Trans Euro Trail: UK

Two mates, two KTM's and a small amount of luggage! This is a trip that we completed a little while ago now, but only just got the time to write it up... It's the whole two week trip in one post, so get a cuppa!

So, we met up in Keswick after travelling from three different parts of the UK. JP and Kelvyn set off from Haggs Bank Bunkhouse near Alston and rode through to me at Keswick via a few river crossings and some good lanes over at the northern start of the UK TET .around Newcastle.

I was supposed to meet them there but had a couple of bike set up things that hadn't been delivered and so had to wait for them and then get them installed before I could start the engine and head out.

Kelvyn turned around at Keswick and headed home, so JP & I set off into the Lakes to ride that section. As this area is my backyard, we had little trouble with the navigation and so could relax and enjoy the ride. The weather was a little gray, but it's not called the Lake District for no reason!

We finished the day by camping on a pub lawn, the Brown Cow. The welcome, food and beer was warm and needed as we were both a bit cold by the time we settled in.

We packed up and set off way before the pub opened up, just down the road was a roadside cafe that was a very welcome sight. Some gossip and we were off into the heart of the Lakes.

A brilliant day, some tough trails but always a backdrop that had both of us stopping to just enjoy the view and soak up the atmosphere. The rain yesterday had turn to snow at higher altitudes, so all the summits had turned white.

We finished the day camped out at an old ruin in the bottom of a valley. we were both a little tired but loving the riding so far!

Brrr. We woke to snow on the tents, after cooking up in the ruin and packing up we set off. The riding was less technical but somehow felt more because of the conditions. JP needed a couple of things for his bike, so we called into see Martin at MHB Motorcycles in Kirkby Stephen, hot coffee and a few added bits to the bike made JP a happy man!

After a hot food stop in Hawes, we had to climb to the tops and face the snow properly, this slowed us down but was brilliant fun.

The route loops through the Dales and back down towards Lancashire, we finished the day camping in a wild place sheltering behind a wall, the Lakes and the Dales are two of my favourite places to ride, the views are spectacular, the lanes are beautiful and you never see a soul out on them for the most part!

We completed the Dales part and tracked south into Lancashire, lots of good lanes criss crossing the hillsides and dropping into valleys. We had a lovely chat with an old farmer for half an hour and generally just enjoyed the ride! A Youth Hostel called for the night as it was wet and windy plus the pub next door!

The next day didn't start well. My bike wouldn't run and as we were in a tiny village in the Pennines, there was nowhere to fix it, so we resorted to towing my bike to Clitheroe, the nearest place with a bike shop, (Ribble Valley Motorcycles). No parts available but problem resolved by removing parts! So back on the road again with some timely help from a friend and a friendly mechanic!

Some great lanes took us south towards the Peak District via a lot of places I'd not been to before. Once in the Peak, we stayed with some friends of JP where wine and curry became the focal point of the night!

We set off with an extra person today, Anthony, very new to trail riding but extremely enthusiastic. Plenty of good trails followed and even with the odd 'off' by Anthony and a few grumpy people in the Peak, we had a fabulous ride. The trails are all hard surfaced and they do test out the suspension on a bike, (just like the Lakes and Dales green roads), but now the sun is shining and the temperature has gone up which makes a difference to the riders!

Anthony left us around midday, so we just followed the gps line which took us to all of our favourite places with a great little motorbike friendly cafe thrown in for good measure.

We continued on through the Peak and across the Cheshire Plain to stop at a mate's house, Gary, where we did an oil change and grabbed some food. Then it was on into Wales and a very 'wild' camp on the side of a lane just off the TET route, hiding in some trees to escape the rain and wind, it was also dark by the time we pitched up and we'd been riding for well over 12 hours.

Wales started out wet and windy, normal then! JP lives near here, so this was his home patch, again without having to navigate to much we just rode and enjoyed the long flowing lanes. We barely saw anybody on the trails, left a note in the box on one of the lanes, had lunch with a great couple renovating an old hotel near Betws y Coed and generally had a lark about on our bikes!

Another night of camping saw us with nice wine and some kind of rice dish, overlooking the valleys from a vantage point. Warm sunshine and great views, now this is what trail riding is all about!

We set off the next morning bright and early, straight into the long lanes, fuel was becoming an issue so we had to detour a little to find somewhere and then was back on the trails. Then continued following the TET with a few additions here and there as we knew the area well.

We finished the day by camping out in a bothy in Mid Wales. spending the evening in front of a warm fire, drinking wine and just chilling out was a welcome change after long days in the saddle, but it has to be said we were both loving the journey and were very impressed with how the bikes handled everything. Lots of deep river crossings were the name of the game today too, so that added a technicality we hadn't really experienced much of previously as a lot of the TET avoids river crossings.

