Lake district suggested rides?

[Gixxerman]

Next week end I am having a long weekend in the lake district with my beloved Trek 8500.
I am based in Little Langdale. I have a van to transport the bike, but ideally I would like to keep the driving down to less than an hour or so from my base. However I will drive futher than that if there is a really nice ride that is a "must do".
Can anyone suggest some nice rides? I am looking for nothing longer than 50 miles and some height gain, but nothing too taxing. I would like some singletrack / bridleways. I am not really looking for any technical downhill routes. Ideally I do not want to be carrying the bike to much, so no bike hiking would be a bonus.
One I had planned was start at Hartsop and go up The Knott, Highrise, Red Crag, Wether Hill, Loadpot Hill, Lord's Seat, The Cockpit, the left turn to Auterstone, Swarthbeck, Howtown, Sandwick, then take the bridleway along the shore of Ullswater (Ullswater trial?), Patterdale, Boredale Hause and finally back to Hartsop.

 

[y2blade]

We are in the Lake District the weekend after you.
Staying between Kendal and Windermere, was up there a couple of years ago....stunning scenery you will love it.

Hardknott pass and Wrynose pass are good. tbh EVERYWHERE up there is good.

Enjoy.

 

[Gixxerman]

Well I am back and I had a great (but energy sapping) time.
I found this site http://pedalnorth.com. It has some great rides and instructions on it.

On Friday I did the Loughrigg Loop, and apart from the very rough decent into Elterwater, which I had to walk to save me and the bike much suffering, enjoyed it immensely.
On Saturday I did the High Street and Boredale ride. But with my own variation of returning to Hartsop via the Ullswater east shoreline bridle path instead of the Boredale road / bridlepath suggested. The ride up to the dam was just too much for me and I had to get off and walk just after the first gate. Then came the very tough climb to the top of the Knott, which necessitated carrying the bike. I managed this in just under the hour, but it was hard / hot work with 3kg rucksack carrying a 10kg bike. The ride out to High Street and back was brilliant. I got a bit lost trying to find the Roman road as I was expecting something more along the lines of a stone road, rather that the actual grass track that it turned out to be. But once on course, the ride over High Raise and Wether Hill was very pleasant. The long decent from Loadpot Hill to The Cockpit was a very welcome rest after the climbing, although I did go over the handlebars on this section when descending a steep section at a crawl. No damage done to me or the bike thankfully. The path from The Cockpit to Howtown was simply superb fun. There were a few water splashes which were very welcome to cool me down on a hot day. The climb out of Howtown around Hallin Fell was so steep that even on tarmac road it was unrideable due to the power induced uncontrollable wheelies! Then came the east shore bridleway from Sandwick to Patterdale. I was looking forward to this as it looked spectacular on the map with stunning views. However, after the initial mile or so, it became simply too rough to ride enjoyably. There were large boulder fields, large rock steps etc, which just kept bringing me to a halt or bashing the chainrings on rocks. So it was a case of walking / carrying the bike for about 3.5 miles. After that the drop into Patterdale was very nice. At this point I should have taken the bridleway to Boredale Hause and then back to my starting point at Hartsop. But I somehow lost my way a bit in Patterdale and ended up on the main A592. As it was, this turned out to be fortunate, as on the 2 mile or so ride back along the road to Hartsop, my thighs and calves had begun to cramp and I also ran out of water. So I think the climb up to Boredale Hause would have been just too much for me.
On the way home on Sunday, I called in on the Derwent valley, and did the full circuit of the upper Derwent dams, a ride I have been wanting to do for some time. This was most pleasant despite it raining for the first 20 mins or so of my 2 hour ride.

Some things I discovered.
1) I am not as fit as I thought I was. I ride quite a lot in the Lincolnshire wolds and regularly do 30 mile off-road rides. However, the Lake district is a completely different proposition.
2) Not all bridleways in the Lake district as like the bridleways that I know on love near me. Most are much rougher, and some are almost unrideable for me and my little hardtail 8500.
3) How much fun it is to be out on the hills on a bike. I have done (and still do) my fair share of mountain walking and rock climbing / scrambling. But it was very nice to be cycling in high places.

Will I do it again? Well yes, I think I will. But next time, I might moderate the difficulty of the routes I take, as I like to be able to ride at a reasonable lick, and not spend so much time walking / carrying the bike.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

hey sorry I didn't see this earlier - I could have warned you about some of the route - use to live in Martindale!
stunning ride though, sounded great and i have now bookmarked the link... thank you, it looks like a nice site to have a look at.

any photos?

 

[Gixxerman]

any photos?

Unfortunately not. My phone battery was quite low and I wanted to save the power for GPS mapping should I get totally lost.

 

[Norman Hadley]

Hi Gixxerman

Glad to hear you had a good time in the Lakes. I’m the author of the Loughrigg and High Street route descriptions. I can understand why you’d be tempted to take the shore path but the pull up Boredale is surprisingly do-able and the shore path is surprisingly rough, and often thick with walkers. In season, the Hause gets my vote every time.

I’m a Lincolnshireman myself (by birth and raising, anyway) so I can sympathise how Nettletop Top is poor training for Helvellyn. Sounds like you need to get back up to the NW again…

Norman Hadley

Routemeister for pedalnorth.com

 

[Norman Hadley]

and, talking of Helvellyn the route everyone should aspire to do is The Big One (and we ain't talking Blackpool).

 

[Gixxerman]

Not sure I could do the Helvellyn one. I struggled with the High Street and Boredale one. I thought to myself when I came across the site that I should be OK to do the moderate rides without much trouble. But it was an eye opener for me. It is not just that the hills are higher / steeper as I was expecting that - it is that the bridleways are just so rough. How anyone can ride that one along the shores of Ullswater is beyond me. I wish I had taken the Hause instead. Next time I read the term "technical trial" I will know what to expect and avoid it. I was good fun though, but very hard. I am in Snowdonia next week doing a bit more mountain biking and climbing.
Nice to talk to another yeller belly. You can support me in telling people that Lincolnshire is not flat. Yes large areas of it is, but the wolds have some steep hills (granted, they are not that high or sustained, but they are still tough).

 

[Norman Hadley]

Hi Gixxerman

The other way up Helvellyn is from the East – much more rideable. And you’re right – anyone who says Lincolnshire is flat be pushed off Greestone Stairs with no brakes. Happy trails in Wales.


Norman.