The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Two wheels good, cosy inns better
In the week that the Tour of Britain sped through the Lake District, Gavin Bell opts for a more leisurely pace on a scenic new bike trail in Cumbria and Yorkshire
It’s a safe bet that keen cyclists who raced around the Tour of Britain route in the Lake District this week didn’t stop for a scrumptious pub lunch in the Blacksmiths Arms in Broughton Mills. They probably barely noticed the leafy woods in Lorton Vale, and as for taking time to muse on the spiritual ethos of 12th-century Cartmel Priory, no chance.
For the less competitive among us, a new cycle tour offers the possibility of enjoying them all at a more leisurely pace.
The super-fit can zoom around the 196-mile Lakes and Dales Loop in a couple of days – in one day if they’re so minded – but my wife, Claire, and I opt for a six-day itinerary to give us time to savour the beauty and drama of Wordsworth and Bronte country. Best foot forward: Gavin Bell gears up for another ascent Or so we think. We haven’t counted the hills – and there are lots of them in the network of lanes and minor roads that opened in March this year. We begin in Penrith, and it is surprising how quickly the din of the M6 gives way to birdsong in quiet country lanes. Within a couple of miles we are in a world of hedgerows and wildflowers, and sheep grazing in green fields that look like installation art. This is a land of peace and plenty, of old stone barns and rustic pubs, and road signs measuring distances in quarter miles. It is farming country where cars are few and far between, and we are more likely to meet a tractor than a coach. Our first stop is Greystoke Cycle Café, which caters for cyclists with snacks, chain oil and bike pumps. Scoffing homemade cake in the tea garden, we gaze across a meadow at Greystoke Castle, once a border fortification against raids by wild Scots.
It is better known to readers of Edgar Rice Burroughs as the home of Lord and Lady Greystoke, the parents of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. The author’s choice of the castle is a mystery, but the fiction has not deterred the local pub, The Boot and Shoe, from selling Tarzan T-shirts.
The rumpled profile of the northern fells is rising to meet us as we ride on, but mercifully our way skirts the great shadow of Blencathra before depositing us in the hamlet of Caldbeck in time for lunch. It is absurdly pretty, with ducks in a babbling brook and an Old Smithy tea room with tables by a wooden bridge. It is like a film set for rural England.
On we go, through hamlets of hobbit houses of stone and slate until a rendezvous with Rob Green and his van. Rob and his wife Sarah have transformed 17th-century Highside Farm near Cockermouth into a stylish b&b that serves as a training base for triathletes, and as a yoga retreat. It’s not easy to find, so Rob gives us a lift from a nearby inn, and for good measure drives us later to another country pub for dinner.
Our second day in the saddle begins well with a meander by a river through Lorton Vale, with the stern majesty of Grisedale Pike rising to one side and Loweswater Fell ahead. So far we have been skirting the fells, allowing us to admire them without having to climb them. Then we hit Cold Fell.
It is a long, arduous climb and the descent is no fun because it coincides with knocking-off time at the Sellafield nuclear plant and traffic treats the mountain road like a racetrack.
The next part of the route doesn’t look much fun either, as it involves a couple of miles on a busy main road. So we stop at the Stanley Arms in Calder Bridge, have a couple of shandies, and after due consideration call for a taxi to take us and our bicycles to our abode for the night in Eskdale. When the going gets tough, the not-so-tough sensibly order a taxi.
A comfortable, welcoming inn is of paramount importance to weary cyclists, and the 17th-century Woolpack Inn in Eskdale fits the bill with pleasant rooms and good home- Where to eat, sleep and drink Information and maps lakesdalesloop.co.uk; strava. com/routes/4208912; Penrith Tourist Office: 01768 867466; golakes.co.uk
Where to stay In Eskdale, the Woolpack Inn, Hardknott Pass (telegraph.co.uk/ttwoolpackinnhardknott), provides a warm welcome with good beer, hearty meals, and comfortable modern rooms. A dog-friendly haven for cyclists, ramblers and nature lovers; doubles from £80 a night.
Good b&bs along the route Penrith: Sunset House,