A rather hilly / hot road ride in Upper Weardale / North Pennines

Todays ride was in Upper Weardale for a chance of scenery. I reckon its the hottest day in County Durham so far this year which made the hills even tougher going. Due to my semi planned route I knew there would be some big'ish / draggy hills to tackle so took the Norco Search with the 32t on the back and by god did I need it! It was a steady spin down to Stanhope from St Johns Chapel but still a headwind. Then it was a sharp left and up onto the moor followed by a very fast descent down into Rockhope. From there I followed the road out of the village and took a singletrack lane on the left signposted Westgate which is another big long climb, then a descent then another monster steep climb which nearly brought me to tears before descending down to Well Bank. I turned right near the bottom and back up hill yet again before dropping down to the main road at Cowshill. Then is was a steady spin to try and unwind my legs before returning to St Johns Chapel. All in just over 2500+ft of climbing in 1hr 45mins. The bike was spot on shame about he performance of the rider on top of it lol. As ever the roads were very quiet up there and in 10 miles two cars passed me. There was more sheep and cows than vehicles on the road. Below are a couple of snaps, enjoy the weather whilst it lasts and keep getting the miles in.

this last big climb killed me off!