Dream bike material…

Yep very nearly went for one when they were a thing. Ummed and ahhed about it for a while and figured I’d be better off replacing my trail bike at the time which gets used a lot more, then obviously they stopped doing them. Maybe I dodged a bullet. There’s occasional rumours they have something in the pipeline, possibly more of a derailleur in a box kinda deal.

Nicolai used to do a version of the Ion 20 with an effigear box, but they stopped as they said the quality of the gearboxes wasn’t up to their standards. That was the older style, not the newer one that looks more like a pinion.

any other suggestions?

Buttermere
There’s a short section of tunnel on the path round the lakeside

It’s possible to just screw on a shock pump, drop them to the desired travel and unscrew the pump again. I’ve taken to doing that so I can set them to full travel for stupid stuff or a bit shorter for normal riding without having to take them apart on a semi regular basis. Haven’t noticed any performance issues, but I’m pretty unfussy about how my forks are set up

The film also used the phrase 5th generation a lot, but then had those aircraft have the absolute opposite strengths and weaknesses of a 5th gen aircraft!

The 5th gen aircraft were su-57s which are definitely 5th gen by any reasonable definition. They are less stealthy than Western 5th gen e.g. F35, F22 but still have a much more reduced signature compared to 4th or 4-plus gen fighters. They’re much more manoeuvrable than F35 for sure and probably F22, but the Russians typically place more importance on super manoeuvrability due to a combination of doctrinal differences and not being as good at making stealthy things.

Regarding the sams, S125 is a bit old school, but there’s some heavily upgraded versions knocking about, to the point where they’re basically a different system and have a different western designation (sa3 for the original, sa26 for the most modern upgraded variants). Even if they were sa3s, there’s still plenty in service around the world and it wouldn’t be that inconceivable that they’d still be in use by a military that can also field a few su57s and fund a nuclear weapons program (e.g. the Russians have small numbers of new stuff but a lot of old kit held together with gaffer tape).

The engagement time was way too quick, i.e. the delay from the aircraft popping out the valley to the missile launch. Can’t remember specs for minimum engagement range for sa3/sa26 but agree it looked questionable. Again, can’t remember the warhead size/lethal blast radius either. I wasn’t really paying attention, just turned my brain off and enjoyed the action, but I think the engagement geometries looked a bit poor for the sams a few times so not inconceivable that the planes could be outside the fragmentation cone.

The use of flares against radar guided missiles was the most glaring inaccuracy for me. If I was being kind and fancied some mental gymnastics, you could argue that if you were actually flying that mission, you’d be jamming all the sam acquisition and tracking radars. If they were sa26s, they could still attempt to engage using thermal/optical tracking system so flares could potentially break track, but the whole engagement would play out differently in that scenario.

Lack of a point defense system (like a pantsir as suggested) was pretty unlikely. You’d sit a few in the crater in reality and they’d make life very difficult, though hitting any of the aircraft isn’t guaranteed while they’re doing 10g and only exposed briefly.

The whole mission stretched credulity a bit, but other than the flares I think it’s all pretty forgivable and the writers did a pretty good job of contriving a scenario that delivers some awesome flying scenes. It would have been a lot less fun to watch if they’d done it the way it probably would have happened in real life (a crap load of tomahawks or similar and some stand-off radar jamming from a few electronic warfare aircraft would be my first choice)

Used to have a job doing lots of thinking about this sort of thing

Just noticed you mentioned you’re actually staying in ravenglass. Best riding options would be to drive over into dunnerdale and go from there. Can suggest some routes in that area if you don’t know it

Both bridleways up to burnmoor aren’t great. The more westerly one is a stepp slog up grass, but gets you slightly higher. The easterly one goes through some boggy sections round ellerhow moss and again just after bulatt bridge. The descent into wasdale is reasonably decent though.

Mitredale is better north to south in my opinion. Don’t know if there’s any trees down though, haven’t been there since the storms.

Avoid the descent from whitfell down to warberthwaite, it’s all bog. Whitfellto biggert mire is kinda ok, nothing to shout about. You can get to it from the corney fell road by following the bridleway. The map shows it stopping short of whitfell but the path carries on to the summit and you can just pick your way down from the top till you hit the other bridleway. Debatable whether it’s worth the effort though.

