July 2nd Tebay - Brampton

Jeff slept 10 hours and Linda did not sleep much at all; she was bitten numerous times and said! she could hear asphalt being laid! It rained during the night but we had a great day weather-wise, although very hot. Had a number of hills to climb but not so strenuous as yesterday but chain kept coming off and eventually broke! As luck would have it after walking about a mile we came across a recovery garage (adjacent to the M6) and they took us and the tandem to Penrith. Bike repair shop mended chain and (apparantly) the gears. However we had only gone a mile or so out of Penrith when the gears started slipping again. As the problem was in the lower gears we attempted to cycle up the hills in the higher gears - result totally knackered. Thankfully the countryside was much gentler than yesterday and so we sauntered into Brampton at 3.30pm. The Nag's Head, where we were due to stay, had already rung us up three times; finally persuading us not to stay with them as they had various parties that night which were going to be raucous. So we were taken to a B& B called the Oval House. We had a great room with plenty of space and nice and quiet. In the B& B every room is named after a composer. We are staying in Mendellson! The rooms are full of great paintings, many of which were painted by Jane, the owner. She has a poem for each day prominently displayed on a music stand in the breakfast room.
Jeff fiddled around with the gears and since then they have been working well. Very glad we did not stay at The Nag's Head as the licence is until 2am! After a good meal and one or two drinks as we settled down on the bed; Linda fell asleep and promptly fell out of bed! (50 miles)