7/6 Leeds > Malham 43 miles & 7/7 Malham > Ambleside 49 miles

Wow. A double-header entry.  Should be fun. (no email service lately)

Now some of you are probably looking at those mileages up there in the title and saying to yourself, only 43 miles. plugh. I could do that.  I thought these two were world travelers.  Don't be fooled my friends.  These have been some of the hardest 40 miler days I've ever done.  Let me expound.  Did you watch the 2nd stage of the Tour de France?  If so, you will know that it was one of the hardest early stages of the tour in race history.  Why?  HILLS.  Lots of them.  The Tour had 8 or 9 "official" categorized climbs.  What does this mean?  We have gone up multiple 15-18% grades in the last 48 hours.  What's 16%?  Little Cottonwood Canyon has an average gradient of 7%.  So we are talking twice as steep.  Oh, and did I tell you that we are pulling 80-100 pounds of gear.  However, if you are up to the challenge we would love you to come out for a week and cycle with us.  That aside, it's been a fabulous last two days.  To recap:

Have you ever felt the Spirit just jump on you?  Sometimes when you are least expecting it.  It seems the Spirit does that to me.  Well, Sunday morning while Katy and I were in Sacrament Meeting in Leeds (sitting in our spandex, jersey and cycling shoes of course - we had to make an immediate exit from sacrament to catch the 2nd stage of the Tour) the Spirit pounced on me.  And so, moments later, when one of those just-a-little-too-long awkward silences falls upon the congregation I found myself walking up the aisle towards the stand.  I had to do that awkward gait, cause you know how it is when you have to walk in cycling shoes with cleats on the bottom.  And then it happened, I became the first person I know to bear their testimony in sacrament wearing spandex, a cycling jersey and my specialized cycling shoes.  A moment I will always remember.

Then it was off to Stage 2.  We watched a beautiful climb out of Oxenhope. Professional cyclists are awesome.  American athletes (football, baseball and basketball) have nothing on them.  Video on instagram (@thetouringtandem) should sum that up.

And after that, we were free.  No more hard and fast deadlines to meet (except for July 26 in Paris for the last stage).  So we began wandering north west through beautiful Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District.  It is beautiful.  The only difficulty is the hills.  I don't know what is worse: going up the hill and suffering (but you know a descent lies ahead) or going down a hill and loving it (but knowing a climb is right ahead).  It has been great.

Last: the people here are great (or "brilliant" - if you've been to the UK).  Everyone has been so friendly - this is likely also because of the tandem bike and then they hear we are heading to Istanbul.  BUT, in the last 48 hours we have met 3 different folks, and all of them have offered for us to come and stay at their homes.  A guy named Will said we could stay at his place in Edinburgh (and so we are heading there -our route has changed a bit - can be seen here).  Another couple said we can stay at their place near Bath, and a New Zealander we met at church told us to come and visit his family back in New Zealand (still thinking about that route change).

Anyways, it finally feels like our trip has begun.  Camped last night, rode up a 15% grade in the pouring rain, feasted on £1 Chocolate Digestives, had some Fish 'n Chips, shared an Indian meal cause we couldn't afford two plates, walked around all of Ambleside realizing we couldn't afford restaurant food and so went to the grocery store only to find a £1.10 berry pie and then fed ridiculously spicy mustard to pigeons and watched them spin their head in circles as that wasabi flavor burns out your nose.  Only 39 more weeks.

Breakfast with Mia, Giles and Peter. (Peter has inspired me to not wear a helmet - it's great).

Poached egg, baked beans, toast.

 Tour Fever - every town for miles has old spray-painted-yellow bikes lining the streets.

Stage 2: Tour Fever

 Everyone wants that yellow jersey.

Into the Yorkshire (pronounced yorkshur) Dales

Our Camping Spot - Malham (see tent near tree)

Good Day, Sunshine (so close to the Beatles too)

This is what happens when you are really hungry, really want Indian food but are too poor to each afford your own dish - but notice no tongue marks (Katy says it is impolite).

Scenery.