Woke a couple of times in the night with a numb arm. Not over-inflating the mattress definitely helps and oddly it’s the arm in the air that’s numb, not the one beneath me. I’m going to put that down to old age. Anyway eventually got up at about 0730 when the light rain finally stopped enough to make it worth getting up.
I sorted the tent out a bit, putting food, clothes, wash stuff in separate areas and generally giving myself a bit more space and organization. I decided not to make bad campsite coffee, and rode into Bakewell instead. Mostly downhill so I left the assist turned off.
Picked a good breakfast place from Google maps and indeed the veggie breakfast was good. However, the coffee was not - too bitter and the oat milk used had a strong aftertaste. The disappointment of not achieving a good morning coffee was strong so I searched for another specific coffee place and came across Summat, which seems to foster a good community and has a gym in back. Coffee there was good and so mission accomplished and the place noted for tomorrow.
While I was there I got the wifi code - the barista handed me the code from the wifi unit directly and it also had the admin password! I was mildly tempted to offer to setup their guest account for them. Maybe tomorrow.
While there I picked a route from Komoot. I deliberately picked a shorter route of roughly 30 miles, figuring I’d take it easy and try and minimize the amount of assistance used, starting with only about 55% battery left. Foolishly, I rode to the route’s start, which was distinctly uphill, only to come back along a good part of the way I’d already ridden. Of course, I lost altitude that had to be recovered. Not a disaster but it was climbing I could have done without.
The route then descended into a valley and I promptly found a turn blocked by a locked gate. A few minutes later I found a way around when a couple of cyclists passed me and asked if I was using the Monsal Trail, saying it was closed for work at one point. We chatted for a couple of minutes and it seemed I could probably find a route around the section. I’d worry about that when I got there.
What ensued was a brutal set of hill climbs and super fast descents (a max recorded speed of 59.5km/h). I think my front disc pads are done, so I spent the rest of the ride relying mostly on the rear brake. This, I suspect, will have worn those out too, given the speed of the descents and caution needed on the frequently gravel-scattered corners.
When I reached the reservoir about half way round my Garmin gave up the ghost. The screen has gone, it’s pink and for a good while was flashing on and off. This seems to be draining the battery faster than it should. Time to replace it I think. Fortunately I have my watch to rely on and I could record the rest of the ride with that.
The ride’s difficulty was sapping my strength and while I managed most hills without assistance there were some that were just too steep to ride without it and I started to turn it on when things got too tough.
The route was taking a lot longer than expected due to my lack of fitness and more climbing than expected and I stopped at a couple of village stores for refreshments. Each village seems to have a combined village store and post office which proved very useful, and both I stopped at had outdoor seating which was a nice touch.
I was suffering though and the battery meter on the bike turned orange, noting I was below 30%. I still had a long way to go and started to think about cutting the ride short. It’s always a risk to change the route and try and replan mid-ride, and so it proved – I ended up taking what turned out to be a steep downhill MTB route, far too technical for my gravel bike with the extra stuff I was carrying - bike charger and laptop and (badly needed) additional water. I ended up walking the bike down the trail, it was a couple of kilometers but didn’t take too long.
From there I was nearly in Bakewell, I cycled into the town and headed to get some food at the pub. I managed to find a seat with a power socket and recharged a couple of battery packs and also my bikes expansion pack. That’s just over half the size of the main battery but it’s a relief to get some more charge banked.
Waiting for the batteries to charge I had to order a few more pints - and then the England Women’s game came on so I wrote this blog and will probably head back to the tent at half time while it’s still light.
No photos today! Between the hard work, the mixed weather and general exhaustion I didn’t stop to take any.