Arrived at Barnard Castle at 09:00 Saturday via a 350 mile route avoiding all but 500 yards of dual carriageway and including a lap of the North Yorkshire Moors. Got the 'ardcastle' selfie but couldn't get on the forum to post it
On with the plan to ride to Alston, Hartside Top, Penrith and back to Barnard Castle. Tried logging on the forum in Alston and Penrith but still no joy. 100+ miles later and back at Barnard Castle I met ~Martin~ who had posted his selfie without issue and had the idea I log onto the forum via a Wi-Fi connection to his iPhone. I didn't know such things were possible but followed Martin's instructions and in no time my phone again failed to connect to the forum. Eventually we got my selfie posted by emailing it to Marten and he posted it directly from his phone, thanks for your assistance Martin. Conclusion - I need to upgrade my phone to 21st Century compatibility technology.
The ride home was a 350 mile sortie via the Yorkshire Dales and Squires again avoiding dual carriageways as much as possible. A near cropper at the start while enjoying the scenery a couple of miles before Low Row there's a double hair pin bend that nearly caught me out. Riding south the road looked to go straight ahead then there's a fairly sudden dip and your faced with two challenging hair pins. Brake hard, drop gears, brakes off, hold breath, lean in, trust the tyres and again and...
...over the cattle grid and slowly through the cobbled base ford and onward to Hawes at a reduced speed and giving the road ahead a little more attention than the scenery around it. Arrived home at 23.40 after 800 miles and only 140 miles on dual carriageways. My Barnard Castle eye test patch will be a reminder of a great ride and good memories.
Many thanks to the organisers of this challenge.