Bridleway from birker fell road to hole house is a wade through bog on the way up, then grass that gets rockier on the way down till it’s actually ok by the time you get to the bottom. Again, debatable value.

The orpa/boat from corney to bootle is an ok descent.

Restricted byway from birker fell road to dalegarth is also ok, but a bit tame. Might be good for the kids.

The downhill section of bridleway from brats moss to boot is an alright descent, but getting to the top is a pain if you go from mitredale. Its a steep push up from mitredale head and then the path gets really indistinct for a while and if you miss the right bit you’ll end up wading through heather.

Avoid the bridleway from ennerdale to wasdale that crosses between haycock and steeple.

The decent from West of harter fell to the bottom of hardknott is probably the best in the area, but awkward to make into a loop. There’s a bridleway from the top of hardknott that meets it but the path is very poor and it’s hard to ride a lot of sections (my best efforts on it have been on the fat bike). You can incorporate a decent of wallowbarrow though, which is also good. Can give more info if you’re interested.

The bridleway along the river esk is a pleasant pootle. Nothing exciting in terms of mtbing but it’s a pleasant place to be.

There’s more stuff round dunnerdale, cold fell, ennerdale etc depending on how close you want to keep to eskdale. Happy to give more advice

Oh forgot to mention, sometimes people with think you’re on an e-bike. Had a gang of e-bikers think I was one of their kind before…

Bump anyone tried these yet ta

Is it the bike or just the gearbox you’re after info on?

Went with the 12 speed in the end. Been riding it for nearly a year and I’d say I made the right choice. I mostly ride in the lakes and tend to do long days out so like being able to find just the right gear ratio. With a 9 speed I think I’d end up being annoyingly slightly too high or low at times. Before that I was still on a 2×10 setup so maybe it’s just cos it’s closer to what I’m used to. If you want to be able to shift through a big range quickly the 9 speed could be a better option.

The bike itself is fantastic, pretty much as jivehoneyjive describes for his Taniwha. It does make a lot of stuff ridiculously easy, though I don’t find it sucks the fun out of easier trails too much the way being overbiked sometimes can.

There’s a couple of minor niggles/design flaws. The belt tensioner isn’t particularly well implemented if you go for the belt drive option. It needs a few mods out the box to work well. Also the main pivot is directly in the firing line of the rear wheel and needs some protection from mud/stones. Lots of people zip tie a bit of inner tube or similar to the frame. I fitted one of those bendy plastic mini front mudguards to the chainstays but this reduces tyre clearance when it’s already not especially generous if you use big tyres in muddy conditions (I think they’re planning to redesign the chainstays for improved clearance).

If it is a Zerode you’re considering there’s an owner’s group on facebook with useful info, particularly about tensioner mods (it’s not a big job btw, basically one of the bushings needs sanded down and it’s worth putting the spring in some old inner tube to weatherproof it. Also the stock bearings are crap and won’t last long in UK weather). Happy to answer any other questions

What I really need is a willing and enthusiastic ride companion / easily led simpleton with limited concern for their own personal safety to ride in front of me the whole way over………………the cycling equivalent of a Star Trek red shirt who doesn’t make it past the first advert break.

You may have found your simpleton! Been wondering about trying it for a while. My hairbrained plan is to drag an inflated packraft behind the bike on a length of cord, and/or lash a couple of easily accessible planks of wood to the bike in case I need something disposable to spread my weight for some reason…

Not sure how much wear and tear it would cause to the raft being dragged across wet sand so far though. Would probably need to service the bike immediately afterwards, if not change the hub bearings. Sadly there’s already traces of salt corrosion on some of the components from various sea crossings on bike rafting trips so that ships sailed.

does it make any difference to performance or change free stroke at the lever?

In short, no it won’t affect free stroke, the brakes will just adjust to the different rotor thickness the same way they adjust for pad wear.

The only performance difference will be down to heat capacity/dissipation as others have said.