The next day was more of the same, with some mud thrown in for good measure and low cloud on the higher sections. We seem to be encountering a few fallen trees, we've usually managed to get under/over them so far and even had to cut away a few bits to achieve this with a trusty hand chainsaw cutter. We're cutting down into South Wales now, it's an area I barely know at all, so a lot of the lanes are new to me which adds a spice as I love exploring new areas.

We left South Wales after Monmouth and a night in a hotel, the weather was starting to warm up again and the Cotswolds were calling. This was an area I've not ridden in at all and was surprised by the clay type mud and the hard going because of the wet weather recently.

We met up with Jimmy, the UK Linesman for the TET and also a member of the Trail Riders Fellowship, he was on a little scooter and was such a stark contrast to our fully laden, posh kit that it made us all laugh!

Jimmy rode with us for a fair bit of the day, with a lunch stop in a beautiful little town. He's got lots of stories about the lanes down there and the continual fight to keep them open. I do detest the very narrow minded and selfish attitudes of a large group of people in the UK, but I'll save that little discussion for another day!

Jimmy took us to apub where we camped and had food, the weather was fantastic and the trails really good and bonus, hardly any of the gates that are so prevalent in the northern parts of the UK.

My poor old gloves are starting to show the strain of too much trail riding, they are falling apart! Still onwards we go, the end is in sight now and the south coast looming. TET HQ just released an additional 800 miles of UK TET thqat loops through the south western part of the UK. JP and I discussed whether we had the time to add it in but we don't so we're continuing on with the original plan to finish in Dover.

It's getting flatter and more sunny, the lanes are still beautiful but somehow less wild. There are more people around in the areas and on the sealed roads, yet the lanes are still just as empty as the northern lanes with us never actually seeing another trail rider,

The bluebells are out in the woods, we saw a couple of ladies riding horses today along a beautiful section of woodland trail and we had frost on our tents this morning showing the full summer is still a ways off.

Down a small lane we bumped into two old boys on their diesel bikes, they were out doing a ride around with a pub lunch in the planning. Two beautiful bikes and two proper characters, so a good gossip and exchange of brief histories followed. Love the randomness of these encounters!

We made it down to Dover with both bikes on fumes. Dithering around looking for a garage and JP's 300 ran out of fuel 200m from a garage! We stayed in a pub in East Dean called the Tiger Inn, don't go there. We were messed around a lot by the manager, the prices were high and the palce was badly run. The two girls behind the bar were lovely but we were left with a very sour taste from the poor treatment by the senior staff.

So, a mini epic at the end and then it was off to Folkstone to collect a hire van and drive north. What a great trip, so much variety in both the landscapes, the people and the ambience of the UK. I want to add in the new 'Great Western Trail' at some point and complete the whole thing, then that will be country number 11 ridden and only another 22 left to ride!

Trans Euro Trail: UK Part - Set Up

Two of us have decided to embark on the UK TET route over a two week period in April, this will be roughly 1800 miles of riding and for us it'll be a north to south route as we are both going to be up north anyway at the start.

JP & myself will be taking out two KTM enduros, loading them up with kit and getting on the trails to ride the route and potentially add extra bits where we know the area well. After all, there are just too many things to see and experience around the trail as there are on the trail.

As part of the process I've started to catalogue what I'm taking and the prep I'm doing for the trip with my 2012 KTM 350 EXC-f. I've ridden this bike a lot over the last four years, something like 9000 miles of trail riding, both in Europe and here in the UK. During that time, it's had a new top end rebuild, who knows how many sets of bearings, tyres, chains and sprocket sets and of course oil and filter changes. It has proven itself to be very reliable, very durable and has showed me how little riding skill I actually possess when it comes to the real rough stuff!

Today the bike has just had it's latest MOT, for this I've replaced the wheel bearings, both sets of brake pads and put a clean air filter on/ That's it and it passed no worries.

I've started looking at tools and spares etc with a view as to what to take with me. I have managed to pair things down to a good set of basics but I am a couple of things missing that I would like, mainly a spare rear wheel nut and a spare front sprocket bolt and washer. Having had these disappear on trips before they are a show stopper if you lose them.

The other thing I'm thinking of changing is my clutch, it's started to slip and as the bike is going to be doing a large amount of miles for one trip as well as carrying luggage, I think the £150 from KTM is a necessary expense unfortunately.

Below are the images of my spares and tools, most of it is self explanatory, for some of the more oddball things I've written a list below too...

Spares for the UK TET

Spares
These consist of a selection of nuts, bolts, washers, electrical bits,oil / air filter, brake pads, front/rear bearings, spark plug, front sprocket, spare chain link, replacement levers, metal repair putty, thread lock, spare batteries, cable ties, electrical tape, repair kit for camping bits. I need to replace a few things like the front bearings and the above mentioned rear wheel bolt and front sprocket nut. There is no spare tubes and puncture repair kit as we're gonna use other things, again this is solely because we know most of the terrain and it's easy to sort replacements on the whole.

