Читать книгу The Lancashire Cycleway. The tour and 17 day rides онлайн

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The main route flirts with the Cumbrian border as it leaves the AONB, then crosses a corridor of flat country through which run the West Coast Main Line, Lancaster Canal and the M6. A quiet, undulating interlude charms its way across to the Lune Valley. There’s a tucked-away feel to this patch of country, and some of the most traffic-free riding anywhere on the Cycleway.

As you sweep down into the Lune Valley, the great ridge of the Bowland Fells looms ahead. The climb begins soon after crossing the river, ascending by stages from wooded valleys, through more open pastures and out onto the wide moors.

A long steady climb, which gets steeper just when you least want it to, Cross O’Greet is mean, moody – and magnificent. Not just for the views, either, sensational though they are. The climb itself – the actual business of getting up it on a bike – is genuinely challenging, perhaps all-consuming. But if you pace yourself, and your bike has the right gears, you can do it. And those views are infinitely better because you’ve got there by your own efforts.