I find myself in Australia (Melbourne, I believe), there’s a girl he wants to introduce me to. Hmmmm … I’ve never been to Australia!

Completely unrelated side note: Happy Birthday to my original Miata (aka. Miata #1). Remarkably it’s been 22 years since it was won. I’ve learned that it ended up being bought by someone in Manitoba. Sadly, I also learned that it suffered a fatal incident several years back. Just to be clear, when I say “fatal”, the driver was fine. “My” car on the other hand … not so much. RIP.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 87.92 km
Ride time: 5:08:54
Average speed: 17.07 km/h
Maximum speed: 63.94 km/h