Nipped up to the Lakes, and was undecided where to visit for the whole drive, about an hour and twenty minutes, to this spot.
Very damp, very slippy, but a comfortable temperature all day.
This is a mock castle by the lake and that dot in the sky is one of those American Osprey VTOL planes with the huge propellers, I don't know if the RAF have them, unfortunately the ultra wide angle gopro lens has reduced it to a speck.
This is castle Wray by Lake Windermere, obviously someones gone to a lot of trouble to build a glam version of a Castle, and I'll have to say it does look good.
It's owned by the National Trust and my membership gets me free parking...happy days.
There's a cafe in the grounds, which is seriously cute, it's actually built into the building and makes for a very atmospheric experience.
No matter how many time sI tuck in in, my tshirt pops out and makes me look like the scruffbag I am, that road was covered in a moss slime and was not far off as slippy as grease.
This is the road that goes past the Castle, luckily it wasnt slippy at all, it does show what a gorgeous surrounding scenery it has, the whole place presses all the buttons.
It was so quiet I chanced a cheeky ride along the footpath, though strangely I met two walkers who assured me it was a cycle path, even though it wasnt.
Which was a pleasant turn up for the books.
There were no byelaws on the reverse and I'm sure theres about 12 legal books covering my right to ..or not to ignore that sign, probably including what hat I'm wearing and
the length of the sheeps coat.
A very rare sight these days, I suspect this is not connected to anything, maybe a a mobile phone left on the shelf.
The council have built a splendid array of shared cycle tracks all over the Lakes, firstly giving you height or position to better admire the views and separate you from the sometimes
budding Lewis Hamilton locals,, who see 60mph as a minimum. Most of them follow the roads , but like this one they veer off gorgeous wood trails and bridleways, simply magical tracks
with stone walls and cute arched bridges over streams and rivers.
I was heading for ambelside, but the light started to fade and a quick calculation made me realise it would be dark for most of the ride back, and I didn't have any lights.
So I called it a day after 2 hours on the bike.
The wood trail was totally blocked by fallen trees, so I tried to shortcut along a private road, which basically had me cycling past million pound holiday homes hidden in the forest.
Simply gorgeous Victorian buildings that have merged with hte scenery over the years......how the other half live.
Still, 2021 was my best cycling (e-biking) year, not only in terms of the riding intensity but also the number and quality of adventures experienced!
With roads like this to enjoy I was so glad to see the back of the mist and fog, only for the last 30 minutes of my ride but I wasn't complaining!
