Bike Route: Meltham to Sparrowpit 32mi 3800ft of climb
Accommodation: Cosy Cottage (Airbnb); host Ashley. Two bedrooms, kitchen, wifi, washer. Farm store at end of road in Sparrowpit. Hope Cottage is a traditional Derbyshire gritstone cottage with original features, located in the tiny village of Sparrowpit. Set in an outstanding location with dramatic countryside views and overlooking Mam Tour, the cottage is a cosy abode complete with log burner.
Dinner: Simple supper cooked in our cottage.
Margaret gave us a sweet sendoff, the sun was shining, we had clean clothes... What could be better?
As we left the Yorkshire Dales and entered the Peak District National Park, we felt a sense of the trip starting to wind down. We had a little over two weeks left, but the hard climbing was behind us (we thought), and we had planned a few more rest days in this last part of the journey.
Sparrowpit, our destination for the next three nights. was up a pretty steep hill a few miles outside Chapel-en-le-Frith. Our plan was to buy groceries in Chapel, to cover that night and the next morning. A farm store and cafe in Sparrowpit would provide what we needed for the next few days, or we would bike back down to Chapel if necessary.
But before we could kick back and relax, we had to climb a bit, including Holme Moss, which was part of the Tour de France in 2014. The 1.8-mile climb at an average of 9 percent was tough, and we walked a couple of stretches, including the top. Along the way, we met up with, passed, and mostly were passed by cyclists enjoying the awesome day and famous route. We were the only ones with saddlebags; this route is not especially popular with tourers, for a good reason: hills!
At the top of Holme Moss, we caught our breath, chatted with the group we had been leap-frogging, and then clipped in for the refreshing downhill.
A few hills later, we finally reached Chapel-en-le-Frith. Outside the Co-op grocery store there, I waited with the bikes while Ken bought supplies. A really nice guy on a bike asked if I'd like a frozen lollie. He and his mate had bought a package of four, and they could only eat two. Of course I'd like a lollie! It was hot, and I was just waiting for Ken to come back with some cold drinks among his load of food.
Ken came out shortly and claimed his lollie, and the four of us chatted about local cycle routes, touring holidays, great bikes and bike routes. Eventually, the lollies were gone and we all had to get on our way.
By the time we climbed the big hill to Sparrowpit and located our cottage, we were hot again, and tired, and really ready to take a shower and collapse for a few days. We had had six solid days of hard cycling. We could hardly process all the people we had met and scenery we had seen and lovely, lovely bits of Yorkshire Dales countryside. We were toast. A few days off the bikes sounded like heaven.
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| Margaret cut each of us a sprig of lavender from her garden, and wrapped it in foil so we could mount it on our bikes and take a bit of calm scent with us on our journey. |
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| Finally, we have reached the Peak District! For some reason, that seems like a milestone. It means we have well and truly left the Lake District behind and are on our journey back to Heathrow. |
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| On our way to the summit of Holme Moss, we met up with a group of guys who were riding the pass together--three of them a little faster and more efficiently than us, in full group kit, but one even slower than us (such a rarity)! |
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| The money shot, looking back down over the Yorkshire Dales from Holme Moss. |
