There is nothing quite like riding on a tail wind, we were travelling at about the same speed as the cold air so we were kept very warm by the morning sun as we cycled East to get around the Solway estuary.
Arriving in Carlisle we were soon directed onto nice cycle ways next to the river Eden. It would have been great to cross it via the old railway bridge but it is boarded up and crying out for a Sustrans route.
The alternative was bumping the bikes down some steps to go beneath the bridge and continue along the river into Bitt Park in Carlisle centre. The NCN 7 left the city out via tree lined roman lanes and a nice disused railway to Longtown.
Longtown has some strange regular square features on the OS map that transpired to be large weapons arsenals. It is one of the biggest defence munitions sites in Western Europe. The town also has one of the largest sheep markets and it is alleged that the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak originated from an animal bought from Longtown. In April 2014 due to huge objections Carlisle City Council rejected planning for a 2 million gallon slurry lagoon close to the town.
We stayed in the Sycamore Tree B&B which gave us a luxury room with 4 poster bed above a cafe with good food.
Figures:
Distance:- 40.3 km
Cycle Time:- 2 hours 48 minutes
Average speed:- 14.3 kph
Total Distance:- 1477 km
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