Cycling day 23: Sedbergh to Kirkoswald

I substantially changed my route today from that which I’d planned. I was going to use a fair amount of A- and B-roads because they’re slightly more direct and less hilly, but I instead elected to follow a portion of National Cycle Route 68 on some extremely quiet roads, and then a small section of National Cycle Route 7 near the end of the day. It turned out that these were a great choice because they enabled me to enjoy the scenery of the Yorkshire Dales National Park uninhibited by traffic.

Right at the end of the day I turned onto an alternative route into Kirkoswald. After a bit I noticed that all of the drains had been covered over. I noticed that the edges of the road looked cleanly swept, so concluded that this was to prevent sweeping the debris down the drains. A little further on the true reason became clear: The road was being topdressed with a layer of tar and small stones on top of that. I hadn’t seen any road closure signs, so it looks like they missed an approach. Luckily it was possible to walk my bike down the narrow gap that they still had to complete, so a diversion wasn’t necessary.