Skyreholme-Kettlewell-Buckden-Linton-Skyreholme. 25 miles
It’s been incredibly windy, and at 9pm yesterday the power went off and didn’t come back. We decided to bring our weekend ride forward, in the hope that the power would be back by the time we got home, but looking out of the back window the conifers opposite were nearly bent double… We fooled ourselves that it was just a bit breezy, but as we set off it was clear that the severe ‘head-breeze’ was going to cause problems. We’d intended to go up Littondale to Halton Gill, over the top and back via Malham, but as we struggled up the valley towards the Litton turn-off we were barely able to maintain an average speed of 10mph. As we passed through various villages with no power there was a chorus of burglar alarms, supposedly warning their clearly absent owners that the power was off. As if they wouldn’t have noticed, were they there… Must be really annoying for all the neighbours who are at home.
We pushed on, feeling we needed the training miles, but it was horribly confidence-sapping – why are we so weak and slow today? It’s easy to underestimate the power of a headwind, but you feel you ought to be able to do better, somehow. A solo cyclist passed us at some speed, cheerily yelling ‘This wind’s not very helpful!’ whilst seeming completely unaffected by it. And he was wearing shorts.
At the turn-off for Litton, we would have been turning directly into the wind for at least five miles before the big hill, so we decided to postpone that climb for another day, and head on into Kettlewell and on to Buckden. After a reviving cup of tea at the Buck we turned for home, with the idea of lunch at the Fountaine at Linton. What a difference – with the wind behind us now we were suddenly invincible, bowling along in the gears on the big ring with our average speed rocketing upwards and confidence restored. Sailing back towards Linton there seemed to be lights on everywhere, and arriving at the pub they told us their power had come back on at midnight. After an excellent lunch (‘Yorkshire’ hot-pot!), we headed home, but as we got closer it was obvious there still wasn’t any electricity. The only power was at the Craven Arms at Appletreewick, where a generator was chugging quietly.
No hot water at home for a bath, of course, so the only option was laboriously heating pans of water on the camping stove. And naturally, literally minutes after completing this tedious process, back came the power…