Been to the lakes plenty of times, but never with the bike. Planning a trip after exams with a couple of mates for a few days. Where should we ride? I've heard of nan bield (sp?) and helvellyn being good rides. Is grizedale worth a visit or should we stick to natural stuff?
James
Grizedale is natural, its a big **** off forest with some of the best riding in the lakes.
Base yourself in Coniston or Ambleside and buy the Lakes guide book, you won't go far wrong
Grizedales not worth it unless you know exactly where to ride as you'll only do the north face loop which isnt that great
^ depends on skill levels obviously to what different people think
Personally I'd go to Staveley and do the 3 rivers or garburn pass area instead of grizedale, Helvellyn is fun, depends what you want dh, xc?
Grizedales not worth it unless you know exactly where to ride
just ride all the bridleways and you'll love it 
And almost any other non waymarked track
Grizedales not worth it unless you know exactly where to ride as you'll only do the north face loop which isnt that great
Er, ever heard of maps and guidebooks ?
ive got the 'lake district mountain biking essential trails' book by gore and staton. Just there is so many to choose from i was hoping for some pointers...
Coniston-Torver-Seathwaite-Coniston via Walna Scar Road is a must imo.
Grizedale bridleways are almost all great - Parkamoor is a lovely spot and has great descents either down towards Coniston or back towards Satterthwaite.
Helvellyn I've only done from Dockray to Dollywagon/Grisedale which was great fun but super techy descending. Possibly more of a 'big day out' experience than purely a good riding experience though.
High Street = not all that great imo.
Borrowdale Bash is also pretty good.
Grizedales boring, stay away! lol I should know its next door to me!
Grizedales boring, stay away! lol I should know its next door to me!
Is that boring, wink, or are you being serious ?
Grizedale is really good. Theres nothing better than a full day pushing up the fox run, then riding back down
Boring minus the wink 
as Dave said its only good for sessioning sections as they dont link up very well
Grizedale has some of the best riding in the Lakes but you need to know where to find the trails. I'll give you a clue, they aren't on the North Face trail.
Seriously though, a few minutes with a map and you should be able to spot the green lanes and bridleways that criss cross the whole area between Coniston and Windemere. The riding there is all relatively low level and you're not climbing for hours on end before you get a good DH run.
Having said that, you should also do at least one of the big passes - Nan Bield, Walna Scar, Gatesgarth etc.
Have a look at the Bogtrotters website. They do loads of riding in the Lakes and they have a phenomenal library of photographs for all their rides.
Trailcentre-wise I'd say do whinlatter, much more fun than grizedale with some great views. Biketreks in ambleside have some laminated route maps for about £1.50 which would be well worth looking at
Alexxx - Just a hunch but are you late teens\early 20's and ride a 35lb 6" travel DH, bike ?
So much great riding in the lakes - where do you start?
3 days in Keswick - Borrowdale bash, Whinlatter, Back of Skiddaw?
3 days in Ambleside - maybe Garburn Pass (with NanBield if you want a really big ride), Grizedale (climb using the North Face, descend on the bridleways - loads of good stuff between Grizedale and Lake Windermere), something around Grasmere?
Grizedale is a good option for a day when the weather is dodgy, as it's pretty well sheltered. The loop in the Gore and Staton book is good. Last time we extended it to also take in most of the North Face Trail which made a good day out, although the bridleways are generally more interesting than the trail.
Another one of our favorites is the bridleway down the side of Ullswater from Sandwick to Patterdale. There's a couple of loops in the book that use it.
+1 for not spending too much time on the North face trails, unless you particularly like TC riding. Did have a hideous hangover due to excess whisky drinking with new-found friends in the campsite, so maybe that coloured my view of the North Face.
I rode around the Grizedale area this time last year just using OS maps and my nose and found some great stuff - so maybe a bit of armchair route-planning would pay off? Only snag for me was a considerable number of bobblehats, some of whom thought that the trails were exclusively theirs to command.
