Day 9 - Monday 6th August - Buxton to Bretton Hall

Weather - Very wet all day with heavy rain until afternoon

Distance - 45.2 miles

Camp Site - Bretton Hall, West Bretton, Wakefield

This was the day which I had always dreaded. I awoke at about 6.30 am as usual to hear heavy rain on the tent. When I looked outside it was pouring with rain and very dull and it looked as though the weather was set for some time. As other people emerged you could see them all looking very miserable and the main topic of conversation over breakfast was obviously the heavy rain. Most people were asking themselves - "Do I have to go out today?" Nobody rushed their breakfast in the hope that the rain would ease up but in the end it was very obvious that it was not going to so everybody dressed up in all their waterproofs and started out very slowly and with their heads down in the face of the rain.

We went through Miller's Dale and Tideswell and am I sure that if the weather had been better we would have found these to be very attractive places. Eventually we passed the Ladybower Reservoir on our left hand side and then turned right on to the A57 and climbed up the very steep hill before turning left on to the side road over Strines Moor. As we rode up the steep hill on the A57 in the wet we passed a group of people walking down on the opposite side of the road who looked wetter and more miserable than we felt. I felt slightly better to realise that we were not the only "mad" people out in the rain!

We passed the Strines Inn in a misty rain but it was too early to stop although we were quite wet and uncomfortable. After several steep hills both up and down we came to the rather poorly surfaced road into Penistone at 34 miles. Through all these recent steep down hill runs my brakes had been getting less and less effective. It appeared that the rain water on the wheel rims picked up the brake shoe material and made it into a sort of grinding paste which wore the remaining brake shoe away very quickly.

My gloves had become so wet that it became difficult to grip to change gear and also my hands seemed to be getting very dirty. The black colouring in the palm material was washing out in the rain and my hands inside the gloves had become almost black from the dye.

It was now well into lunchtime so we stopped at the small café behind Yates Chip Shop in the main street in Penistone. Although the sign said they were open we were told that they were about to shut the café but that they would serve us if we wanted to eat. We had fish and chips and mushy peas and sat in the small café creating a very steamy atmosphere from our damp clothes. I tried to wash my hands but even neat washing up liquid would not remove the black dye. All this time we had an audience of three small children - their mothers were looking after the shop and café - who were fascinated to see the two very wet cyclists enjoying their fish and chips. We decided that this was one of the best lunches we had had but then we had to dress up again in the damp waterproofs and go back out into the rain!

It was then only another 10 miles or so to West Bretton and into the Bretton Country Park where we found the Blue Van and the luggage van. The tents had been erected about 100 yards away behind some trees with a good view over the open land of the park.

I then heard that there may be some rooms available for that night as the site was a hall of residence for Leeds University and we were there out of term time. They had some other groups staying so there were only 8 rooms available at £15.00 each. I quickly decided that the weather was so miserable that I would take advantage of this so had a very nice single study bedroom with a comfortable bed and a wash basin and a shared bath/shower and toilet off the corridor outside. I was able to get some washing done in the room and it was mostly dry by the morning. It was several hundred yards from the camping area to the rooms and I had to carry my luggage. I was surprised at how much it weighed and was relieved that I was not on a self sufficient trip where I carried everything myself on the bike. I am sure that I could have cut down on some things I had brought if I had to, but I actually had very little that I did not use at some time during the trip.

Some of the others on the group spent the night in a sort of conservatory building within the grounds. There were a lot of plants to keep them company but some even put their tent up within the building in order to ensure a dry night.

During the late afternoon before dinner Nic fitted some new brake shoes to my bike as I had taken up most of the adjustment during the day. I did not want to risk another wet day on well worn brake shoes and decided to have new ones fitted "just in case".