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Calum and I had our by now traditional ride in to Glasgow Central where we met Andy. The journey started well, all the Virgin train staff were expecting three cyclists for Oxenholme. It's a very quick journey, so quick in fact that the station staff at Oxenholme weren't ready for us and the train was delayed while someone was sent for to release us from the confines of the cycle storage area. For a while I thought we were going to end up in Preston. Luckily we were released and were able to head out on the gently undulating road to Kirkby Lonsdale and to take tea in the delightful Crossing Point Cafe. It was important to stoke the boilers here as the afternoon session involved the infamous Catlow Fell.

The road rises up after passing High Bentham and before long the scenery is decidedly of a moorland nature. But the road continues to climb and climb. Eventually when you think you've reached the summit there's a fast ride down to a bridge and then a second climb which takes you to the actual summit. On laden touring bikes the crossing from High Bentham to Slaidburn takes around two hours, today was no different. The reward is the superb hostel in Slaidburn and a slap up meal in the Hark to Bounty just across the road. 40m covered today though almost 10m of that was in Glasgow. 

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We set off in a fine bright morning, more undulations in the road as expected and before long we crossed the border in to Yorkshire and arrived in the market town of Settle. We popped in to the railway station to find out about the landslide blocking the line and the lady there told us about Ruswarp the dog at Garsdale railway station.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garsdale_railway_station

It started raining so we popped in to a cafe to sit it out. After lunch we headed north through Stainforth passing the old Youth Hostel, it was supposed to be a hotel now but there didn't seem to be any signs of life when we passed. Just after that there's a great climb up to a pass near Pen y Ghent, where we saw crowds of people walking the Pennine Way. We then descended in to Littondale and the village of Halton Gill. We really fancied a cuppa at this point and we found an 'honesty box tearoom', Katie's cuppas. This was extremely welcome as there were also delicious fresh home made cakes too.

Once we were fully refreshed it was but a hop and a skip to the Youth Hostel at Kettlewell. This is now an independent hostel and has seen a lot of much needed improvements, especially in the member's kitchen. Lovely place!

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There was a chill wind as we set off up Wharfedale but it was dry and the scenery magnificent. We passed 'The George' at Hubberholme then headed up over the fell to Hawes and stopped in our usual tea shop for an hour or so while the rain came down outside. We had debated whether to tackle 'The tubs' today as we were meeting Trevor at Garsdale station but as it turned out the decision was taken out of our hands. Trevor had arrived at Garsdale early and was waiting for us at the bottom of the climb.

Luckily the rain had stopped and we had a bright and breezy ascent, a bit of a photo session going down the other side and the sun was out when we reached Thwaite so we could sit outside with tea and cakes, lovely.

The next climb over to Kirkby Stephen seemed very long, you never seem to be able to reach the top until at last the ground just falls away in front of you. There can be great views from here across to the Lake District but the black clouds and rain were gathering when we got there so we just hopped down to the cosy Youth Hostel (converted chapel) in Kirkby Stephen, also an independent hostel.