Can you not just hammer out the axle if you have something suitable to use as a drift, or pull the axle with a bearing puller? The lip on the axle would then drive the bearing out.
I’d probably prefer the drift option to the blind puller, but I guess it’s down to whatever you have available.
Looks like there’s possibly a lip in the bearing housing to separate the two bearings which would stop you driving them out together.

Had a similar injury from skiing in Jan ’19, tibial plateau plus partially torn ACL. I was flown back to the UK, the company that organised repatriation basically just dumped me at A&E at my local hospital (the nurse who was looking after me on the journey said it’s not uncommon).

The first consultant I saw, think he was head of orthopaedics, said I should give up various sports and would be looking at a knee replacement in 10-15 years. Had a few comments from various people about it being one of the worst knees they’ve seen, a junior surgeon said the bone was just mush, and the knee consultant (who was a very understated gentleman) said it’s one he’ll always remember.

Fortunately the knee consultant was pretty good and very determined to get my knee back to a decent level of functionality. Initially he chose to wait a while before operating due to fracture blisters. Can’t remember the time between the injury and first surgery but it was over a week.

He put a plate in but left the ACL because there was no bone to reattach it (after the first surgery he said he thought it was completely gone. It later turned out to only have been partially torn but there was so much mashed bone and cartilage I think he was struggling to tell what was going on). Had to stay in the hospital for a while after due to generally being in no state to go home (live on my own). The pain was unbelievable. I’ve broken quite a few bones in various accidents – loads of fingers and toes, a few metacarpals, a radius, both wrists, collar bone, a vertebrae but this was by far the most painful. Once discharged I also had to inject blood thinners into my belly twice a day which I found somewhat unpleasant.

I was non weight bearing and in a brace for about 8 weeks after surgery. It should have been more like 6 but waiting lists and appointment cancellations meant it was a bit longer till I had a check up to see if the bone had healed.

Getting back to walking was a slow, painful and frustrating experience. I pretty much had no leg muscles left and couldn’t flex my knee any more. The consultant said I needed to start daily physio immediately. The physio department had a waiting list of several months. He basically took me round to the physio department and refused to leave till I had an appointment. Unfortunately I only got a weekly sessions which was usually with a physios assistant, who wasn’t qualified to manipulate the joint. Fortunately my employer at the time had a full time on site physio (it was heavy industry there are occasional accidents and people like to milk the sick pay so it’s in their interest to offer physio sessions). I had weekly sessions with the work physio too, who was brutal, but that’s probably what I needed.

I was using two crutches for quite a while, then down to one, then a walking stick. Can’t remember the exact timelines but I think I stopped using the stick around July ’19.

The consultant was quite concerned about the range of movement – I couldn’t get my leg anywhere near straight. I think the poor physio provision caused issues here, the longer it it goes with a reduced range of movement, the harder it is to get back.

I had two further operations with that consultant, both keyhole arthroscopies to remove bone fragments and scar tissue and perform some MUA – manipulation under anesthetic, where they can try to force it straight without me screaming in pain and swearing at them. It was after the first of these that he said my ACL was actually reasonably ok so he wouldn’t do any reconstruction (this would have entailed the same post operative physio ordeal all over again).

After the two arthroscopies plus MUA and physio I could get to about 15 or 10 degrees off straight – the target i.e. locked out is about -5 or something, I can’t remember all the exact numbers. The consultant said there was nothing in the joint stopping it going further and thought it was issues with the tendons in the back of my knee having seized up through lack of use. He referred me to a specialist orthopaedic hospital (Wrightington near Wigan) to look at the possibility of a procedure called capsule release, where they poke about in the back of your knee and unstick the tendons. It took quite a while to see the consultant at Wrightington due to waiting lists. Like the previous knee consultant, his attitude was very much to discuss what outcomes I wanted and what sort of quality of life I was looking for etc. He agreed to perform surgery to try to help get me back to doing sports (skiing, mtbing, climbing and such like). I think if I was a more sedate person he wouldn’t have as there wouldn’t be much benefit.

