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The 1999 cycle tour was around the Yorkshire Dales a great destination but only three people managed to attend.
Day 1.
We set off on 17th July from separate destinations. I got the train to Oxenholme and cycled to the first night at Slaidburn. The first stop that day was a tea room in the pretty village?? of Kirkby Lonsdale. It's a very busy place full or tourists but I'd say it was worth a visit. I carried on south through High Bentham (the name gives it away doesn't it?) and as I struggled up Catlow Fell from High Bentham I began to wonder if I was getting too old for this. The last 12 miles took nearly 2 hours, when I studied the map at the hostel I found that the climb was 1500 ft and with a strong headwind and driving rain, no wonder it took so long. At last however I met up with Alan and Gordon at Slaidburn Youth Hostel, very handy for the 'Hark to Bounty'.
Day 2.
The next day we stopped at Annie's Cafe at Clapham on our way over to Hawes. While we were there Annie, a well known eccentric went up to a dog sitting near the door and asked it how it was! The dog didn't answer. We noticed the pub near the Ribblehead Viaduct was closed as we passed, later we learned that the Environmental Health people had closed it. As we shopped at Hawes we looked at the large number of motorbikes which had gathered, it being Sunday. Alan and Gordon both said they quite fancied one. They were gathered outside the tea room at the west end of Hawes so we knew it must be a top class establishment. We weren't disappointed. We then went on to stay the night at Aysgarth Falls.
Day 3.
Today dawned bright and sunny and we headed south up Bishopdale. We had already rejected Coverdale as a route as it looked too hilly but Bishopdale was no pushover. A 1:6 for 1.5 miles with the occasional short 1:5 thrown in to add variety. I had to push the last few hundred yards! Once over the summit we had an easy run down through Kettlewell and then via Appletreewick to Skipton, that's a detour by the way. Alan had to go to the railway station here as he had an appointment at the palace the next day, Gordon and I stayed at Linton Youth Hostel but not before checking out the pie shop.

Day 4.
It was raining in the morning, quite heavy in fact so we went back down to Skipton. What, more pies? I hear you ask. Well no, we went to have a look around Skipton Castle followed by a period of sitting in a tea room. The sun came out in the afternoon so we went for a look around Linton church. That evening we wandered over to the Fontaine (as you do) and as we stood at the bar a big ugly thug grabbed me by the ear. It was Carter, and Foss was with him. They had come down for the evening to join us. (Does this sound at all familiar) We stayed up late of course (till 1am) talking, but the next day Foss declined our kind invitations to let him have another shot at cycling.
Day 5.
After we said our farewells to Foss and Carter we popped over Greenhow Hill for the exhilarating plummet in to Pateley Bridge. We then went over to Ripon where we visited the cathedral. Gordon was looking forward to this bit being a history buff and all that and although the visit was interesting he was disappointed that there were roadworks in front of the cathedral which spoiled his photo. I removed the roadworks from the photo I took so it looks better.
The final destination was Ellingstring and as you may know there is no pub here, however you are now allowed to take alcoholic drinks to Youth Hostels to accompany meals. So it was that Alan made the most incredible meal ever in a Youth Hostel.
For starters; carrot and coriander soup with french garlic and tomato bread.
This was followed by salmon steaks with chickpeas and stir fried mixed veg and a bottle of Chianti.
We finished off with rhubarb crumble with cream fraiche and a bottle of Shiraz Cabernet.

Day 6.
In the morning the wind had died down and we decided that we should let Gordon have a historical day. Jervaulx Abbey and Bolton Castle and we still managed to fit in quite a few tea rooms. We went up on to Gayle Moor from Hawes, I was feeling great by this time and surged ahead past Ribblehead and very quickly I arrived in Ingleton. I waited for Alan and Gordon for half an hour but then went to the hostel to find them already ensconsed. Alan knew a sneaky back route which avoids the town centre. That evening we went to the nearby open air heated swimming pool. Heated? well only just. It was just as well the weather was warm and sunny. We went out for a meal that night with a friend of Alan's and had a superb shouder of lamb which I think we had earned by this time.
Day 7.
Today it was time to go home so sad faces all round at the breakfast table. We said our farewells at Bentham and I headed north, back through Kirkby Lonsdale and the cafe and then onwards to catch the train back from Oxenholme. The total for the week was 281 miles. Not bad for blokes our age I thought and all good fun too!