A couple of us rode a fairly standard route in the Howgills yesterday and I have to say we were massively disappointed by the riding there.

To clarify things first, the Howgills are absolutely magnificent as a place – the Calf and Bowderdale are among the most scenic places I have ever been on my bike. The problem is the actual biking bit.

A few people also helped with some posts about route choice – I’m not being ungrateful or throwing this back in their faces but given the Howgills’ billing in many things I’ve read, the disappointment is high and I want to explain why.

I can’t criticise the climb up Brant Fell to the Calf because I’m not good/fit enough to ride up a lot of it (but this is not the root cause of my issues as I consider myself an OK rider who does ride a lot of natural trails in the Peaks, Yorskshire Dales etc).

The initial couple of hundred yards drop to Bowderdale is pretty good, but from then on it is a 7km slurry-filled rut for the most part. Rideable, but not actually much fun. At one point we were seriously considering trying to ride down the beck itself as it looked a better bet for some fun riding. The only point where the surface took a turn for the better was when it started to climb again – small mercies, but very galling. Our route guide described Bowderdale as a ‘magnificent trail’. I take issue with that – it’s a decidedly average trail in a magnificent setting.

We then spent 3/4 of an hour slogging across some fields at the far end of the route – something you can do in rural Suffolk.

The return leg over Harter Fell was climbed on road – a measure of how hacked off I was is that I was glad to be climbing on road.

The drop to Murthwaite was pretty good – as was the last section of the drop to Narthwaite (although no one seems to have ridden it in months).

The last section was described as a ‘picture postcard’ bridleway. Nope, just more muddy, grassy slogging.

I’d give the route 4 out of 10 (three for scenery and one because it was some exercise).

When we got back to Sedbergh I struggled to think why we weren’t in fact at an altitude of 1,000m as the route seemed to be 95% uphill slog.

The best part of the ride was the cruise into Sedbergh knowing it was over and the only thing I’ll take from it is bagging a summit (the Calf) and the knowledge that I won’t be going back for a ride there. There were occasional good sections (see above), but by the end we were just cracking on to get it over with as soon as possible – and that’s not an indicator of a happy ride.

it is a 7km slurry-filled rut for the most part. Rideable, but not actually much fun

If you’re daft enough not to realise that all the rain we’ve had will mean that route will be pointless until next spring, then it’s no-ones fault but your own. It’s not a constructed trail centre you know.
It’s a fantastic ride – when it’s dry.

The Howgills have some cracking routes, just not after a prolonged wet spell.

Yeah sorry, complete fail on your part to think about conditions. I was in Eskdale recently and had planned a ride there but I realised the ground was so sodden it would have been no fun (and caused loads of unnecessary erosion). Went to Grizedale instead and rode the mainly stone BWs there which was much better.

I reckon the desent from the Calf down to Sedbergh via Arrant Haw etc might still have been ok at the moment. That’s amazing fun normally – super fast with loads of little drops and incredible views. Is that the way you came up?

boxelder +1

its like the cheviots only go in the dry.

or only go if you are a hard northern f eck, who loves adverse weather and conditions…….. 😆

It has been rather wet up here over the past few weeks/months/years 😉
you get used to it

It’s not a constructed trail centre you know

I have to take issue with that bit – I did say in my OP that I much prefer ‘natural riding’ and I am certainly not a trail centre car park poseur.

Fair enough comments about conditions, but the Dark Peak and Long Mynd to name two places seem not to be so badly affected by the rain. Also, when people say ‘prolonged wet spell’ do you mean the whole summer? I ask this because the locals I chatted to in one of the pie shops was saying how the weather had been quite good lately(!)

A good parallel would be between Bowderdale and Cut Gate – the latter is also very boggy in places, but this is evened out by the fact that some of it is not – Bowderdale is a slurry fest all the way down.

Another major factor in my disappointment is the billing given to the Howgills (to quote WMB ‘the best riding you’ve never heard of’).

I’m not a brat who thorws his toys if everything is not laid on for me – it’s not like that, really. I am just conveying my disappointment, that’s all.

I thought it was a reasonable post and can see where you are coming from. I guess different people get different things out of a ride. I love riding across the Marlborough Downs, completely on my own, surrounded by rolling hills and neolithic stuff. However, consensus appears to be that the riding around here is crap which it probably is for everyone else apart from me.

