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Was really looking forward to a ride up on the Altura trail today. Place was heaving, never been to a trail centre that was as busy.
My general nemesis when riding is ice and slippy roots. I am hopeless on them. So the fact that the place was frozen solid and had lots of slippy roots and off camber rock sections, I may as well have walked round. Scared the bejesus out of me to be honest. I almost kissed the ground when I got back to the car park in one peice. I spent last night trying to get my helmet camera working. Damn glad I didnt now, I would have been totally ashamed of the results.
Views were breathtaking though. A lovely clear day. To cap it all though my camera was set on VGA so all my pics are shite.
The trail was, in truth, ace. I just cant wait to go back in the spring and do it some justice.
IMO, if you're going to drive all the way to Keswick, you're better off doing the Tours of Skiddaw or Derwent. I doubt if Whinlatter can compare...
Oh, we did the Borrowdale Bash (Derwent) today and saw relatively little ice :o) Simply stunning!
Done both routes Simon. Wanted something different. The BB does not gain the altitude that the Altura gains and benefits from a north facing valley, therefore the sun will burn away any ice except the Rosthwaite descent early on. Glad you had a good day.
Whether Whinlatter can compare to the other routes is purely subjective though. One mans meat etc.
What he said
Simons a veggie..
I'm from the Western Lake District and if I'm honest I think that Whinlatter is a complete waste of time through the day.
There's far better riding to be had out toward Loweswater, Buttermere, Skiddaw and Gaskgill. Whinlatter is only worthwhile when [u]ALL[/u]the walkers have gone home and you can ride the trail, then the fireroads up and all the footpaths back down. There's amazing fun to be had on the Whinlatter footpaths once you're a danger to no one but yourself.
Ahem daffy... dont be shy... send me some of your routes maps and I'll show you mine :p
Did the north loop with me 10 yr old son this afternoon, yup it was slippery as hell, trouble is the little bugger cleared most of it while i was dabbing like a bloody geriatric gggrrrrrr, time to rethink our riding activities.... more killer climbs methinks
I don't really know how to upload my routes to anything, they're just in my head at the moment. I've bought a satmap to automate the process, but I'm still ironing out the kinks.
[i]Done both routes Simon. Wanted something different.[/i]
isn't that a bit like saying, "I've tried straight and gay sex and now I want something different so I'm investigating the delights of the rest of the animal kingdom". Sometimes you need to content yourself with what you already have...
How [i]does[/i] your mind work??
[i]How does your mind work?? [/i]
well, rejecting Skiddaw & Borrowdale for cruddy Whinlatter seems perverted to me :o)
Have you ridden Whinlatter Simon? Or are you worried you might like it?
It's quite photogenic you know
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(no apologies for somewhat crap compact camera pic)
[i]Have you ridden Whinlatter Simon? [/i]
yes, but not for many years, but I did enjoy it a lot, especially the BW that drops down to Thornthwaite, however, with the rides I mentioned before close by in practice I would always choose those 🙂
[i]Or are you worried you might like it?[/i]
I'm sure I would - I always do my best to get the most out of anywhere I go, and I have many pleasant memories of Whinlatter (and painful ones too). If it were anywhere else I'd probably go there, but I last went in 2003.
Nice pic Boxelder... Wasnt taken on Sunday by any chance... it was also like this :
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