It did pour with rain all the time too, introducing me to the unique combination of smooth round baby-heads and slimy mud that makes up some of the trail surfaces. All fine unless you wish to corner, brake or climb.
Jammy111: whereabouts are you planning on staying?
There's a few routes here:
http://www.justgoride.co.uk/Content/Routes/RouteSearch.aspx?srch=lakes
If you have some sort of GPS device you could download the route gpx files and use them for navigation?
Trailcentre-wise I'd say do whinlatter
buries head in hands
Thats like going to a michelin star restuarant and ordering a plate of chips!
Yeti guy, i agree, i cant understand people coming up to the lakes and going to a trail centre, another analogy would be like a climber going to Yosemite and asking where the local climbing wall is !
I was talking to the guys in Biketreks and some guys had been up on holiday and asked them wher else there was to ride in the lakes as they had done Whinlatter and Grizedale !!
that's why i said trail centre "wise". whinlatters one of the best trails ive ridden thats why i mentioned it
[/quote]Yeti guy, i agree, i cant understand people coming up to the lakes and going to a trail centre, another analogy would be like a climber going to Yosemite and asking where the local climbing wall is ![/quote]
By the same analogy then, is it the same as someone going to Whistler and riding all those boring man-made trails such as A line or going to the Cairngorms and riding Laggan black?
Whinlatter trail centre has some great riding and that's from someone who has ridden a lot of the 'natural' stuff. It's all riding your bike and all this anti trail centre snobbery is nonsense.
I think the trail centresadd to the lakes mix. I think in particular they have allowed my kids to ride their. My son has done the Norh Face Trail and both kids have done the blue at Whinlatter. If your not that fit/strong then being able to the climbs on those well graded forest tracks is a bonus. Plus they are an option for those who can't/ dpon't want to navigate.
I like the riding round Elterwater and Grasmere with either up or down Loughrigg terrace. Although this is best done early or late due to the large no. of walkers
I dont think that in this instance this is anti trail centre snobbery.
The guys above are local, as am I, and are giving the benefit of their knowledge to higlight that the 'natural' riding on offer is far superior to the 2 lakes trail centres.
You can get better trail centre experiences elsewhere. If you're coming to the lakes to ride I would suggest you make the most of it and ride trails that you don't get elsewhere in England.
In the last 2 weeks I have ridden Nan Bield, Gatescarth, Garburn, Jenkin Crag etc. etc. If your suggesting that the Altura or North face are better then your welcome to your opinion but I do not share it.
Garburn Pass, Ullswater singletrack and Grizedale would be my choices. Check out the Boggies site for other ideas.
Yeah I agree the North face is not very good as a stand-alone loop but Whinlatter is a nice trail - I'm not saying it's better than the bridleways but at the same time I don't think that just because it's a trail centre it should be ignored. Trail centres have stuff that bridleways don't such as table tops etc. The descent off the top of the south loop is fast, open, fun and great for racing down with your mates. Overall it's worth a visit but yes I agree it doesn't compare to an epic day out like Nan Bield. having said that I think it's worth saying that Nan Bield is a massive, exhausting effort of a ride that can take 7 or 8 hours and involves a huge push/carry. I would say it's worth it but others might not.
Nan bield can be done a lot quicker if you are prepared to sacrifice the gatescarth descent. Monday night we parked at sadgill and did gatescarth, nan bield and back to sadgill. 4 1/2 hours in total as one of the lads had a major mechanical. Reckon that put an hour on at least (he ended up on a runner bike!). Shortcut via harter fell if you want to knock another hour but to be fair gatescarth is worth the carry back up nan bield.
Gatescarth is one of my fav descents in the lakes.
Being an ex local I reckon early start do Whinlatter as it only takes an hour or just over, then in the afternoon ride round Ambleside taking in, Loughrigg over to Claife Heights and up to Iron Keld, on towards Skelwith Bridge and back to Ambleside. 2nd day take in Nan Bield, 3rd Day see what the legs feel like! But go and see Andy or any of the staff in Biketreks there local knowledge is awesome, but then am biased.
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