Another day out in Cumbria, it hoyed it down for the whole day, wet through to our undies, but again some great new lanes ridden.. we keep on finding them!!
So after an early start in the dark & drizzle, we parked up near Staveley so we could do a South Lakes anti-clockwise route... Ugh! We both really dislike setting off in the rain for some reason!! ;-)
The first lane of the day was a new one, Ashes Lane is short but pretty, plenty of loose sheep running around to add to the Lakeland feel as well! We moved through here & on towards the Windermere ferry where we saw a group of lads mostly out on WR's with one solitary KTM, a rare thing these days!!
Once off the ferry we headed into Grisedale Forest where we met some properly grumpy mountain bike lads, (mind you I would have been too in that rain!!), Lucy rode the up & the descent really well, which just shows how much her confidence has improved over the months of riding...
A quick pass through Hawkshead had us heading down Scar House Lane & over Knipe Fold & into Hodge Close, where Lucy took on a few more new lanes for herself, along with a couple of 'ooops' moments as she dropped the bike!!
Included in the new lanes was the one that drops down into the Tilbethwaite valley, this I reckon is one of the Lakes more technical routes as it has two big rock steps on it, a really bouncy rubbly bit & then the rough descent with the drop off's. It's only short really but it sure packs in a fair bit!!
We met a nice guy on his KTM 400 EXCF on this trail, he was pretty handy on that bike, obviously got loads of trials experience too as he rode one of the rock steps with that little wiggle of balance that all trials riders seem to be able to do!!
There were also the two mountain bikers who came through just as Lucy started her approach to the rock step, the lead guy was flying down & she had to stop to let him pass & he was never gonna be able to stop which completely threw her out so a couple of faint hearted attempts saw the bike walked over this step, not a bad option by any means!!
From here we dropped into Coniston for some bike fuel & hot chocolate at the cafe, it had been totally peeing down for hours now & we were thoroughly wet, so some energy was needed. We decided here to trim the route down a bit so headed to Blethebarrow Lane & on into Colton Wood next, missing out the Parkamour trip we'd planned, (still haven't ridden that lane!!)
A quick drop down to the A590 saw us heading up past Ayton & onto Foxfield before the final lanes of the day around Whitbarrow. By now we were both totally soaked through, so we bailed & headed back to the van to get into some dry clothes!!
En route though, somehow I managed to take us on a detour back into Windermere as I missed a turning! (Definitely need a GPS with a bigger screen one of these days!!)
Once back, we loaded the van up of all the soggy bikes & gear, then headed off to a party... it is Christmas after all!!! ;-). It took Lucy until at least 10pm & a few glasses of wine to warm up!!!
We're soon to be out over the Christmas period as Lucy is off for a few days, The Dales, the North York Moors & who knows where else as well as helping out with the Northumbria TRF bottle drop trip!!
Oooh more fun in the mud & rain!!
YouTube Vids
Hodge Close
Little Langdale
Tilberthwaite Lane
So after an early start in the dark & drizzle, we parked up near Staveley so we could do a South Lakes anti-clockwise route... Ugh! We both really dislike setting off in the rain for some reason!! ;-)
The first lane of the day was a new one, Ashes Lane is short but pretty, plenty of loose sheep running around to add to the Lakeland feel as well! We moved through here & on towards the Windermere ferry where we saw a group of lads mostly out on WR's with one solitary KTM, a rare thing these days!!
Once off the ferry we headed into Grisedale Forest where we met some properly grumpy mountain bike lads, (mind you I would have been too in that rain!!), Lucy rode the up & the descent really well, which just shows how much her confidence has improved over the months of riding...
A quick pass through Hawkshead had us heading down Scar House Lane & over Knipe Fold & into Hodge Close, where Lucy took on a few more new lanes for herself, along with a couple of 'ooops' moments as she dropped the bike!!
Included in the new lanes was the one that drops down into the Tilbethwaite valley, this I reckon is one of the Lakes more technical routes as it has two big rock steps on it, a really bouncy rubbly bit & then the rough descent with the drop off's. It's only short really but it sure packs in a fair bit!!
We met a nice guy on his KTM 400 EXCF on this trail, he was pretty handy on that bike, obviously got loads of trials experience too as he rode one of the rock steps with that little wiggle of balance that all trials riders seem to be able to do!!
There were also the two mountain bikers who came through just as Lucy started her approach to the rock step, the lead guy was flying down & she had to stop to let him pass & he was never gonna be able to stop which completely threw her out so a couple of faint hearted attempts saw the bike walked over this step, not a bad option by any means!!
From here we dropped into Coniston for some bike fuel & hot chocolate at the cafe, it had been totally peeing down for hours now & we were thoroughly wet, so some energy was needed. We decided here to trim the route down a bit so headed to Blethebarrow Lane & on into Colton Wood next, missing out the Parkamour trip we'd planned, (still haven't ridden that lane!!)
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| Lucy looking grumpy in the cold & wet!! ;-) |
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| Tilberthwaite rock step no.2 |
En route though, somehow I managed to take us on a detour back into Windermere as I missed a turning! (Definitely need a GPS with a bigger screen one of these days!!)
Once back, we loaded the van up of all the soggy bikes & gear, then headed off to a party... it is Christmas after all!!! ;-). It took Lucy until at least 10pm & a few glasses of wine to warm up!!!
We're soon to be out over the Christmas period as Lucy is off for a few days, The Dales, the North York Moors & who knows where else as well as helping out with the Northumbria TRF bottle drop trip!!
Oooh more fun in the mud & rain!!
YouTube Vids
Hodge Close
Little Langdale
Tilberthwaite Lane