During the wait for the referral etc I was discharged from physio at the hospital (the consultant there had an argument about this and put me back on the waiting list) and the physio at work had been told to stop by his boss (presumably cos of cost) though he said he’d have gladly carried on. I had some sessions with a private physio, though she suggested I was better off saving my money till after the capsule release when it would be more beneficial.

I fortunately just got in for surgery at the start of the pandemic, any later and I think it would have been cancelled. He didn’t do the capsule release in the end, just more arthrolysis and MUA. I think the capsule release is more invasive and after looking around inside the joint he decided it wasn’t worth it. The range of movement was better afterwards but it did start crunching more, which it still does.

At Wrightington they asked if I wanted physio there or at my local. I stupidly said local, due to the convenience. The local physio department discharged me again after one session. Like a lot of the NHS they’re too under resourced, plus they were stopping face to face sessions cos of covid.

The consultant at wrightington had stressed the importance of getting my leg to straighten as soon as possible after surgery (as had the guy at the local hospital before him) as there’s like a window after MUA before the joint stiffens up again. Both consultants had told me to sit with my foot propped up and hang weights over my knee to force it straight, using over gloves with weights in each side (the local guy suggested using bottles of whiskey. If it was too painful I could always drink some of the whiskey to reduce the weight). As this had limited success so far, and given I had no access to physio (we were in lockdown at this point) I cobbled together a pulley system out of some climbing gear to pull my knee straight. This looked and felt like some kind of medieval torture device but seemed to work. I had a Skype check up with the surgeon and showed him (he asked what exercise I was doing) and was quite positive about this approach. I think he was glad that I was trying to do anything at all, whereas a lot of people might not bother.

When the covid restrictions eased I managed to get physio sessions at wrightington. These were fairly irregular – the physio said the time for doing manipulations had long since passed so it was purely down to me doing the exercises, so he was just monitoring progress and giving new exercises as I got better. Again, had a very open chat about what outcomes I wanted. He focused a lot on dynamic movements which has helped getting back to mtbing and skiing.

It’s the 3 year anniversary in a week or so. One leg is still noticeably slimmer than the other. I still need to do some physio exercises most days. I was advised if I want the muscle mass back the best thing would be to join a gym, which I have yet to do due to hating gyms. I’ve lost a bit of range of movement – can just about straighten it but not lock it out, and can’t bend it as much as my good leg. Forcing it to bend further is still uncomfortable but not especially painful. Knee pain is just a daily fact of life now. I’ve almost completely given up running except for the odd short jog every now and again as it helps with back pain from breaking my back many years ago. I can do most of the activities I used to, but my knee can get tired and I have to think a bit about managing it. I bought a couple of knee braces to help with various sports etc, though I’m now at the point where I don’t automatically use one for everything, but do still put one in my pack depending on what I’m doing.

So that may all sound a bit bleak. I suppose I could sugar coat it, but the fact is that for me it’s been a long, slow and painful road to recovery. It’s not 100% and never will be, but it’s good enough for most things and there’s still more progress to be made.

In the early days coping mentally was difficult. As I’ve said it’s not my first bad break, but as a very active and independent person it was hard to deal with.

Looking back, some advice I might give my past self would be:

Be honest with friends and family. People want to help, but sometimes it’s not welcome and I wish I’d been more clear about this. E.g. having my mum randomly turning up for a few days every now and again was more stressful than helpful. A constant annoyance was people doing what they think is helpful, not the things you actually need doing. E.g. my brother would think he’s helping by cooking and washing up, which weren’t a big problem as the hospital discharge team gave me a perching stool for the kitchen. But he’d leave loads of mugs on the coffee table. Getting these from the living room to the kitchen involved crutching forward, reaching back for a single mug then placing it in front of me, taking another step on the crutches, reaching back etc etc.

After a while I had to very clearly and bluntly tell family to stop asking how my knee is on a regular basis. Friends generally seemed to get this without me having to say anything, but being asked every week if it’s any better and having to say no, reminding yourself how shit the whole situation is was definitely not helping.

Passing the time is a challenge. I bought an Xbox which helped (hadn’t played computer games for a long time prior to this).

