I’ve just been for a ride round Whinlatter. The trail is riding absolutely fantastically, ground is frozen with half an inch of snow across the trail that’s giving tons of grip. One other set of tyre tracks have been round today and it was a great ride out considering the weather. All a bit Narnia really.
However, up around the top of the North Loop there’s quite a few bits that have drifted. I managed to ride most of it, so it’s not too bad, but the first bit off the fire road climb isn’t rideable.
I’ve no idea whether putting a load of bikes through it will turn it to ice or whether the grip will stay, I guess it depends on the temperature. Later on there’s some ice under the snow, but nothing too treacherous. Descents were fairly decent, but you needed to reign things in a bit as it was hard to feel the grip under the front end and if it had washed it was going to be a hard impact! I suspect there’ll be big queues on the technical descents as the roadies won’t know what to do with it 🙂
Putting a normal race field up it will be carnage on the slippier bits, though I’d guess the field will be much smaller so that will help. My guess is that if the weather stays like this is that it’ll still be fun but difficult to really race as there’ll be big queues on the singletrack. Still quite a bit of time to go though, so it could all change.
I’d guess the decision to go ahead or not will come down to the condition of the roads and parking rather than the trail and that if it goes ahead people will have to be a bit pragmatic when it comes to what they expect from the event.
I couldn’t get up the pass from the Lorton side and left my car at Spout Force and rode in from there, the pass is mostly fine apart from the steep bit after spout force where it’s drifted as well as being steep. My Focus had no chance.
Coming back down I was flagged down by a young couple whose car had gone off the road and was upside-down against a tree with the roof caved in! No idea how but they barely had a scratch on them, one sore elbow and one suspected concussion. SO they had to be ferried to the hospital. No idea what’s what on the Keswick side, but there were more tracks coming the from that way, so I suspect it’s better.
I might go back tomorrow as I’m struggling to think of anywhere to go that’s not going to be worse, though perhaps the Borrowdale Bash might be an option.
