Hello all. I’m thinking of heading up the Calf tomorrow. Has anyone been up there recently, I’m wondering how well the single track into Borrowdale is holding up. I’ve done it once before a few years ago when it was bone dry.

I’ve no idea, but I have also ridden this route once in the past, but it was after bad weather and Bowderdale was a 7km slurry-filled rut that needed pedalling pretty much all the way down.

So you are a sensible person for asking!

I think you should be prepared for some splashiness, given the summer we’ve had. You got lucky last time – I’ve ridden it after a drought and still found plenty of wet bits further down Bowderdale.

Cheers. I don’t mind a bit of damp to keep things lively but I don’t want it the be a bog fest. I can do that on my local loop.

Some friends did it a couple of weeks ago and didn’t complain. It’s been showery since then. It’s not boggy but it can get wet. There’s a section near the end that is probably always wet as the track sits in a bit of a trench.

We did it and survived. A bit of mud but not too bad, a good day out. The track seemed a bit more washed out than I remember which is a little disconcerting on the more exposed sections.