Best send the trail builders in and make it an all weather surface oh and some drops, berms to jig it up a bit and while your on a cafe at the top of each hill for your latte 😀

As far as I’m aware as a local to the North, We have been underwater for the last two weeks.

You have seen a stunning area with honestly good riding in the worst possible conditions. Just over a week ago nearly every road near there was affected by flooding. It is disappointing to travel to somewhere and it not to be as described but its the weather that has been an issue not the trails or the area.

The guys in the pie shop where talking shite.

We were a bit meh after it as well, if it’s any consolation. That was perhaps in relation to the hype surrounding it, which it never lived up to IMO. By Dales standards it’s pretty decent in good conditions, but certainly not a route that I have rushed back to, and the Dales is my main xc stomping ground.

Fair enough comments about conditions, but the Dark Peak and Long Mynd to name two places seem not to be so badly affected by the rain.

Both in the south and therefore inherently dryer.

Different places are affected differently by the weather, the high fells ups that way do get a bit on the draggy side after the summer wet weather. As with most places, if you want to go up on the hills and have a good time either accept what conditions are likely to be or do some research.

I’m not a brat who thorws his toys if everything is not laid on for me – it’s not like that, really. I am just conveying my disappointment, that’s all.
I’m also dissappointed in the amount of rain we’ve had. I think it’s the fault of whoever told you about the area in the fact that they didn’t tell not to go after a ‘damp spell’ 😆
Stick to Swaledale.

Stick to Swaledale

Aaaargh! That’s what my mate wanted to do, but I talked him round…….

Oh well, an excuse for another ride to explore Swaledale……… 😀

Go next Saturday, you can watch the Scott trial as well.

The trails in Swaledale hold up pretty well in the wet, as a lot of them are maintained for shooting. Try this one: http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/Swaledale_round_route.html

I did it at the end of April 2011 when it hadn’t rained for a month, & still got some mud on my leg. thoroughly enjoyed it & will do it again after a suitable dry spell.
Would’ve this year, but reckoned it would be as you described due to weather this year.

Aside from Thursday night, we’ve had quite a dryish week in the Dales. Before that, it’s been consistently appalling in MTB terms for quite a number of weeks.

However, the key difference is we’ve clearly passed the point of no return weatherwise where the falling ambient temperature means many trails probably aren’t going to dry out until Spring, regardless of a few dry days here and there . I was out across Sharp Haw and Barden Fell this afternoon and was surprised at just how much water the moors were holding, even after a semi-decent week.

There are still plenty of all-weather options in the Dales. I did the Nidderdale Classic the previous weekend and it was in very good shape overall.

I certainly wouldn’t be trying the Bowderdale route on the back of what I know, or quite a few others, and by the sounds of it, word needs to get around that it should be avoided to allow it to recover more quickly in Spring. The OP really shouldn’t judge it as substandard on present conditions.

Let’s hope for some sharp frosts soon to bring some of the trails back into better condition.

About a million years ago I road up Bowderdale. Dryish day, I loved it everyone else hated it…..

Good can be hard to pin down

You’d have been better off riding up and down the Calf twice. There’s enough options available.

I’ev only ever ridden it in the height of a decent summer. Was a cracking ride but in no way would I describe it as brilliant ‘riding’. Pretty bland, not really testing in terms of the trail itself but the setting is like nothing else…

Dannyh have you considered using a trail centre? apparently they never get wet or muddy, they have an endless supply of cappuccino and you can pose all day long in your expensive kit in the car park – that’s what I do every Sunday! 8)

Was a cracking ride but in no way would I describe it as brilliant ‘riding’

Spot on – I can only imagine it as being brilliant riding at the end of 8 weeks of dry weather in the summer! The setting is fantastic, though (I have not said otherwise).

You’d have been better off riding up and down the Calf twice. There’s enough options available.

It appears you have a direct line into my brain as this is exactly what we were saying once we’d gone past the point of no return at the far end of Bowderdale. Oh well, you live and learn.

I have no problem with taking trails at face value and making the best of them – there’s some bits local to me that appear to be hellish in aspirational mountain bike terms. For example, there is a tussocky, grassy climb that I could easily avoid, but I ride it for the exercise and to be off-road. There are other sections where good trails spit you out onto churned up walker/horse tracks, apparently horrid, but if you attack them enough you can practice sliding and holding momentum. Pretty much every trail has some merit and I’m not blind to it. Easy trails can be much more fun just by riding them at night, for example.