Tool kit: Carried all the time.

Tool Kit
I tend to carry the same tool kit whenever I'm out, I know everything in that Kriega tool roll fits to my KTM and has been used on the trails at some point. I don't like kit that is heavy or has moving parts, so I've stopped carrying a socket wrench, opting instead for a T bar with multiple attachments. I carry a tow rope which is just blue poly prop with a couple of loops tied in the ends, there is a length of 1mm household electrical cable with a couple of crocodile clips on it for flat batteries, there is a hand chain saw for nibbling bits of fallen tree, spare lights, which to be honest are less of an issue of this bike as the rear lights have been excellent. The front KTM EXC-f lights are nicknamed KTM candles, so anything to support them for those odd later night rides is a bonus! I've never weighed all this lot, so I will do and add it to this.

Something that happened on a previous trip was that the cam chain tensioner failed on this bike. It was around the time I was considering doing the top end rebuild anyway so just forced the issue. Since the new one and a new cam chain have been installed though, there has been a slight cam chain rattle to the engine. I don't like hearing it so one thing I was going to install was the Dirt Tricks Cam Chain Tensioner that Adventure Spec supply in the UK which I'm assured does a much better job that the original. It's on order so once I get it and install it I'll feed back.

I've ordered a set of the Motoz Tractionator Enduro tyres as a bundle from Adventure Spec. Lucy really likes the Hybrids she has on her bike, so I thought I'd give them a go and see how they get on.

On past trips I've put a larger tank on the bike, I haven't decided as yet whether to for this UK trip as petrol is generally easy to find and the bike has a standard range of 120 ish miles, by which time I often want to stop anyway because the saddle is awful.

Navigation Stuff
We'll both be using Garmin Montana's with a 12v cradle to keep them powered all day. the TET is a GPX route anyway, so once it's loaded onto the GPS that should be it. I've already made a few changes to the normal route so now just remains making sure JP & I have the same route. I'll also print out and laminate some map images with fuel stops / cafes etc marked on them for a bit of extra info if we need to come off the route at any point. Final thing to sort is some couch surfing with various mates. Wild camping will be the preference and the odd B+B or hotel if the weather is truly epic, so to break things up with a good gossip and some beer is always a good option!

Camping and other bits...
I'm taking my standard set up for the trip as I know it works well and so far has proven to be pretty solid. The bag carrying most of the kit will be the Giant Loop Coyote bag. This is the first generation one with a zip. So far I've never had any wet kit and it has taken some abuse. the zip can be a faff to do up, especially with cold hands, and it takes a bit of practise to get the loading right. But once you've worked it out, it is really good on an enduro bike. At some point I'd like to try the roll top version, which I think JP has now, much better from a potential failure point of view I think as zips do have a tendency to fail at poor times! I've listed the contents below with some weights to give an idea.

Kit List
Giant Loop Coyote saddle bag (2.4kg 39 litres)
Enduristan Sandstorm 4x Tankbag
Tent: Macpac Micro - 1 man single hoop 4 season tent. (1.4kg)
Sleeping bag: PHD Minimus (465g)
Thermarest Prolite Plus (570g)
MSR XGK Multi Fuel Stove (374g)
Petzl Tikka headtorch (86g)
Sigg 0.7 litre fuel bottle (empty 108g)

Clothing
I'm really lucky to have been asked to test some more kit for Adventure Spec on this trip, so I'm awaiting a delivery of 'goodies' to play with and comment upon. If it's as good as my 3 year old 'Linesman Jacket', it'll be superb and may well follow that to become my 'go to' kit for trail riding and adventures.

Until that kit comes, I'm not sure about the rest so it will all have to wait a bit for any final decisions I think.

I will be taking my Gaerne SG12's for the protection and warmth they offer, but I have to say, they are heavy and they do seem to make gear changes really awkward sometimes. They also take ages to dry out once soaked so along with 3 pairs of riding socks there will also be my goretex military long booties to try to keep my feet dryish.

That's about it for the time being, I'll add more as we get closer to the kick off time... happy trails!

Coast & Moors Trip

It's been quite awhile since I've posted anything about trail riding, a mix of work and life commitments that seem to have taken me in other directions for a bit, that and riding local stuff that has already been written about multiple times!

So I found myself with a block of spare time, Lucy had gone away, all my usual jobs, people etc all seem to be busy, so I thought it time to get another multi day trip set up and get out.

