Bike Route: Halton to Haverthwaite 41mi 2400ft of climb
Accommodation: Rusland Pool Hotel (Booking.com). Double room with private bath, nonsmoking.
Dinner: Rusland Pool Hotel. Sunday roast: roasted beef and pork, Yorkshire pudding, mashed and fried potatoes, carrots, and ratatouille.
We didn't know what to expect of our route or of Haverthwaite. When planning this part of the trip, we needed a place to stay that was about 40 miles from Lancaster, on a national cycle route, and in the direction of Keswick. Haverthwaite fit the criteria, and the Rusland Pool Hotel fit our price range. Everything else in that area was ridiculously expensive and/or not available for just one night. We didn't know why, but guessed it was a popular tourist area during a busy tourist time.
As we packed up in the morning, our host Mark took a look at our route and said it was a good one, it would be beautiful, and we should enjoy it; we would be riding through one of the poshest areas of England.
We did enjoy it, and it was beautiful. We were on quiet country lanes most of the day, cycling past huge, beautiful homes and estates and horse farms. Just before Haverthwaite, we stopped in a crowded little town, Cartmel, and had ice cream in a little garden behind the shop. On the way out of town, we were slowed by a traffic jam with horse trailers and big cars parking and backing up across the road. Then we passed a huge race track, with tents and flags and banners, and people, and horses all over the place. Sunday at the races. Bank Holiday weekend. Seventy degrees and sunny. Quite festive.
The hotel was old and a little frumpy, on a noisy main highway, with paper-thin walls, but it was clean and we were glad to have a place to shower, eat, and put our feet up.
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| My motto: Never pass up a public toilet. This one was next to the police station across the street from a little park where we stopped for coffee and muffins about five miles into our ride. |
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| In England and Wales, you are never far from the sea. Our route to Haverthwaite followed the shores of a huge estuary; every few miles we would catch a glimpse of enormous sand flats along the coast. |
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| A pasture full of little boy cows. |
