Hi

after Hawes start route for me and gf – so hills are ok but techy single track/rocky etc surface is not. (in early May)

Is this sensible – Hawes, out SSWssh via white track/red dots (runs to W of Dodd Fell) to yellow(Roman) rd, E (via Kidhow) sweeping NE on +++ (Roman rd) BOAT down to Bainbridge, the N to yellow rd with green dots W back to Hawes

Arrow on first white/red dots trach *hopefully

also is Herriots B&B any good for B&B/food and any recommends (esp if gluten free menu)

Cheers

She won’t like that. The unclassified Cam High Road and the green dashed bridleway Gaudy Lane going SW out of Hawes are a long, long, boring slog and if you’re really unlucky you’ll be riding straight into the teeth of the prevailing SW wind while climbing 1000 feet. It will make your backs ache.

The yellow road is a tarmac road. Don’t underestimate the height gain and the effect of wind; it’s a big landscape. If your GF is anything like Mrs Gti a gentle potter on the quiet roads and lanes that go around Semerwater will tire her out while giving her some superb scenery, a purposeful ride and a couple of short but steep climbs to test her legs. In the summer and at Bank holidays there should be an ice-cream van on the beach at Semerwater and there’s a nice cafe in Bainbridge. The King’s Arms in Askrigg is a nice pub as well.

As for Herriot’s – read the bad reviews on Tripadvisor then the good ones and decide how discriminating you are about this kind of place. I don’t like the sound of it, I’ve spent enough nights in cold, tired and over-twee B&Bs with odd owners in the Lakes and the Dales to make me very careful nowadays.