I am a broken man...Shattered!
IMG_0021 by simon ralli, on Flickr
September 2nd by simon ralli, on Flickr
IMG_0049 by simon ralli, on Flickr
IMG_0055 by simon ralli, on Flickr
IMG_0061 by simon ralli, on Flickr
Full set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157624740990759/with/4951805293/
Cracking ride that isn't it? Did it last year with the crazy Mancs. Glad we stopped at the little village at the far end of the ride for chips and a pint otherwise I'd have died!
Wow, that looks awesome, and you had good weather by the looks of it.
Yeah - that little shop was a life saver. I had to buy three more bottles of water as I had got through 2l of water and a lucozade sport by the time we got there! Ed and I got round in a little over 7 hours, with a few falls but nothing major. I ended up losing my balance and going down the valley but hey ho, at least you are falling on to grass 
William - yeah, there was hardly any breeze at the top of the calf (around 680m?). It got a tad cloudy towards the end but nothing major.
Fantastic route, it's def one of those must do's
Absolutely. We even had plenty of fun trying to do the two fords. I made it through the first one, then I asked Ed to take a photo as I did it a second time, and inevitably fell in.
I didn't care too much for all that stone chipping that has been laid down on the way up to the calf, but down the other side it's all natural again. A wee bit too technical for my skills, but great fun. And that flowing bridleway that comes back again on the return leg is awesome! More my kind of terrain.
This was am MBR route and I think they described it as best of the Lakes plus best of the Dales - you get two terrains for the price of one.
I am really feeling it this morning. I think Ed is meeting up with Pook and maybe Hora tomorrow and invited me, but I think I'll chill and maybe ride Drumlanrig instead as I can't be dealing with more climbing!
One of my fav rides... Love the Howgills. Looks like you had some cracking weather for it too.
I must ride the howgills does look ace.
got any maps or owt?
"itser must do"
ok, what's the route?
Best thing about the Howgills is getting all your elevation out of the way at the start - the descent through the valley is mint!
I'd love to have ridden there but mrshora wants me to take her upto the Lakes (kicking off abit) so I'm planning on dropping her in Windermere then me doing Nan Bield 
Here's the map. You start at Sedburgh and there is a bridleway up to the Calf
IMG_0001 by simon ralli, on Flickr
Ed has done this before, and we didn't ride across the fields at the very top, we just stuck to the b road and rode to the pub and shop at Ravenstonedale. You then come back and we went up a road to gain the final elevation on the way back. There is just one tricky section where you feel like you lose the bridleway in a lot of overgrown heath, but it's not too bad. Pretty straight forward I think if you have the OS map.
One of the best!! Ace weather for you
Has anyone experience of extending this north across Great Asby Scar and Crosby Garrett Fell?
Looking to make it up to a 35 miler...
Cheers
Paul
Ah i know it well - ask Ed about falling off into the poo.
A top route,aint that so Russell, done it twice now in perfect weather, but with many offs,
With the right weather, that's got to be my favourite ride in England. We had similar weather last year eh Dave?
I've also done a spectacular off in that river crossing immediately before your 5th pic Simon, only it was a wet cold day too. Total submersion city. Yak.
Nice pics, I'm jealous!
The river crossings gave the ones that didnt fall in a good laugh,
Snowslave
Are you talking about this crossing?
IMG_0057 by simon ralli, on Flickr
I have to say the leafy and grassy descent down to this point through those small trees was cracking!
Gwyneth - sort of glad to hear it wasn't just me with all the offs, although Ed's and my major injuries were both caused by falling over our bikes when taking photos
Simon, this is me and Ed doing the self same loop last year - incredible isn't it?
http://www.vimeo.com/5092093
Yeah that's the one. When we did it last year it was like in your picture. First time I rode it was after a lot of rain, it was deep, I was tired, I fell, and yes people found it most drole....
The bit before is indeed wonderful though.
stunning pics, hats off !
Nice pics snowslave.
Judging by this STW group ride video, it seems that there can't be many people on here who haven't done the ride!
Cheers Trekster - you know me, one lap of the Mabie red is normally more than enough but my legs got me round! It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.
Actually, I've just been having a think and I now feel like a "proper" mountain biker, like you see in the magazines. I've never done a killer loop before, never thinking I would make it round one, and you get this huge sense of achievement having done it, especially as I was totally out of condition a month ago.
Got the photos from Ed. Here's my off - the bike stayed put as I went over and then tumbling down that hillside. Luckily the only damage was to my sarnies. Better a crushed sarnie than a crushed vertebrae
Photos from Ed's camera by simon ralli, on Flickr
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Bikemagic mates ride.