While our first day of the tour had been a warm-up, Ravens Route Day 2, beginning from Cleator and taking us to Keswick, presented us with the first day of challenging terrain.

That’s an exit only Sarah!

The day began quietly enough. The weather was overcast.

Soon, we rejoined NCN Route 71 and picked up the old railway line on the outskirts of Cleator. Sarah and I had cycled this a few years back on the Sea-to-Sea (C2C).

The path climbed steadily.

We followed the path for a few miles. This included stopping a few times to make tweaks to Andy Sykes’s new bike.

Eventually, we left the path at Kirkland.

We continued on towards Lamplugh.

We stopped for a short break and admired the views overlooking Loweswater.

Our lunch stop was at the Kirkstile Inn. We all enjoyed an excellent soup and a roll. The roll was not your normal one, but one filled with tomato and onion.

Following lunch, we decided to take a different route than the one we had originally planned.

This took us over the River Cocker and up Scale Hill.

We continued on through Brackenthwaite.

Meanwhile, a little further down the hill …

Thankfully, we were soon on our way again.

We briefly joined the Winlatter Pass road. We then turned off and made our way along the forest trail alongside the road.

Rejoining the Winlatter Pass there was a fast descent. We stopped along the way at the viewing point overlooking Bassenthwaite Reservoir.

Just before Keswick, we decided to stop for cream tea at the cafe at Nichol End. The scones were enormous! Unfortunately, we had to wait ages for the cream.

We arrived on the outskirts of Keswick.

And found ourselves joining in with a Triathlon!

Finally, we arrived at our B&B. We are staying at the Lyndhurst Guest House.

We had only cycled about 28 miles. However, we had climbed approximately 2500 feet.

Tomorrow, we are off to Appleby-in-Westmoreland.

You can view our Ravens Route Day 2 from Cleator to Keswick below: