[Closed] How hard is the borrowdale bash?

It's plenty doable in half a day. Just start for 0800 and be back for lunch.
It's a great ride.

I think 4 hours is doable for most, especially if you're on your own so less faffing.

In May, half a day no bother, especially if you ride straight to Watendlath on the road as per the 'official' version.

PS - don't do that, climb up to Walla Crag from Keswick and down to Ashness Bridge from there.

What martinhutch said.

I pottered round in a bit under 4 hours inc stops so you should be fine. I'd barely ridden in the previous 6/7 months.

There's some stiff climbing in there so your ride will depend on how you manage that. If you pedal the climbs (apart form the impossible one above Watendlath 🙁 ), I can't believe it'd take half a day unless you get loads of pinch flats or choose to stop & psych yourself up for the tricky-looking bit

Absolutely smashing it (when we were both fully XC race fit), me and a mate did it in 90 minutes once but it wasn't enjoyable. Crack of dawn summer weekday so no-one on the trails which certainly helped!

I'd always reckon on about 3-4hrs at a reasonable pace although it depends if you do the Walla Crag bit which does add a bit of time.

Working at a bike shop up there many years ago, I hired out a couple of Rockhoppers to two lads who assured us that they were competent / fit etc. Gave them the usual printed route options, they decided on the Bash route which the route sheet said "allow up to 6hrs"

They returned at gone 5pm (about 8hrs after picking the bikes up), absolutely wrecked.

So your answer is "anywhere from 90 minutes to 8hrs"

I've attempted it three times, and failed three times.

I have ridden it a couple of times as an average rider. There are some stiff climbs but mostly rideable-Honister is a killer and the climb out of Watendlath is a carry for me.
There is a tricky section as you drop down from Watendlath towards Rosthwaite which I have never managed to ride, (rock steps and deep gulleys) and a section past Castle Crag which needs care. Good ride though.

and a section past Castle Crag which needs care.

Bent the seat stay on my Kona Lava Dome going over the bars on that in 1998 or something, frame still going strong though. Rock Shock Indy S forks and no talent didnt get the job done 😄😄😄

Yep, been close to doing that myself, probably going too slow to be honest but didn’t dare go any faster!

and a section past Castle Crag which needs care.

There's an article in one of the early issues of ST Magazine written by me and mate describing how he was helicoptered off there with a fractured pelvis.

But don't worry, you'll be fine. 😉

I saw Scott Beaumont ride it once - he was out for a shop demo day. OMG he just [b]flowed[/b] down there. Smooth as you like, little bits of air. And about 3x faster than anyone else could even come close to.

I did it in 2.21 this summer and I was reasonably fit. I did the road climb to Ashness Bridge and the traditional route.
Some good technical descending in it. It’s a tough one but easily doable in 4hrs without mechanicals.
Enjoy

The descent after Watendlath down to the road is an absolute corker! I always forget just how good it is coz when you're looking back on a ride you tend to focus on how hard the ups were. But love that descent

Definitely do Walla Crag, 4 hrs should be fine.

Just checked Strava and my moving time with Walla Crag and a couple of wee cheeky bits on the way back was just under 2½hrs, steady away after finishing night shifts that morning.

It's became my go to loop recently, well when I get chance of a ride!

Descent to Rosthwaite is one of my favourite sections that I've ridden anywhere in the UK.

I'm not super fit, and am a definite wincher on the climbs, but would expect to do the bash in about 3 or 3 1/2 fairly easy hours on my own. Longer if in a group.

Ridden it a few times. Last one was 2016 on a Fat Bike after I broke my forks the day before

https://flic.kr/p/Gvnrck

Checking Strava, 4 hours elapsed including stopping for tea and cake half way round. And some mechanical faffage.

Descent to Rosthwaite is one of my favourite sections that I’ve ridden anywhere in the UK.

Aye, agreed, I love that bedrock section at the top, it's a lovely run down to Rosthwaite nd the Flock inn!

Just to add a bit of balance... I checked the last 2 times I did it (both in December, but decent weather). 5 hours elapsed for the regular route, 6 with Walla Crag. That includes the nadgery path to Watendlath from above Ashness Bridge and allows for some chatting and faffing with friends. I think the 6 hour day included a coffee stop and a flat that took a while to fix (thanks to the use of Muc Off sealant).

Alex - isn't that Ullswater?

Don't bother with the path that takes you to Watendlath...it's very tech which is great if you like that sort of thing but ploddy, some carry, no flow and VERY definitely not intended for bikes. The road will save you at least 30 mins...

Very easy to come a cropper on the bedrock part of the descent to Rosthwaite too as others have said. Great fun but you're a bloody good rider if you can clean that with no dabs 🙂

That is definitely Ullswater.

There's a few extra options to add to the bash to cut out road, but if you are short and time and have a car just park and ride from Grange. It's about an 11 mile loop that way and you get the best bits of the 'classic bash' and it's doable in under 2hrs.

For someone who has a brand new Garmin and has yet to learn how to download gpx files and follow a route, is there a definitive version of the Borrowdale Bash available anywhere? One with all the good bits in.

Don’t bother with the path that takes you to Watendlath…

Agreed, the path between Ashness and Watendlath is a slow one if you're on a schedule.

