Has anyone done the “High Street & Swindale” 60km killer route from the “Lake District Mountain Biking” route book by Staton / Gore?

It follows this route:
http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=qerxuojrdibmznmz&language=en

How techy is it on the descents? I know the book describes it as not being very techy, but that just might be in comparison to other Lake District rides. How do the descents compare to (for example) Gisburn’s red trails ?

Also, is there anywhere mid route to buy food and drink ?

Also, how much Hike a Bike is there ? Is it comparable to (for example) the climb to The Calf on the classic Howgill’s loop?

Its a big old route that I,ve done most of it and a lot of it is pretty miserable i.e. past Mosedale Cottage the descent from Thornthwaite Beacon is very sketchy when wet as a lot of it is on grass.Climb up Gatesgarth is hard work, down to the Ressy is pretty good.

Very hard to compare Red trails at Guisburn to trails in the Lakes make sure you take a compass or sat nav on High Street if the mist comes down

We did the opposite route out to Mosedale cottage from Gatesgarth. It was a miserable slog in the dry. It must be true misery in the wet. Find your way over the old corpse road and climb up nan bield instead. Or just don’t bother. All alternatives are preferable. However the area is lovely and quiet and really pretty. We saw a whole herd of deer and no people.

Seems strange a 60k Lakes route with 1500m climbing would be in a book if it was a bit rubbish ?

Yep,as above its just a miserable slog through boggy fields for the most part. It typifies everything that can be bad about mountain biking in the UK.

Definitely not worth bothering with.

Seems strange a 60k Lakes route with 1500m climbing would be in a book if it was a bit rubbish ?

It’s like a lot of well known routes, viewed as one to ‘tick off’, doesn’t mean it’s any good. Or the author rode it after a particularly dry summer!.

Could have been put in for any number of reasons but I’ve never heard anyone say anything good about the bridleway up (that) Mosedale 🙄

Trying to think of where the hike-a-bike is on the classic Howgills loop – apart from a short push up a steep loose section on to Calders it’s all ridable.

I think the shorter route in that book, which is also in my book, is better – in fact it’s pretty awesome. HAB up in the first place then some great mountain top riding and a superb descent. The Ullswater stretch is best tackled at quiet times but has some great techy stuff…

Saw the thread title and thought my wife was going shoe shopping again….

Yep,as above its just a miserable slog through boggy fields for the most part. It typifies everything that can be bad about mountain biking in the UK.

Now that sounds horrendous. I hate stuff like this. Find it incredibly tedious, and to make things worse, I tend to be really rubbish at dealing with bogs on my bike, despite encountering more than enough of them in my time.

Well I’m glad I asked this because now I know not to bother. This ride looked like it would be a spectacular. But reading these comments it sounds rubbish. Definitely not going to bother!

Don’t know why they put rubbish in books sometimes.
I’ve known the same with a few other books.

Would this route still be miserable if I was to do it during a very hot and dry period mid Summer ?

I’ve got a Garmin Edge so navigation is not a problem if the GPX is accurate.

I still remember it as the worst route in the guide, which is otherwise great. There’s better ways to see the Eastern fells, but it’s always boggy East of High Street. I tend to ride the trails East of Gatesgarth Pass on a cx bike, using the traffic free concrete rd or coffin route to link between Mardale, Swindale and Wet Sleddale. You can also get back to Longsleddale on BW. All very rolling mellow and often boggy terrain.