A cold, wet and windy start.

How bizarre is the English weather? Today was a ride of two halves. The first was Hartside, and then this was followed by Great Dunn Fell. However, for the total time of the ride Hartside was clear with blue sky, but Great Dunn Fell was cold, wet and very windy. (More of this later!)

Hartside was the first of the hundred and I dragged Dene out for company. We had a nice gentle ride to the top, pausing for photos and being passed by a quicker rider on a very fluorescent bike. The only pressure was to make sure we got back so that Dene could watch his beloved Man City.

Having set off for Melmerby, we took just over 40 minutes to the top – nowhere near Simon Warren’s recommended 26, but with a photo stop and Dene chuntering over his level of fitness we were never going to break records.

A quick blast back on surprising rough roads and the next decision was made, we did have time for Great Dunn Fell. Though not in the book, as its private, it does count as the highest tarmaced road in the UK, finishing by the radar station at 848 m (2,782 ft). We’ve both done it before, and had an epic on it when we got really cold on the descent, and we hadn’t learned from that experience! It was a tough climb and a real challenge to Dene’s disappearing fitness. We made it though, but that’s when the fun started. Rather than a quick blast back to Knock, we turned round into strong headwinds and driving hail. The ride down was hellish. Hail-blasted faces glowing, we eventually reached Knock and headed back to Melmerby and the dry, warm car. Sadly for Dene though, we didn’t make the start of the footy!

GPS says 38.5 miles, 1483 m of ascent.