When you’re confident enough on crutches, get out the house every day, without fail (unless it’s really minging outside). I figured out routes round the local park etc where there were frequent benches to take a breather. Or even just go to a local shop or something. Have a wash/shower as often as you normally would (daily for me but everyone is different). It’s hard work and painful, though once you figure out a system it gets better. It takes up a fair chunk of time too which is useful. Basically, resist the urge to vegitate on the couch and stew over things.

Most importantly, get on top of the physio. Do as much as you can as quickly as you can. It’s often painful and always tedious, but it won’t get better without it. If you’re health cover can help with this then use it. If you can afford extra sessions yourself then consider this too. The hospital physio told me I can’t have extra sessions with other physios, it’s either only with them or only with the private/work physio. I just ignored them and carried on.

The service from the NHS was for the most part excellent, only physio being an issue as I’ve mentioned. I saw two excellent and very dedicated and determined surgeons. I don’t know if I was lucky or this is the norm, but I can’t fault them. I have an acquaintance who is an orthopedic technician and had a chat about it. He mentioned a risk with going private rather than NHS in that with private healthcare profit is a consideration, so you might get the lowest cost options whereas the NHS tries to get the best clinical results. I’m sure individual experiences vary though.

Best of luck with it. Not sure if any of this is useful or what you want to hear though. Feel free to ask questions or pm me

It’s a kind of heresy in some circles, but I’m inclined to agree it doesn’t really provide much benefit in a non full face cycle helmet. It possibly depends on the shape of your head, but I find that there’s enough movement in my scalp and hair to be able to rotate a helmet till it ‘cams’ against my skull. Addition of a MIPS liner can’t provide any more movement than this, so it basically does nothing

Thanks for the answers all. Liking the look of the Ortlieb gravel panniers

I use Motorex power synth 5w40. Saw it mentioned on mtbr a while back as being almost as good as Supergliss (mentioned upthread) but easier to get hold of.
I’m using it in Manitou forks, supposedly this is what they use In the factory and sell rebranded as Manitou oil

I did it the other way once, at least 15 years ago. Was still in my teens or early 20s at the time.

My memory of the Ennerdale side was bog and heather with no actual path on the ground.

The drop down to nether beck was I think just steep grass with no path. The path along nether beck was for me at the time largely unrideable (on a 2004 Cannondale Jekyll, so reasonably capable bike, not sure about the rider).

By the time I got down to wastwater I was defeated, too tired to ride and losing the daylight so I had to phone my mum and get her to come down from Whitehaven and pick me up. She was not impressed.

Perhaps riding up nether beck on a better bike with better riding ability might be doable. I’ve never bothered trying that bridleway again in either direction.

To get from wasdale to Ennerdale, what I have done before is follow the BW from near Windsor farm (just north of nether wasdale) through blengale forest, then scalderscew wood. Cross worm gill (sketchy stepping stones), up tongue how (muddy fields at first but gets better) out to the cold fell road. Head north then take the BW up Blakeley rise. Peel off left either by the transmitter (there’s a path marked on the map but I don’t recall it being much more than a vague sheep trod) or the later path heading more directly northwards to the top of crag fell. Take the path towards ben gill and follow till you get down to the valley, then take the BW following the western shore of Ennerdale and carry on till blacksail hut.

It’s a hell of a long way but the vast majority is rideable.

If you really want to do blacksail and you’re up to it, the 4 passes route is a lot better day out in my opinion, though involves some challenging riding.

Grizedale hause was from Grizedale tarn to patterdale and is easily in the top 10 lakes descents in my view. I’ve never descended the other side on little tongue above Grasmere. It’s utter misery pushing up though and I’d imagine similar going down.

If you want to ride it (the patterdale side) my suggestion would be to start at Wythburn church, head south along the fire road, then over a deer fence along the permissive footpath to raise beck. Carry up raise beck (there’s a couple of rocky steps where it helps to have a hand free, so you need to be comfortable carrying the bike or go with someone so you can give each other a hand). Ride round the South side of the tarn then continue down to patterdale. Head to Glenridding and then greenside mines (the youth hostel). Take the bridleway south of Raise to Whiteside bank (steep, much of it is a push for mere mortals) then go to the summit of Helvellyn. Descend via Birk side. This is another top 10 descent though wasn’t in the list as it’s not a pass. It’s fairly difficult in a few places, plus there’s a lot of steps which can be quite tiring. Probably easier than wharnscales for example, but perhaps harder than nan bield.

