Danube Shakedown Pedal - Final Day Complete!

 Day three and the final one of this Shakedown Pedal.  We were pretty wrecked last night, but had a lovely meal and a very early bed.  Malham is a fantastic place for a walk, but we didn’t 😂

The route home was a bit more civilised.  Back over the Malham hill and into Airton, then we were back on familiar territory - Hellifield, Bolton-by-Bowland, Sawley, Whalley and from there the 6 mile long slow climb back home (and the promised negroni!).

Danube Shakedown complete!  Bike, gear and us tested.  Forgot a couple minor things, but that was it.  Very pleased and ready to do the final pack and head out!

Danube Shakedown Pedal Day 2 - Conder Green to Malham

Hills, hills and more hills would be a good way to describe today!  I don’t know that we’ll have this many on the Danube!

As it’s a shakedown: new tires are okay, they work on crushed gravel which is what we need for Danube, legs and backsides seem to be okay with this tandem (pedals and seats), we’re doing okay fully loaded - this is all progress!

The bike will be fine for Danube which is not incredibly hilly, but needs adjustments for Lancashire / Yorkshire.  It needs a lower gear (or two) and better brakes.  The hills that we did today were many and pretty brutal.

We went from Conder Green to Malham today and as you’ll see from the profile, it was hilly.  48 miles and 2600 feet.  Started out on the gravel path from Glasson Dock to Lancaster, one of Sofia’s favourites.  The bike did well on that track and received the tick in the Shakedown box.  We then picked up the Way of the Roses route, which we’d followed 10 or so years ago on our first Coast to Coast.

Then we encountered the Yorkshire hills.  Up and down, up and down.  Found a great tearoom at Horton and stopped at the Naked Man in Settle for lunch - where we met another couple (this time on a tandem) who were doing LEJOG.  Made our way from there to Rathmell, Wigglesworth, Hellifield, Airton (with a stop for a restorative orange) before making the last climb over the last hill to Malham.

Staying at The Buck Inn.  We’ve wanted to stay in Malham for a few years now, but because of Covid and high prices after Covid we haven’t been able to find a room.  Tonight was lovely, had a drink outside in the centre of the village and then had a really nice meal at the pub (even had chicken wings!).  The rooms are very comfy and much quieter than last night!

Think Steve said it best today, ‘Welcome to Yorkshire, have a hill!’

Danube Shakedown Pedal - The Official One

We’ve had a couple of pre-shakedown pedals to get the kinks out after the tandem rebuild, but this is the official one!  Home to Conder Green via Longridge and Scorton, then over to Malham in Yorkshire tomorrow and then back home via Hellifield on Tuesday.  We’ll see how many miles and what the altitude gain is when we get back!

Headed out at 10ish with the first 7 miles mostly downhill, and with the next 4-5 mostly uphill - welcome back to Lancashire!  Longridge was an open cafe ‘free’ zone on Sunday morning so we made do with a Diet Coke from Sainsbury’s.  Did find a great cafe (that was open) a few miles outside of Longridge, complete with clean and fluffy llamas.

The Barn at Scorton was absolutely heaving, but provided an excellent and refreshing lunch.  Everybody thinks we’re doing LEJOG because we’re wearing the jerseys - nope, that was 2023 and those are ‘trophy jerseys’.  We did bump into a couple doing LEJOG there though!

Not far from Scorton to our overnight stay at The Stork at Conder Green.  Had to dodge a few obstacles on the way, but we made it!

Not the biggest or highest day, but a good ride out.  Shakedown tweaks - one.  The rear wheel stopped working, had moved slightly in the frame and the brakes caught it, easy fix.  That’s what shakedown pedals are all about!

Had a great day and a very nice night at the Stork!