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Get down to the Lakes this winter!

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This is an unashamed plug for one of the great riding areas of the UK… We make no apologies for loving the Lakes…

Cumbria Tourism is keen to point out that, not only did most of the  Lake District (and all of the National Park) escape the recent flooding, but that the best way of supporting one of our best National Parks is to get down and ride your bike there.

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Firm singletrack and soft grass to fall on. Ideal...

We’re already big fans of the Lakes and Issue 54 of Singletrack (out on December 10th) has a feature we shot in Whitbeck on the west coast of Cumbria, and we’re off there in the New Year for some big mountain action.

A fine place to start is Vertebrate Graphics guide to the Lakes

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We reckon that all Lake District rides should involve a push to be worthwhile...

The other thing to do – which is what our intrepid heroes did in the new issue, is to just find somewhere good to stay in a place you’ve not been before and get up there. If you’re already having an adventure, it’s not hard to have fun on bikes.

For more info on the Lakes, have a look at www.golakes.co.uk/ and we’ll see you up there…

Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 22 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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Comments (10)

    BigJohnBigJohn November 30, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    Yes, some of the Cannock Chase Thursday night riding folk will be up there for one of our annual “3 days away rides” the weekend before Christmas. It can’t be any wetter than it was last year, can it?

    Harry aka DaveHarry aka Dave November 30, 2009 at 3:55 pm

    Is that Harter Fell? Not the best riding the Lakes has to offer but no doubt fun in a carry up/carry down kind of way.

    ChippsChipps November 30, 2009 at 5:19 pm

    The bottom shot is Black Combe from the next issue of the mag.
    Splooshtastic, but a great fun ride. The top shot was somewhere off the Duddon Valley.

    boxelderboxelder November 30, 2009 at 5:45 pm

    Harry aka Dave
    You’ve been going the wrong way on Harter Fell, it’s got some great riding up and down (unless you’re just rubbish….. 😉 )

    Dunno how they can say the whole of the National Park escaped the flooding – we lost 2 bridges!

    It’s right though, get up here. The weather over the last couple of days has been stunning – still, sunny and fresh snow on the tops.

    Chucky (aka Vortex Racing)Chucky (aka Vortex Racing) November 30, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    I suppose i’ll have to now you have asked.

    🙂

    ChippsChipps November 30, 2009 at 6:13 pm

    I have a crazy idea in mind to try to ride all 27 of the routes in that Lakes guidebook over the next year or two. I reckon you could do a couple of the shorter ones a day every weekend, with a week of riding in the summers for the longer ones.

    It might kill me though… 🙂 But in a good way.

    grantwaygrantway November 30, 2009 at 6:41 pm

    Can I be able to deive up there from London?
    What abot Access?

    DaveDave November 30, 2009 at 6:41 pm

    You’ve been going the wrong way on Harter Fell

    Don’t confuse composing a photo with route choice or direction :o)

    Harry aka DaveHarry aka Dave November 30, 2009 at 8:21 pm

    Yeah, the section above the photo is a tad tricky!

    mikewsmithmikewsmith December 1, 2009 at 7:15 am

    bridges may be gone but life is going on as normal here really. Cockermouth beer festival kicks into action this weekend.

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