Kentmere - Keld                          69.7 km (43.3 miles)  

            After a good nights kip, we woke yet again to an overcast sky with threats of rain for most of the day. We polished off another

            fine breakfast at  Maggs Howe before a quick check over of our bikes. Cookies rear tyre was changed due to signs of wear and Ray

            decided to take our spare Trek bike due to a few problems with his Cannondale. We were ready for the off around 8:40, all in red

            today!

 

   

        We headed down to the bottom of Kentmere on a nice track which led us onto a bridleway to Stile end. Again we managed to take a

        wrong turn and were heading in the wrong direction up Green Quarter. Lee's GPS soon pointed us in the correct direction.

   

        After getting back on track we were on a good track from Sadgill, between Goat Scar and Sleddale fell. It Wasn't long again before

       we were pushing & carrying as the track became too steep with loose rocks (pics don't really do justice). We were due our first snack

       break at this point and took a few minutes to admire the views, all the time getting eaten alive by midges!

   

   

        As the track came to an end we merged onto a bridleway towards and over Mosedale. The bridleways were not showing much sign of

        use and we found ourselves walking across bog land. The views behind us were great but the thunder in the distance seemed to be

        chasing us. As we levelled out on top of Mosedale the clouds were closing in on us. We stopped for a snack break and a call of

        nature (Ray), before donning our rain jackets. It was a long slog through the grass & moss towards wet sleddale reservoir, before

        dropping on to the road into Shap.

    

   

            We were met in Shap by Cookie's mate Neil who had come up for a drive and to give Cookie some pain killers for his wrist.

            A couple of miles along a nice road took us to Crosby Ravensworth, before heading up bridleway to Bank Moor. This is where the foot

            & mouth epidemic took toll on our 2001 ride.  The Rain was really battering us at this point and so we decided to take respite and

           shelter in a barn for a couple of minutes.

 

     We were now heading to Whygill head but started having trouble with the bridleways signposted in all directions with no visible signs as

     to where they were actually heading. After crossing several overgrown fields we were on track with Lee's GPS and a couple of friendly

    Farmers pointing the way.

   

            Another couple of road miles brought us in to Kirkby Stephen at about 16:30. Terry was there to meet us, we had a sandwich and

            a drink before heading off again towards Heggerscales.  Just past here we picked up another 'bridleway' to Wrenside which included

            a tentative crossing over a flowing stream with Cookie taking the lead. 

   

            It was only possible to walk & carry at this point being very slippery, we also had a steep muddy climb towards Woofergill. The weather

           was closing in quickly at this point, the temp was dropping, the rain was pouring and the mist & cloud cover surrounding us.

            Time was flying by and our bridleway on Potter sike & Kaber Fell just seemed to disappear. We were all cold, wet and tired and a little

            scared of our situation, not being 100% sure where we were. We kept our heads together checking the maps & GPS, there was a tree

            line we kept in sight for reference and using directions from the GPS. After a long scramble through the grass & heather we were

            thrilled to get to the road which would take us to Tan Hill.  It was about 20:10 when we reached the Tan hill pub, but still decided to

            call in for a warm and a drink. All our phones and my camera were playing up at this point showing signs of water ingress, due to the

            battering we'd had from the rain. The ride down to keld was approx 4 miles, thankfully all down hill. It was almost 9pm when we

            arrived at Keld Lodge where we were quickly showered and warmed up before our gracious hosts prepared us a late meal.

   

            Day 3 was over after 46 long & hard miles, day 4 had to be better, right?