What was most disappointing was the hype that I’ve absorbed over a number of years about the actual riding there. Oh well, better luck next time……..

Yep I agree with Boxelder,theres plenty of other routes that are rideable after the rain we have had recently,The Howgills is a classic back country ride that is best done before the bracken gets high enough to snatch your handlebars, and the surface conditions should be good enough to walk on.

High Street Roman road is a similar route, IME you need a week of dry weather or a hard frost before I would consider riding the full route, If your patient enough to wait for the right conditions, or seek local advice on here it will be a far more enjoyable route. April to June is usually best. 😉

Yeah it’s really awful up there……. especially when the ground is frosty with a dusting of snow…..

I wasn’t having a pop. I was underwhelmed by the Kirian path (spg?) to kinlochleven in the summer, and that was in suitable conditions. One mans meat…….

Only ever been on the Howgills when its been solid! and it was very good

Climbing in the cold by Richard Munro, on Flickr

Go on then. Look what you could have won (if you’d gone in the dry):

IMG_2990 by DaveyBoyWonder, on Flickr

IMG_2989 by DaveyBoyWonder, on Flickr

IMG_2982 by DaveyBoyWonder, on Flickr

IMG_2981 by DaveyBoyWonder, on Flickr

I’ve ridden it many times, in both directions, and I’m the only one out of our ‘gang’ who hates Bowderdale. It’s my nemesis, trail wise.

Plus, I agree with the OP, that with the exception of the Calf and the descent down to Sedbergh (if you do it the other way), the riding is mainly slogging across boggy fields. However, that descent ……. Wow!

Horses for courses I guess ….. that ride has to be one of my favourites in the UK although maybe I’ve been lucky with trail conditions ….

IMG_0446 by Simon_R, on Flickr

IMG_5119 by Simon_R, on Flickr

IMG_5143 by Simon_R, on Flickr

IMG_5172 by Simon_R, on Flickr

IMG_5165 by Simon_R, on Flickr

IMG_5170 by Simon_R, on Flickr

yep its one of my favourites too. I reckon you’ve just lucked out with the weather.

Always fancied going to the Howgills. Now I know *when* to go – thanks everyone!

Rachel

Those pics look quality. The length of that path going down n round the side of the hills, oh my days blud! Gonna have to get an excursion organised soon as the weather starts playing ball i reckon.

Hmmm… I remember being distinctly underwhelmed by Bowderdale when I rode it back in 1997 as part of a Dales-Howgills-Lakes tour. Couldn’t see what the fuss was about, although the setting was pretty spectacular.

It was obviously better than the riding round Cambridge – where I was living at the time – but not a patch on the Calderdale riding I’d discovered a couple of years earlier when living in York. Always wondered at the time why I’d never seen a Calderdale trail guide in the mags…

Howgills in “not-fun when-its-wet” shocker.

I thought it was common knowledge to get the best enjoyment, it has to be bone dry (or frozen solid) and prefrabyl with no wind.

Trial-choice fail by the sounds of it.

I’m not going to give you the abuse some others have but surely as a mountain biker you know some trails are good fun year round and others you wouldn’t go near if it’s been very wet weather lately. So if a trail is reputed to be good and it was a mushy mess when u went (after a lot of rain) Shirley it would cross your mind that this was one of those non-all weather trails before you hit the Post button

Done howgills a couple of times in middle of long dry spells, it was ace, did it last year in “summer” but was still a bit mushy, fun but i’m not going back again without checking conditions with locals

Shirley it would cross your mind that this was one of those non-all weather trails before you hit the Post button

Yeah, fair enough. 🙄

I’ve calmed down a bit now – and yes, now I’m going to have to go back in the dry…………..

Like the time I rode the Jacobs Ladder route anti-clockwise to assure myself I wasn’t riding it the wrong way around (IMO I wasn’t, but I had to be sure)!

Just got back from a night ride where I pinch flatted. However, taking the glass half full approach it was really quite something to have the red deer stags grunting and bellowing so close as I sorted things out having dimmed the lights. There’s an experience I wouldn’t have had if I’d just blazed on through.

Roll on summer 2013. Bowderdale, you’re gonna get it. Except if it’s muddy of course. 😉