Don’t do greenup until you’ve ridden everything else, especially if you’re visiting the area from elsewhere. It’s not a complete sandbag, but not far off. Fix the fells started work on the south side a few years ago, haven’t been up since so not sure how it’s looking these days though. Perhaps that’s my plan for the weekend 🤔

Adding wharnscales to rosset-styhead-stake is a serious day out, if that’s what you were meaning. Take lights if you try it, you’ll probably need them. Don’t underestimate the carry up rosset, or the push up stake pass for that matter. They don’t look long on a map, but there’s a lot of height gain.

One of my favourite routes in the lakes is to park at Wythburn church, head south along the fire road/permissive footpath. Hike/carry up Raise beck to Grizedale tarn then descend to patterdale. Then the long ride/push up keppel cove and descend Birk side.

Best done on a full suss, but perfectly possible on a hardtail. You might find the section of steps on Birk side a bit tiring though

Yep not a bad route.

The South loop there is quite a lot more chilled out than the North part. There are other options nearby with bigger/more challenging descents but depending on the level of your group it might start pushing things into doing too much rather than leaving wanting more…

On the walna scar descent, I’d suggest carrying on a bit further down walna scar road before turning right towards Torver. This adds in a couple of pretty techy rock steps which are good for a laugh (both easily rollable if you know the line). Then take a right turn at SD 2765 9644 and follow a track for a couple of hundred metres till you join up with the bridleway again. The right turn is a bit overgrown with bracken at the moment so might not be that obvious but it’s pretty clear where to go if you look on an OS map or satellite image. If you take the turning shown on your link it’s steepish fast grass/dirt singletrack, so depends what appeals more

If you’re staying in a b&b do you really need the power pack? Similarly two chargers seems overkill. The days are long at the moment so I wouldn’t have thought you’d need to be charging the lights much, which just leaves your Garmin and phone? Can you charge one in the evening then swap when you go to bed and charge the other?

Do you need all your spares, or the pressure gauge? Do you want enough to have a good chance of being able to carry on with no problems, or just enough to get to civilization if you have a mechanical?

Could the apres ride trousers be shorts instead?

If you’re taking bog roll in case you get caught short without a nearby toilet I’d suggest a trowel too (plenty of lightweight options specifically for this).

They’re speed holes

Parkamoor is ‘recovering’ from its sanitation.

If you haven’t ridden in the Lakes much personally I’d suggest something round Walna Scar, it gets you out in the fells a bit more and is reasonably easy if you’re competent. There’s plenty of good riding in Grizedale but for me what makes the Lakes different is the big mountain descents.

Nan Bield as mentioned is also a good shout but is a bit more challenging in a few places, so depends how difficult you want to make things.

Can suggest some routes if you like, but I’m pretty crap at technology so it’ll just be a line scrawled on a map 🙂

@chad1000
Thanks so much! I’ll be in touch

Thanks to everyone else as well for your suggestions.
Riding there looks tempting, there’s some good route options but I have been vaguely thinking of a trip round that area at some point so might leave it for another time.

If you sat on a voodoo doll of yourself would you be able to get up again?

This thread might be useful for some inspiration

Lakes Passes Graded List

There aren’t many actual rides listed there, but you can easily pick something off the list and make a loop

Looks like it’s got a bb mount in it, so maybe part of an i-drive or similar system?

@frankconway
Ahh thanks for that. Guess the instructions in the box must have been out of date, I’ll get it set up then.

Bought one today cos it was the comfiest one in the shop. The guy in the shop seemed very keen to tell me about it, but when I got home and read the instructions it said something about a premium subscription, so I quickly lost interest.

It needs a phone to work too. You could perform the same job with just the phone though. Can’t help wondering if anyone has made an app for it. Considering trying myself if there isn’t already one (write a lot of code for my job, though never made an app before)

Do you know where he lives and does he have a lawn?

