So a bunch of us soft Southerners had made plans many moons ago to abandon our slippery chalk hills, and visit the rocky mountatins of the Lake District...
We'd planned a few classic routes:
Borrowdale Bash, A little Lonscale loop out of Keswick, and the four passes the following day
8+ hours of driving later, and we arrived Thursday eve... went out for a leg loosener, and then to the pub!
Friday we drove another hour to Keswick, and headout out in STUNNING weather for the bash, and then after a bit of coffee and snackage in Keswick, added another 17km if up and down with the Lonscale loop..
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Straaaavvaaaaaaaa
Back to the caravan for a proper Southern Pi$$ up!! Hanging in the morning...all fit (yeah, right) and ready for the FOUR PASSES!!!
We started out from Wasdale head, and one of our group wanted to go for the KOM up Styehead pass (he got it..>) ... I paced him for the first half, then my back gav in carrying my bike, so ahd to slow down! (still got 4th on the strava leaderboard though..).
THis was a ruddy hard loop...27mk in 6 hours!!
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But...the descents were sublime..right up my street with techy, hoppy and slabby rock descents - we just don't get this down south!
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SSTraaavaaaaaa
After the route, we nipped back to teh caravans, washed and dressed, and had a fantastic meal in a nearby pub!!
I was soo pooped, and knew i had a long drive back on sunday, I hit the sack at 2130!
Yeah...was a whopping drive (my car covered 995 miles!) but well worth it! You lakes lot are PROPER lucky!!
DrP
Where were you staying?
Confused by the Bbash then Wasdale thing.
Stayed near Eskale....
"Parkgate Farm, Irton, Holmrook"
So a wee bit of driving each day..
DrP
That looks phenomenal.
I've never ridden in the Lakes. It looks amazing. Presumably it's always this warm and sunny?
Good work if you did the Four Passes in hot weather on your first Lakes visit. Always a toughie.
I’ve never ridden in the Lakes. It looks amazing. Presumably it’s always this warm and sunny?
In my personal experience, it is always raining somewhere in the Lakes (and when you're high up you can frequently see where this place is). The trick is not to be underneath it at the time.
Good work if you did the Four Passes in hot weather on your first Lakes visit. Always a toughie.
IT'S NOT A BIKE RIDE.
I will admit to sense of humour failure after the second hour of carrying my bike up a loose scree slope. 😑
Descents were just awesome though, *almost* worth it...👀
The lad who dragged an ebike up there deserves special credit, luckily he's not all there so he seemed to enjoy it
And we did also drink a shandy at the end, you know, for the sake of form...
IT’S NOT A BIKE RIDE.
I suspect it has about 20% bike ride content, time-wise.
That probably does fall short of the legal definition TBF.
I've informed my legal representative.
Those pics look amazing. I've been going to the Lake District every year without fail for the last 42 years, and have only had skies like that maybe three times.
Makes me want to ride my bike.
As a fellow Southerner, I've been meaning to do a Lakes riding trip for years. Good to know that we can still ride up (if not down) the hills faster than the locals.
Stayed near Eskale….
“Parkgate Farm, Irton, Holmrook”
Aah, that would explain this....
…was a whopping drive (my car covered 995 miles!)
Eskdale is too far for a weekend from Manc, never mind London.
London!
Keep going South till your feet get wet.. then you're here 😄😉
DrP