Why don't you ride your mountainbike in the Lake District ?

I was surprised that five of us rode two excellent days riding in the Lakes on a bank holiday weekend (Saturday and Sunday) but never saw any one else out on mountain bikes.

There could be lots of reasons why,but i will be interested in your opinions..

cos i have been preoccupied. this will however be changing very soon. 8)

Most of the locals avoid the bank holiday weekend and go out in the evenings?
Which part of the lakes were you riding in? Some of the Northern fells (behind Skiddaw etc) are often nice and quiet all year round.

EDIT – sorry just noticed – you are a local!

My favourite place to ride, but the words bank holiday weekend and Lake District don’t go together buddy!.

I live in london and have 2 small children

im lucky if I manage a 2hr blast round swinley of an evening

actually ill be riding at grizedale in 2 weeks for the UKGE, itll be the first time ive mtb’d there since I popped my cherry* on a scout camp in 1993

*mtbing cherry that is

Lakes is shit; I went to Swindon

Because it’s 280 miles away.
If it was 28 then yes I’d ride it all the time.

To be honest, if I’m going up to the lakes, I’d rather road ride. And I do that a fair bit.
I’m always on the look out for a site visit in Cumbria at work. 😉

I’d love to but it’s over 300 miles away with London, Birmingham and Manchester all in the way!

Noticed this when I spent a few days in Skelwith and hardly met any mtbers, loads of wanna be roadies 🙄

Biketreks now seem to stock more road bikes and the customer base when I was in for a blether with Kieth certainly appears to be more road biased 🙄

I have also noticed here in D&G there are more road bikes on car roofs than ever before. D&G has some good road riding as well as the obvious 7Stanes stuff.

I dabbled in road riding as did all my riding buddies during the F&M crisis, some have continued unlike myself 😀

Partly because it’s cold and wet, but mainly because I live in a different country about 1500km away. Surrounded by mountains with loads of trails.

Cannock Chase used to be my local ride and it was busy as **** 3 years ago dread to think what it is like now!!, now residing in the south Lakes I find the trails empty even @ the weekends which in a way is good but always nice to bump into other riders and compare enduro outfits 🙂

I used to live in (well, very near…) the Lake District and experience tells me that Bank Holiday weekends are to be avoided at all costs!

Love riding there. Just not on B/H weekends. 😉

Cos the Lakes is 1hr 50mins away & Swaledale is 45 mins away.
We were in Swaledale but ride the Lakes too!

Maybe they were all on the bridleways 😉

Another possible reason is parking charges and rip off cafés 🙄
We know how fickle/stingy the stw massive are 😉
Stopped off at a cafe in Hawkshead which had a few Sky ride leaders and other riders. Little change out of £7.00 for a coffee and bacon nap/roll ❓

I had a chunk of steel in my eyeball so gave it a miss.

The south-west corner is pretty quiet too – I rode Easter Weekend there a few years back and saw no one. Funny enough since moving here I have ridden less in the area than when I used to visit a few times a year, but then I had riding buddies back in those days.

And no children.

I was there! (waves)

I’ve always found the lakes busy & on a bank holiday it’s way to busy.
I’d rather go to Rivi or get out locally on the roadbike & avoid the traffic.

And no children.

Mate and I used to drop kids off at school, head down to Keswick, ride and be back to pick kids up @ 3 😆
Those were the days…. 😆 😆
20yrs ago now 🙄

myself and the sweary northerners have ridden the lakes for the last 17yrs.
we try to go for a weekend in october/november and again in march/april.
we stay for a weekend, always at the old church hall in coniston, this is now shut.
other place we have stayed are, keswick yoho, buttermere yoho, long causeway bunkhouse, a bunkhouse up near the zigzags towards helvelyn and another bunkhouse in patterdale.
at these times of year, we rarely see any other riders, and it is always fantastic.
we are heading up again in late october……….and sweary northerners vids will be posted in due course…… 8)

Outside trail centres no where in the UK seems that busy. I see plenty of bikes going through Elterwater when I’m their as a Grocal.

I don’t think off road riding is that popular and busyness follows people not terrain quality?

Same in the western Yorkshire Dales. Only saw two other riders.

I don’t need to because I live in Scotland.

*I don’t need to because I live in Scotland.* (in a squeaky girly kids voice)

****.

We’ve had 2 weekends riding in the Lake District this summer, mostly in the Kentmere area.

I don’t need to because I live in Ireland.

I do once a year but no more as it’s a 600 mile round trip.

Yep, did Red Pike. Pushed and carried the bike a lot of it up there and walked all of it down 🙂
Pretty quiet, forgot it was a b/h w/e

I moved from London and I am now an hour from the lakes ( 😀 )

But I have taken up fell running, and as such I can see more of the lakes, quicker!

The worlds oldest extreme sport rocks!

I made the journey into langdale over the weekend, I got there before 9am and it was deserted. When I finished the run it was absolutely rammed!,

Was on the beach on the other side of the Solway. Dalbeattie seemed quiet when I passed through and only half a dozen folk up Criffel Monday midday in the sun.

I’m a local but often ride elsewhere on a Bank Holiday.

Certainly notice a smaller number of mountain bikers away from trail centres. Much like road riding, trail centres just present an easier option to get out on the bike with minimal planning.

It’s a very long way away and all those mountains bore me 😉

Why don’t you ride your mountainbike in the Lake District ?

Coz on the few occasions i have bothered to drive there from Galloway i encountered far to many other folk out in the hills and on the last trip (2007) i had a walking pole poked against my chest by a red sock who took offence at the fact i was riding a bike on a path, even though i had stopped tens of yards uphill of them on a descent as i waited for them to climb past me before i was going to continue on down the hill.

I couldn’t put up with that sort of abuse more than once or twice before i’d end up doing something with the stick i’d regret so i stay up here where we have civilised rules and access rights, I ride where i like, when i like but with due consideration for others who may be out enjoying the hills and paths.

I live in the north west. Got better trails out my front door. And I don’t have to bother with any moaning red socks who’ve inadvertently wandered out of range of a tearoom so feel the need to protest about the fact that I’m riding on footpaths

Because I am a proper southerner who believes the Midlands start at winchester and the proper north just past Guildford/ Basingstoke so the lakes to me is pretty much the Arctic and far to adventurous. 😉

Mainly because I had to work Monday. And there’s good riding here.

boxelder – Member
Was on the beach on the other side of the Solway. Dalbeattie seemed quiet when I passed through and only half a dozen folk up Criffel Monday midday in the sun.

Dalbeattie car park was full last night. Riders practicing for SXC race and us with 15kids practicing for the Junior Hardrock Challenge 😆
Which way up/down did you take for Criffel? Many yrs ago as a New Year challenge we took the bikes up via Knockendoc(the long way) Done twice but never again!!

Mainly because of the strange stunted locals and the way they stare at you with their mouths open

Was on foot on Criffel. Tried to walk the hills to the west, but pathless heather battling, so gave up and cut through the woods via Thieves Glen – on my own there for sure!