The plan, go to places I've not been before, explore those esoteric lanes near to those places and catch up with some mates along the way if the timings fitted. Thus I set off on a cloudy but bright fresh morning with a route in the GPX totalling 500 miles, skirting the edges of the Lakes National Park, The Forest of Bowland, Nidderland Area of Outstanding Beauty and the Dales before returning back home. There was a lot of surfaced road in sections of this route, but as the plan was to explore rather than just be a dedicated trail riding trip, that didn't bother me, I just had to check my tyres a bit more often!

Day 1.
First lanes were all local, with a stop off to see a mate who was building a camper van for some summer fun, then lots of tarmac to get down along the south west coast of Cumbria, Seascale, Ravenglass, Barrow etc.

I came across several tidal fords, which at high tide were not passable.

On the map, Seascale had a possible route along the coast to Ravenglass, but it turned out to be a footpath and a causeway, so I had to find a bypass. I'd never been to Ravenglass, which is the home of the Laal Ratty steam train. This goes up into the Eskdale valley and is an enjoyable trip with a good pub and cafe at the end. The village itself is a popular tourist spot and as such has a few cafes and amenities.

Hugging the coastline for the morning saw a variety of views, including the big nuclear plant at Sellafield, which has had significant impact on this area both in positive and negative ways. The West Coast railway runs nearby and I had to cross it several times, sometimes with a person working on the crossing and other times ringing a telephone to make sure the tracks were clear before I did my 3 journeys across opening and closing gates. Some really helpful and friendly folk these people were.

I turned inland briefly to climb on of the fell roads, where I stopped in the stiff breeze to enjoy the atmospheric day and views. Once fed I moved on to a new lane for me with an imperious ruin dominating the skyline. That would be a fab place to buy and restore!

As I dropped back to valley bottom I came across a lane with a tree down, I had a great little hand chain saw blade for such an occasion and managed to cut off the lower branch which tilted the main trunk back to just the right angle so I could pop over it. This chewed up some time, but was fun to do!

Tea and bacon butty was found at a great little burger van on the A595. Once refreshed I set off again just meandering down the coast stopping off in random places where the views were good. All of the roads in this part of the County are small and winding so very good for a little trail bike ride! At one point I found a beach with a beautiful wooden house perched on the bank, lovely views and an interesting sense of art in the garden!

I wanted to look at the byway that crosses Morcambe Bay, so I went down to Canal Foot near Ulverston. It is one of the few tidal fords left and you really need someone who knows the area to guide you across. It also needs to be low tide and you need to completely wash your bike down after... For me it wasn't going to happen today, but hey the historic info about the canal and industry there was fascinating for me.

 

By now, I was losing the daylight, so had to make a decision about where to stay. I opted for a mates in Lancaster and so off I went to get to his place so we could drink beer/wine and gossip for the night

Day 2.
The next dawned wet and windy, plenty of rain forecast for Lancashire, so as my mate had to be off for 8am and I didn't need to repack my pannier I was away nice and early. Riding through Lancaster is always a game of dodgems, but on a wet February morning in the rain it was even more scary than normal. I was glad to get out of a built up area and back into the countryside.

The first lane had a deepish ford which I'd never done before, there was a memorial on a tree nearby. After this I wound my way on the B roads heading eventually for a lovely long fell lane which was having some work done on it recently. There are very few lanes in Lancashire, something which dates back to a previous Lord who removed them all I'm told, not sure if this is just gossip or fact but the result is the same.

As I got to the end of the lane, I realised I'd not filled up in Lancaster and so used my GPS to try to find the nearest fuel, the info wasn't accurate and I wasted a few miles following directions to a none existent garage, where I then bit bullet and headed direct to Settle where I knew there was fuel. I got there with a thimble full in the tank. A hot pasty and some hot chocolate warmed me up as I was now pretty wet. The sun was starting to come out though in patches but where I was going was swathed in cloud.

The Dales is one of those National Parks that hasn't, (as yet), lost it quiet charm. Unlike the Lakes and the Peak which are desperately struggling under the pressure of millions of visitors each year and an infrastructure that wasn't built for the level of current use. As such you can find yourself in many places and not see a soul. Such was the case for the majority of the lanes I used, except for the one where I stalled in a ford, swearing as my feet got wet and cold. Only to find 3 cheery people pop up behind a hedge to check I was OK. Profuse apologies followed for my language and ten minutes of ribbing as I drained my now soaked boots!

I wound my way north to Reeth, when I got a phone call from a place I help out at now and then, asking if I could help them tomorrow as someone had a possible broken arm, so that was the end of my trip and the start of a very cold, dark and wet ride home. I passed through Kirby Stephen and Shap riding the odd few lanes in the dark cursing the KTM candle I had for a headlight. However when I got home, had a shower and warmed up I felt really relaxed and recharged from two days of trail riding.

Another brilliant little trip out, some magical places explored and passed through and some friends I've now caught up with again.

Mmm lets see when I can do the last bit now...