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Heading up to Ullswater Thursday - Monday, staying at Parkfoot caravan site, at the North East edge of Ullswater, just south of Pooley Bridge
Normally, "should I take my bike to the Lakes" would be a ridiculous question, with the obvious answer of yes!
However, Mrs STR doesn't ride and with it only being a short break, I don't want to disappear for a day.
So, is it worth the faff of taking the ebike up, just to have a couple of hours pootle one morning?
Trailforks shows me nothing, I can see on the tinterweb that there's a 20 mile circular walking route round the lake, but not much bike info.
Ta
Always.
Take it!
Yes definitely. Up to the cockpit, bridleway to howton, up bridleway to church then follow the lake shore to Glenridding. Be worth riding that even if you returned to Pooley bridge on the road.
The bridleway isn't dull.....
Beda Fell, Place Fell, Satura + Angletarn all 600m fells at the Southern end of Ullswater so great for shorter and easier rides.
That bridleway along the edge of Ulswater, in the Northern half, is really something
To the point if some one offered me an ebike I’d want to be confident I could carry it before setting off
But your skills are probably way beyond mine
There are great trails heading East from there to Lowther Castle. Easy trails and quiet roads but great for a pootle. Lowther Castle is amazing gardens plus has a cafe. Good day out could be to ride there from Ullswater, meet the rest of your party there for castle and garden or just cafe then ride back.
Parking at the castle is free if you just want to explore near there and not do the castle. Fair play to the estate for opening up more trails for bikes. It includes putting in gates on the permissive cycle paths and mapping them not just turning a blind eye to cheeky trails.
Hopefully this trail map link works:
You could do the eastern side of Ullswater. From Pooley Bridge go up to The Cockpit, then following the BW to Howtown, Martindale, Sandwick, then near Rooking go over the river to Patterdale and into Glenridding and then catch the ferry back to Pooley Bridge. Obviously check the timetable and that they allow bikes on board. It's been a quite a few years since I did that ride, but it was a brilliant trail. Your partner could get the ferry from Pooley Bridge to Glenridding and meet you there for lunch etc. The ferry ride was very good as I remember it.
We did this a while ago, it was a long slog up for a mostly not worthwhile descent.
Probably be a bit better on an EBike in the dry.
https://strava.app.link/uWNhwMxGhtb
I did this from the campsite last summer, definitely worth doing.
Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/stp5O4SHhtb
This is the Pooley Bridge (Park Foot campsite) to Glenridding lakeside route.
Stats say 18km. 90 minutes. 364m of ascent the majority of which is the climb to The Cockpit
That bridleway along the edge of Ulswater, in the Northern half, is really something
To the point if some one offered me an ebike I’d want to be confident I could carry it before setting off
There are only two/maybe 3 places where a carry is required as it is basically a staircase up. None of them are very long and I'd imagine a push would be possible. When we were up there 2 weeks ago there was a family (adult children) on rental ebikes (who were way, way, way out of their depth and mostly pushed). They made it along the whole thing and none of them looked even remotely close to troubling fit. They also all looked mightily pissed off however that's their own stupid fault.
I agree with almost everything posted above. There are loads of brilliant routes from Pooley Brudge area. Like really, really good routes. Take your bike and do one.
Just to add to the mix, if it's been dry there then Dodds Ridge, Sticks East, Seldom Seen would be a cracker on an ebike ( I think)
Regarding this bit though:
That bridleway along the edge of Ulswater, in the Northern half, is really something
Could be interpreted wrongly. The northern half of the Bridleway * near* Ullswater is really easy. Brilliant, but easy. The difficult bit is the southernmost part, ie the bit where the Bridleway goes right alongside the lake. I love that bit. Actually I love both bits.
It's hard, but not that hard. My kids did it aged 11/13 I think. Fair enough, they got the ferry back! But they did it one way.
Defo take your bike.
Oh, and don't come back along the western shore road if you can help it. Not fun
Bookmarking this thread for future. We stayed in the lower field at Parkfoot last October and intend returning sometime, especially now we have our own SUPs. Was a family hol and only biking was a family ride at Grizedale which was a bit rubbsh IMO, so good to know there's some local stuff from the campsite.
We stayed in the lower field at Parkfoot last October ....and only biking was a family ride at Grizedale which was a bit rubbsh IMO
=
We stayed in a gite near Reims last October ....and only wine tasting we did was a day trip to Rheinhessen which was a bit rubbsh IMO
😉
Thanks all for your replies, looks like I'll be taking the bike 😊
Could be interpreted wrongly. The northern half of the Bridleway * near* Ullswater is really easy. Brilliant, but easy. The difficult bit is the southernmost part, ie the bit where the Bridleway goes right alongside the lake. I love that bit. Actually I love both bits.
It’s hard, but not that hard. My kids did it aged 11/13 I think. Fair enough, they got the ferry back! But they did it one way.
As ever I confused north and south. Weird as I can do left and right
To be clear I’m not suggesting the bridle way would be a problem on an acoustic bike. My wige who never table got into the idea mountain biking did I quite happily pushing and carrying where necessary. This summer I went on a group ride with an ebike along. The owner insisted it would take 4 of us to lift it over a fence. I couldn’t remember if there were places where you’d have to carry
My wige who never table got into the idea mountain biking did I quite happily pushing and carrying where necessary.
@AMPTHILL - sentence of the week mate, good effort! 🙂
@AMPTHILL – sentence of the week mate, good effort! 🙂
Hahaha
Only nipped out for an hour, but did up to Cockpit, down to Howtown and back along the road. The bridleway descent was definitely worth it
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