Crazy-legs, I remember that article but wasn’t going to mention it😧
I have also seen a good rider clean that top section above Rosthwaite smooth as you like and remember thinking WOW and then thinking why the heck Can’t I do that

Don’t bother with the path that takes you to Watendlath…it’s very tech which is great if you like that sort of thing but ploddy, some carry, no flow and VERY definitely not intended for bikes. The road will save you at least 30 mins…

Whilst I agree that the road is quicker, that singletrack is a real highlight for me. Really fun bit of technical trail.

To add to what Bungalistic said above, if you started in Rosthwaite you can end the ride with a pint at the Scafell Hotel 🙂 The flip side of that means starting the BB with a 25% road climb out of Seatoller which is the opposite of fun!

90 minutes!!!! Respect!

Strava tells me I've done it in 2h, including the little extra bit at Stonethwaite, but that's on my own in early morning, zero-faff, put-some-effort-in mode.

2:55 riding with a friend, but still minimal faff.

"That" rock section above Rosthwaite is how I know that I've got at least a bit better over the years. First time I saw it, I couldn't understand how anyone could ride it. I can now clean it on a very good day!

“That” rock section above Rosthwaite is how I know that I’ve got at least a bit better over the years.

Up from Watendlath, or down to Rosthwaite?

I would be highly impressed seeing someone doing the former.

I did it in the summer with a couple of friends in severe heat. I have never been so happy to find a tiny little tea room tucked away after I'd downed 2l of water by the time I'd gone from Keswick to Watendlath.

Great ride. Great views. Great bouldery descents with water channels.

Great fun but you’re a bloody good rider if you can clean that with no dabs

First time I've ever been described as a bloody good rider, thanks! lol! The climb up from Watendlath has always eluded me, the wee step up mibbe a quarter of the way always gets me, that's my excuse!

Don’t bother with the path that takes you to Watendlath…it’s very tech which is great if you like that sort of thing but ploddy, some carry, no flow and VERY definitely not intended for bikes. The road will save you at least 30 mins…

LOL...avoid all the off-road sections and save ateast 2 hrs. Trail Centres for 'flow', Lakes for more of a challenge.

 

Love the bash. We usually do it within 5 hours and thats including stopping at one of the cafes thats open for 40 odd mins and including other little rest stops. Although all cafes are closed at moment i think.
Usually start from keswick, push up a little bit after you cross a stream up to walla crag, then blast down walla crag. Another little push up where theres a trout lake.
Once we get to the bottom of honister pass, theres a gate to your right and we just go through that and push up as its not worth the big climb up the pass. Then the rest is a blast. Possibly one more push up a bit past castle crag. great route.

I need to go and ride it again on a modern bike, did it a few years ago on a MK2 Soul with 120mm reba's and a fixed seatpost. That was actually hell of a hardtail - dual air forks, thomson post, renthal bars, hope wheels. Aaah those were the days...

Climb from Watendlath I had to push the top half, Honister pass I got up seated, but jesus it's a pull. I rode alone, in patchy weather, it was quiet and I only saw full sus riders other than me... They were highly amused.

I survived, just about 3hrs, average fitness, it's a great ride, next time I'll look to add Walla Crag.

I did it in the summer with a couple of friends in severe heat. I have never been so happy to find a tiny little tea room

Yep, my aborted attempts were when the family rebelled on baking hot days and insisted we divert to Black Moss Pot for a swim. ( no great hardship)

I have also seen a good rider clean that top section above Rosthwaite smooth as you like and remember thinking WOW and then thinking why the heck Can’t I do that

I once "borrowed" a Cove G-Spot (it was supposedly for sale but it turned into a sort of "bike to be borrowed by staff if they wanted some fun") for a loop of that and remember wondering why the descent had ended in half the time it normally did.
Turns out a 6" full sus is really quite a skill compensator when you're used to a HT!

I don't think I've ever managed the climb up to the top of it from Watendlath in one go though.

This thread has made me want to go and do the Borrowdale Bash again now!

Love the Bash and haven't done it for a few years. I didn't even realise there was an off-road bit from Ashness to Watendlath.

Nobody ever seems to want to do the Rosthwaite descent AND go back up for the cheeky alternative.

me and a mate did it in 90 minutes once

Chapeau.

This thread has made me want to go and do the Borrowdale Bash again now!

This! 🙂

Yeah, I only ever tried it on my Superlight, the bloke I saw go down it was on some long travel plush sofa of a bike, no wonder he seemed to float over it. I ended up hanging on for grim death with a seat rammed up where the sun don’t shine- and that was trying to dismount before I endoed😜

LOL…avoid all the off-road sections and save ateast 2 hrs. Trail Centres for ‘flow’, Lakes for more of a challenge.

Not really. Natural flow can be found in the Lakes. The Castle Crag descent has flow and challenge, the Rosthwaite descent has flow and challenge...that path is admittedly a challenge but not really any fun element to it at all, and does slow you down massively if you're trying to get the Bash done inside half a day.

Crikey I used to knock that out in the 90's on a rigid bike no sweat, before they "sanitised" castle crag descent.

Probably pushed some of it though... memory fading.

did it a few years ago on a MK2 Soul with 120mm reba’s and a fixed seatpost.

Pfft! Did it on a 90's crosser... 🙂

Not a hardtail, but I did my fastest time down Castle Crag in 2012 on a 26in bike which I'd think was too tiny to ride now.

I had the Strava KOM at the time, but unsurprisingly Adam Brayton had gone 30secs+ faster a year later.

Just checked and his KOM from 2013 still stands.

The Bash. A tale of two halves. First half is great, the big descent down to the road/river/bridge is great. The rest is poor IMO.