Did the borrowdale bash yesterday after reading the route guide in the mag.
I was a little confused.
The downhill aft wantenladth was, in my opinion vey technical, certainly the top bit.
I had read in the guide that the main descent was even tougher.
I’m not the most technical of riders, but I cleared the technical second section in one!
Does anyone know if its been sanitised recently, there were a lot of rock slabs that looked fresh?
Or am I just a riding god 🙂

What do you mean by ‘the main descent’?

You mean the Castle Crag section down towards Derwent Water?

I’ve always thought the same as you, whilst you could get it very wrong there and at a fair pace, I wouldnt call it technical, certainly not compared with the Watendlath section.

Good ride though, it occasionally gets criticised by folk on here, probably because it is popular, but it gives you a good intro to Lakes riding.

Presume your comparing Birkets Leap against the Graveyard (Castle Crag).

Birkets is a lot harder, although I would say, as per agent above, that the graveyard has bigger potential for injury. I know of one broken hip and 2 broken arms on that run.

I thought Benji did his hip on birketts (I could be misremembering on a large scale, could have been someone else let alone wrong location)

I love birketts but castle crag scares me. Technical fixed rock = fun, loose rock = scary but everyone is different.

The photo in STW of Birketts leap, the guys not even taken the proper direct line, he’s taken the easy chicken run which runs to the right (if your looking at the photo) and goes behind the boulder 🙄

I find my tyres act as sacrificial components usually on Castle Crag, preventing me going fast enough to injure myself…

I find my tyres act as sacrificial components usually on Castle Crag

Most folk I ride with and myself use a mix of Maxxis’ 2.35 tyres (set up tubeless)…it’s rare that any of us ever have a problem on there. I have wrecked lots of other brands tubeless tyres on there though!

he’s taken the easy chicken run which runs to the right (if your looking at the photo) and goes behind the boulder

Chicken Run? He’s going straight down the face of the slab as far as I can make out. Is there another line then?
(pg 83 of issue 81)

You can tell from the position of the bike that he’s come from the right where the boulder is. The proper line runs down the far left of that photo, where from the gate there is an open top section, rock water gulley line, tight bit round a rock then two rock drops.

The right hand line is really tame by comparison

I never knew there was official lines.

There is no official line, but like on all lakes rocky descents there is always a direct hardest rockiest line, and then there are lines which don’t take in all the main features of the trail.

Castle Crag has been sanitised (to enable 4×4’s to get up and ‘rescue’ folks in emergencies – walkers getting out of breath). Watendlath is more fun (technical).

Agree with all the above. I don’t remember the Castle Crag descent being particularly technical at all. Point and shoot. I had an over-the-bars moment on Watendlath though 😆

Castle Crag is quite rough at the moment just after you exit the first long stone pitched section at the top. Watendlath is far more fun esp in the wet.

Same thoughts here: Watendlath is technically much harder but Castle Crag could go horribly wrong especially if you need to avoid walkers. I split the tyre on the former and pinched on the latter. I can’t believe that the rim survived after the pinch flats as it took a long time to stop the bike on the wet and loose rocks.

I never knew there was official lines.

Strava 🙄

Thanks for comments,I’ll read the article again, but sure they said the graveyard run was the most technical
They were both a bit scary tbh 😕

Re read the article, and I’ve got to say,they did get it pretty spot on,a great ride in any case