Recipe for?

5cm root ginger
Morrisons wonky British courgettes
3 onions
1 pair of shoes
A first aid kit
Fishing rod

That's what I was looking at for an hour and a half this morning, puzzling over what would be happening to the ingredients in the metal shopping basket.

I say 'in'. The first aid kit was strapped on the outside, the fishing rod on the other side and the red onions were hanging off the bottom.

There was also a little red light gripping the wire mesh.

I wouldn't normally puzzle so much but when you see something like that attached to the pannier rack of a full suspension mountain bike, it's a bit of a surprise.

It was held on by cable ties sticking out untidily, resting unevenly in a ratio of about 1:3. It had been strapped on for a while because the basket was bending on either side of the bike, a careful balancing act definitely going on with the contents.

I didn't meet the owner, sadly, but I'd conjured up a pretty good picture and decided it needed to be the character in a book. Maybe my book. One day.

But not today. 

My train pulled up at Kirkby Stephen and I set off in the chilly sunshine down to the town and straight through towards Tan Hill; another variation on a theme to find my way home.

Joyful! 

I passed a guy touring with a much more appropriate pannier system just before the climb began and we met to chat just after we walked through a road block of fresh tarmac. It was lovely to enjoy a smooth road and no traffic right the way to the top. The descent was awesome and for a long while felt like I was floating past the sites and sounds of the moors like The Snowman in autumn. I caught myself singing the tune but eventually that was terminated with the sound of people driving grouse up the moors and gunshot. 

We leapfrogged each other for a while on the way down as I couldn’t resist more photos, eventually cycling side-by-side for a chat on the last few miles into Reeth.

We stopped in the bike cafe and, now introduced, Colin shared his amazing journey of huge daily distances from Lands End to John O'Groats and now, his way back home. He said something that resonated: 

"I like to cycle long enough to feel lonely; and then I appreciate people more."

I haven’t cycled to the point of loneliness in a long while, since my own touring days in fact, but I know, even on a day ride, that the head space puts me back in tune with people again.

We went our separate ways at this point and I headed on over to Wensleydale seeing the aftermath of the flash floods a few weeks ago on my way up. It was pretty shocking with huge boulders thrown onto the banks of a beck and a high wall of someone's garden looking precarious.

I forgot to fill my water bottle in Reeth so had to manage that carefully as I passed by Castle Bolton and back up Bishopdale. I concluded half a kilo lighter was a bonus as my legs took on a jaded state. It was also the perfect reason for a second coffee stop at my favourite Kilnsey cafe. 

My recipe for making it home? The hugest jacket potato, so big it came with an apology! It was duly put away with a well-needed peppermint tea before I took to the road for the last leg home. 

Thoroughly enjoyable. 
Thoroughly wasted.