Allenheads

We initially considered stopping in Alston again tonight, but the need to hit the 4pm deadline for the ferry on the final day necessitated pushing 7 miles further east and adding another 300 metres of climbing onto what was already a long and hilly day. Checking into the Allenheads Inn to a lovely welcome, a room with a four poster bed and the offer of a rib eye steak and chips for dinner were compensation enough. We had a great day's cycle, fairly flat in the morning with lots of steep climbs and fast descents in the afternoon. Not as hot as yesterday but a bit humid in the afternoon.

I thought rather than labour the point of today's many hills, I would say something about my on-bike tech. Cycling can be au natural or high tech. Many cyclists carry at least a GPS computer to provide information such as speed and direction and to allow the ride to be recorded and immortalised on social media for all the world to see. Granted there are also many who simply don a peak cap, carry a banana and set out for the open road with a devil may care attitude, but that's just not me.

My new Garmin computer may weigh in at 2 pairs of pants heavier than my last model, but every day it is justifying both the financial outlay and the weight penalty. On the metrics side, it provides the usual information on speed, distance, etc and also has a screen for current weather, just in case you haven't realised the significance of the yellow ball in the sky. On the guidance side it is like a car sat nav, giving a map overview, turn by turn instructions and redirecting if you go off route. It also gives information on upcoming hills, to allow you to manage the effort needed to get to the top. There is also a lot of less useful information, like when after yesterday's ride I was reliably informed that I was 11% acclimatised to the heat.

Paired with the computer is a rear facing radar and bright flashing red light; the light warning drivers of my presence, the radar warning me of theirs. It's a relatively new purchase and one I was initially sceptical about. However it has proved to be very useful, particular on quiet roads where cars are less frequent. A simple moving image on the display tells me how many cars are behind, how fast they are approaching and how close they are.

Finally, I wear a heart rate monitor. I am getting on a bit and hearts are easily broken so I try to look after mine. The theory is to subtract your age from 220 bpm and keep the heart rate below that. I endeavour to keep mine below 160, even though the maths is a bit suspect. Maybe one day I will revise that to 150.

There remains one unresolved issue from today. As we cycled through Greystoke this morning, I informed Ronald that this was the place Tarzan was from. It's fair to say my claim was met with some degree of scepticism and despite a lengthy discussion over a few pints in the evening and frequent reference to Mr Google, we remain none the wiser.Read more