Unquestionably Bold

Tobes
May 19
3 min read

A lovely day out riding between each of the Bold cafes - from Bold in Silverdale to Bold in Settle to Bold in Hest Bank and back to Bold in Silverdale. A route we've imaginatively called "Bold to Bold to Bold (and Back)" supporting our Friends at Fuelling the Bold's "100k in May" Challenge.

We've been so very grateful for Carringtons Coffee/Fuelling the Bold's prize support for our Proper Northern Road Races the past two seasons and are huge fans of the work that Suzy and Alex do to promote good causes in the area and also to get people moving.

So it was an easy sell when they suggested a bike ride from Bold to Bold - immediatley we suggested just making a day of it and doing the Challenge in one go at the same time! We got really lucky that the date we selected fell at the end of a long sustained period of warm dry weather and so it was a particularly great day to be out in the Dales and Forest of Bowland! Here's how it went down...

Bold Silverdale - 0km

We were greeted at 8.30am (thanks for the early opening Suzy and Baby Casey!) at the cafe in Silverdale for coffees and set off in two groups - unusually a massive "fast" group and a tiny "less fast" group. Normally the opposite problem applies, so it was bye to a lot of riders that we didn't see again all day. Not least because they averaged 29km/h for their ride. Which is frankly silly.

The route winds through quiet lanes in Silverdale and the Yealands before crossing the A6 and heading toward the first stiff test of the day - the long and sometimes steep ascent of Dalton Crag. From there its a lovely rolling section to Kirkby Lonsdale with the first views of Ingleborough on a day where the Yorkshire Dales' Three Peaks are never far from the line of sight.

Skipping the possibility of an ice cream in KL, we passed Devil's Bridge and then had to suffer a short section of A65 (unavoidable here) before heading south and into the edges of the Forest of Bowland. Stabby b****** hills come and go as the ride criss-crosses the main road on the way to Ingleton and then the fabulous old road to Austwick and Clapham beyond. Sadly a pretty fierce head-wind was making this beautiful section of the ride harder than it should have been!

Briefly joining the Way of the Roses route through to the western side of Settle, we arrived in the town after the faster group had already got their brevet stamps, their delicious homemade sausage rolls and more coffee! It didn' stop us enjoying the same more slowly and sedately.

Bold Settle - 55km

Turning for home (especially when you've ridden for hours into a headwind!) is always sweet, but when the route profiles looks like this, and you know the majority of the next section would have a tail wind, is even more sweet!

We left Settle sated by the excellent nourishment from Bold and immediately started climbing out past Giggleswick School and on into the Forest of Bowland! It was noted that Tobes' briefing back in Silverdale had manifestly neglected to mention this particularly stabby climb (Sorry, Ed).

The group worked hard together to make short work of Mewith Lane and the journey all the way along the top of the Forest boundaries to Hornby, Caton, Halton and after another gradual climb we arrived in the afternoon sunshine to views of Morecambe Bay shimmering and to flapjacks and more (now decaf) coffee at the Bold in Hest Bank.

It would be easy to think we'd nearly made it at 95/108km but then we turned again toward Silverdale and felt the full force of the breeze in our faces!

Bold Hest Bank - 95km

Despite the crushing headwind, this last section back to Silverdale was the shortest and at least included some tree-lined shelter along the way. We made short work of the lanes and paths behind Carnforth and Warton back into Leighton Moss Bird Reserve and the glorious sight of Alex, who'd kept the cafe open for us to have an ice cream and a final stamp of our brevet cards!

What a Day! 100k in May. Completed it. 3 Counties, 3 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and lots raised for community projects which the FTB community principles are all about.