A late night and a relaxed start to the day for us, though Jan worked hard providing a wonderful breakfast before we headed off. Through the lanes and the last glimpses of Lancashire before we entered Cumbria, and very soon after Kendal, the unofficial beginning of the Lake District. It was a busy morning in Kendal with lots of traffic, though there was a cycle route for part of the time. And then we had one short but pleasant detour off the main road after Kendal through Staveley before heading for Windermere.

It was here that husband had one very close call being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We were cycling along the straight and narrow, when a red car made a right turn in front of a blue car. Blue car swerved to miss red car, saw Peter, and swerved again to avoid him, hitting the red car in the process. Blue car wasn’t as close to Peter as he thought, but husband was in the midst. Blue car man and red car woman were both ok and didn’t want us to stay, so off we went.

The forecast for rain turned out to be a bit pessimistic. There was one shower later on while we were fortunately indoors, but there was a strong wind, pushing me into traffic from the side, and horribly strong at the head.

Today was meant to be a rest day, but we changed it into two shorter days. Unfortunately, as it turns out, today was a very short and easy day and tomorrow is more challenging, with two big climbs into and out of Keswick. And at the moment, the weather report is for heavy rain and cold. On the bright side, not so windy.

We stopped for lunch in Ambleside, not quite as big as Kendal, but busy and full of families, walkers, cyclists and tourists. The downside of the Lake District is that there aren’t many choices for roads going north, so we spend more time than usual on A roads. But traffic isn’t too fast and the landscape is dramatic. We did see snow on the top of some of the distant hills.

While we have added the odd few miles staying here, we are out of the rough and tumble of the town, with pretty views. But I am spending most of my time in the lounge, the only place where there is wifi. And there is no mobile signal again. Amazes husband and me every time. There is mobile phone reception in the deserts of Jordan, where there are only Bedouin tents, and in the remote parts of Vietnam, but not in the English countryside.