Well I suppose I could have watched the Women's World Champs Road Race on TV - or better painted my kitchen ceiling - but instead I decided to drive 50 miles to Hawes to ride over Butter Tubs to Muker and then back via Askrigg.
But being in Hawes (strictly Gayle) it seemed a pity not to ride up Fleet Moss (9/10), it being so handy and all. Oddly there are no road signs warning you that the ascent might be a little steep but on the descent there are two signs warning you of the 16% -17% gradients. Fair enough - except that to reach the top of Fleet Moss from the south you have to have climbed up similar brutal climbs and even foreign tourists in their Winnebagos would know that what goes up must come down.
Talking of which - on my descent back to to Hawes I was being restricted to just 44 mph by a Belgian camper van who when he suddenty realised he had the next Remco Evenpoel on his rear bumper kindly pulled off the road.
Just why did we desert our friends in Europe?
The highlights of climbing Butter Tubs from the south are the views of (Pennine Way peak) Great Shunner Fell at 716 m. In fact all the scenery in this area of Richmondshire is just stunning. Anyway after the Butter Tubs climb (8/10 coming south although I was going north) it started pouring down and since I knew I had done The Fleak I decided to turn south early off the Reeth road at Crow Trees - to realise that the 25% road sign and the twist and turns past Crow Trees farm seemed awfully familiar. As did the sheep who gave me that pitiful "character building?" look as the rain poured down on us all. Even the Range Rover drivers looked generously at me - which must be a first.
Oxnop Scar (south from Crow Trees) is 7/10 in Simon Warren's book
So three of Simon's climbs totalling 3400 feet of climb and all in only 26 miles - plus oodles of character development in the rain.
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