If you’ve done everything else in the area it’s an ok ride. There’s better riding in the vicinity of stavely though

@mjsmke

Teacher in a college here. Whilst some of what I do is important for the students, management only care about attendance and silly tick box tasks. There’s no interest from management about what the students actually learn. A typical example is this:

Management:
“One of your students only has 85% attendance”
Me:
“They have been suffering with an illness but still producing excellent work. They are one of the best students we have this year”
Management:
“They need to improve their attendance”
Me:
“They have on going hospital appointments. They are still producing the best work in the class”
Management:
“Make sure they don’t miss anymore lessons”
Me:
“They have hospital appointments”
Management a month later:
“They have missed more lessons and will likely not be completing their work if not in college”
Me:
“They have produced all their work and have a job offer for next year. They are our best student this year”

Have you heard of the McNamara Fallacy?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McNamara_fallacy
I’ve heard it summed up before as “if you can’t measure what’s important, make what you can measure important”

And what the hell is a ‘project manager’, actually?

I used to work in a large engineering company where the project managers on the job I was on had no idea what any of it was about, so they would periodically come and ask what work you’re going to, then every so often ask if you’d finished it yet. I never bothered really explaining what I was doing, there was no point. Sadly I never had the balls to make up tasks that would obviously be ridiculous to anyone with some technical knowledge.

Where I currently work, in preparation for staff returning to the office on a flexible basis, some of the managers in my department were looking through who’s working on what and who needs a desk etc. They found that on one project there is a project manager who has been booking his time to the project for a year or so. No one knows who he is or has even heard of him; as far as anyone can tell he has had no involvement in the project. The project is ticking along just fine without the help of a project manager.

It’s a good effort, there are more polished versions around though – these guys have been doing it for years, but it’s never really taken off in a massive way: https://christinibicycles.com/

what counts as ‘the north side’ then

Have a look at on an OS map (you can see these using bing maps if you don’t have a paper map or an app). As I understand it, you’re ok if you stay on the bit marked as National Trust on the 1:50k map (on a 1:25 it’s the area marked as ‘Holmepark fell’, which is bounded by fences on all side.
If someone comes along and says something else though then they’re probably right, this is just what I’ve heard through the grapevine

I’ve got some Lezyne lights that have a pulsing option. They are small and round, could have been one of those

@Garry_Lager

Climbing has a lot to teach us – what better way to have an argument then give every trail a (complicated) grade, followed by ethical argy-bargy on how / if one should ride said trail 🙂

Haha yeah there’s a lot of scope for it. Different grades depending on suspension and wheel size, with ‘Purists’ insisting on doing everything on a rigid 26er with canti brakes. ‘Onsight’ vs redpoint if you had a few goes, or worked if you practice bits separately etc.

Some steep rock that wouldn’t be rideable, then mellow fields.
Scarth or Sty Head would be better to do in the ‘wrong’ way if you wanted a there and back.

Which way is the right way for scarth though? Probably gets ridden into ennerdale a lot to do the 4 passes, but I’d say into buttermere is the ‘right’ way, but I do have a mild obsession with borderline unrideable descents…

Easiest way to do scarth that way is start at bowness knot, head down the fireroad then over the pass. To get back go along the south side of buttermere. Then either carry on along crummock for a km or so and follow the boggy bridleway (mostly carrying/pushing up) to floutern tarn. The descent here is nice enough but nothing special. You can also get on the road at buttermere village and ride along the north side of crummock. Cut through langthwaite wood to loweswater, then head up mosedale. This is longer but more of it is rideable. Both ways involve bogs, long tussock grass and some pushing.
Actually maybe just going there and back is easier, plus if you walk up scarth you can weigh up line choice

I think someone else summed it up earlier – there’s a couple of tricky rocks, but you’d lose most of your height on boggy grass

I did contemplate this, but thought it leaves it too open to personal taste so opted for the notes instead

That’s a fair point. Just thinking if people want to use this as a ticklist, there’s stuff on there that would be must-do bucket list descents, and stuff that you should probably actively avoid (or at least things I’d only ride if there’s no other way to join up some better trails to make a loop)