weather wasn't as warm as the forecast had suggested but we were well wrapped up for it anyhow.I set off to meet my mate at his house at about 9.45am,got ourselves sorted,final last minute checks on the zips,velcro,buckles etc and off we went at about 10 oclock.Nice and clean outside mates gaff at 10 oclock.
From Consett we headed our usual route to the lakes we take,via Stanhope,Eastgate,Westgate on the A689,roads were nice and dry,hardly any traffic things were going nicely.Then We got to St Johns Chapel and hung a left on to Harthope Rd which climbs up to the top of the pennines then drops down the other side to meet the B6277 to Alston.
The road was covered in snow,only a thin strip of black tarmac what passing cars had made,completely different compared to St Johns Chapel about 5mins back the way we had came,just shows the difference a change in altitude can have on the environment.Anyway we continued gingerly to Alston and i was pleased to get there but not as much as my mate on his new bike.From Alston we climbed again to Hartside Cafe,didn't stop as we planned to eat in a cafe i knew in Pooley Bridge,just wanted to descend into warmer dryer conditions,dropped down into Melmerby,crossed the M6 and arrived at Pooley Bridge,my intended cafe shut
and now in desperate need of a lavatory :sick: OMG,my bike is dirty lol
hmy: 
With bladders discharged but bellys still empty we rode down the side of lake Ullswater,been here a few times on various bikes and also with the family on camping holidays when the kids were a bit younger and it is still a treat for the eyes no matter how many times i see it,the image of the paddle steamer chugging up the lake was a real highlight,unbelievable to me was the fact my mate had never been here before.
Climbed up Kirkstone Pass and at the top the road known as "The Struggle" which is a short cut to Ambleside had a sign lit up saying road closed due to snow.We were deep in discussion about what we should do when we noticed everyone was ignoring the sign and just going for it so we did the same.The road was bad but we just took our time and we got to Ambleside unscathed but bloody starving so we parked the bikes up outside some museum and headed off in search of some food.
We spotted a reasonably priced cafe,i think it was £4.99 for an 8 item breakfast but it was packed and there were no seats,so we walked a little bit off the beaten track and came across one called "The Apple Pie" which wasn't packed but was still busy,we went in,took a seat and then duely had our eyes removed!!!
My mate had pie peas and chips with a cup of tea £10.90 i had the large breakfast with a cup of tea,£10.20 :huh:
After the shock of our open wallet surgery experience,we had a quick walk about the place,this is my favourite snap.
Versys was fine but the Z1000 needed a top up before the next leg of the journey over Wrynose & Hardknott pass.
Well we set off and eventually got to the bottom of Wrynose Pass,looking up at the snow covered mountain tops,i did think to myself "WTF are we going up there today for?" but being too macho and not wanting to admit to my mate that it's not really such a good idea to head up there,i just blindly plodded on.As we went up,some climber type folk with their sticks and backpacks were heading down,they gave us some strange looks lol.As we went up on the bits of tarmac we could see,it was only when we passed two trashed 4x4's abandoned on the side of the pass i really started to worry,after that point it just got worse and worse,and then when a cleared area at a passing point appeared i stopped my bike,got off and just shook my head at my mate as he pulled up behind me,he switched his bike off and said "What the F**k are we doing up here?" but i was glad to see he had a smile on his face.
On this occasion mother nature had defeated us
we turned around and with our tails firmly between our legs tip-toed back down to the bottom,left leg out and gently squeezing the back brake,bloody gutted but never mind,just means ive got to go back in a few months and go over then instead B) On the way back we did stop off at Hartside for a cuppa to warm us up and for the first time in my biking years we were the only other bikes there,just as well because when we returned back to the bikes from inside the cafe,we realised we'd both left our keys in the ignition.
:S
The light was fading as we got home about 5pm and the bikes were looking manky,so after a brief chat at a set of traffic lights,we agreed to treat the bikes to a nice warm jet wash at the garage.
Great day out despite not getting over the Lakes passes,can't wait to tackle it again in somewhat milder conditions :woohoo:
