Mountain Biking in the Lake District

We had booked into Center Parcs at Whinfell Forest in Cumbria for a break this Easter and decided to use it as a base to revisit some great mountain biking locations in the Lake District. First up was Whinlatter Forest Park which is home to the Altura Trail - 19km of fabulous red grade single track. Initially, I wasn't keen on this outing since the last time I had been to Whinlatter was to take part in the Whinlatter Challenge in March 2009. The Challenge is my only defeat to date in mountain biking competitions since I retired after the first of two laps fearing that daylight would be gone and emergency rescue vehicles be required if I set out on the second lap! In my defence I could claim ill health on the day and note that 25% of entrants DNF as we say but to be honest these are poor excuses. I can only hope that they keep running the challenge so I can go back and seek victory over that particular event one day.

However, the Altura trail is different again from the Whinlatter Challenge and we had a brilliant day out hitting the 10km North Loop in the morning before being seduced by the wonderful nosh at Siskins cafe for lunch and moving onto the 9km South Loop in the afternoon. Adam was not too impressed with the start of the North Loop, 'Bob's Traverse' being somewhat exposed and 'The Slog' being just that but it was all worth it for the descent:  'Happy Days', 'Big Dipper' and 'Grand National' need no explaining the whole family were on a high by the time we swooped back into the car park. The south Loop starts with a stretch of single track called 'Dead on Arrival' which was somewhat daunting but to be honest we all found this ascent much more engaging than 'The Slog'. Again both the view and the descent were more than worth the climb and we simply flew back to visitors centre.

 

The second outing of the Easter break was to Grizedale Forest and the North Face Trail another 16km of free flowing mountain biking. The Grizedale Challenge is held here in the month of September and for the last two years we have found time to take part along with other mad friends. I still haven't managed to complete the course in under 5 hours but am inching closer and who knows what this year will bring. Again the trail is completely different from the challenge. It starts  with an ascent which zigzags upwards and requires good concentration, technical ability and fitness to keep moving smoothly without any offs or dabbing. A moment of hilarity was provided by Ben disappearing from a relatively straight section of track into some very brambly undergrowth from which it was quite difficult to extract himself -the whole route can be completed in a couple of hours with kids in tow providing plenty of variety and entertainment for all. 

Move out the way kids Dad is coming through!

Racing for fun - the latest event - the Nutcracker

The fourth of April 2010 saw the Lewis family heading over to Camp Hill near Bedale to take part in the the first of six races which will make up the Nutcracker MTB XC series and boy was it worth the effort. How lucky are we to get a mountain biking series on our doorstep with a category for everyone in the family to take part in. All the photos are by Enigmatic Photography and can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutcrackermtb/.

Even our youngest, just turned 11, got to do a lap of the same circuit as the elite men which he was totally up for. As it turned out this was a one off because the organisers hadn't realised that under 12's are in a separate category for mountain biking - thus at the last minute Dad had to accompany him on his lap for insurance reasons. From here on in a Nutcracker Academy has been set up for the under 12's called the Sweat Monsters and a specially created short course will be available free of charge at each of the remaining five races.

The series follows a common timetable which for our family works well with the kids racing in the morning at 10am and the extremely ancient parents racing later in the afternoon at 2pm. Ben, in the juvenile race was the only one of us to suffer with a mechanical - a flat tyre which he got just after the first lap. He walked much of his second lap only to discover when the results came out that he only needed to do one lap anyhow! Better luck next time son!

I was really pleased with my ride. The conditions under tyre were very muddy which made it a physical course but I managed a pretty consistent two laps and didn't collapse at the finish line - always a bonus. Having never been placed in a race before I was chuffed with my third place but since there were only five of us in the female vet category I have to say I would rather come further down the field and see more female competitors - where are you all?

And as for Mark he was a star, having already ridden a practice course plus a race lap with Adam he had a good three laps but was absolutely gutted when he was pipped on the finish line by a competitor racing from his local bike shop. Still there's nothing like a bit of rivalry to keep you motivated at these events.

Such a local event meant that it was easy to pass the word around and encourage people to pitch up at the event regardless of whether they had ever competed before. At least one such competitor was heard taking my name in vain as he completed his second lap of the course and vowed afterwards to be back leaner and meaner for the next race of the series. Unfortunately, the Lewis family can't make the second race, a prior engagement with the Lakeland Loop, but races three to six are already in the calendar - the dates are as follows:

• 23 May at Richmond
• 13 June at Dalby
• 22 August at Swaledale
• 12 September at Bedale
• 17 October at Hamsterley Forest

Hope to see you there!

Racing for fun (The first time – Ten Under the Ben)

I entered my first mountain bike competition in 2008 at the age of 44 and it was truly a baptism of fire. It was one of a series of three endurance races based in Scotland … 10 Under the Ben was the innocuous name of the event meaning a wee ten mile circuit in the vicinity of the Nevis Range and Lochaber Rural Complex to be ridden continuously for 10 hours. Now this event could be entered as an individual or as a team and originally the idea had been to enter a team of four so that the biking could be shared out – there being no possibility of me being able to mountain bike for 10 hours straight! But when it came right down to it there was only Mark (husband) mad enough to enter with me and so we found ourselves in that lonely category of mixed vets - a total of eight I think.

We drove up to Ben Nevis on the Friday night after work and it was still Friday when we arrived but only just. We had booked a place at the ‘campsite’ which turned out to be your bog standard field completely crammed with tents. I swear there were not more than two blades of grass together without camping paraphernalia squashing them. This was apparent from inside the car but things got much worse when we actually got out. The reason for the strange head gear several individuals were wearing became immediately obvious – the midges were wicked!!!  Luckily we had brought an ancient and tiny two-man tent that was quick to erect and we found a space of sorts between the guy lines of more deluxe models. We then proceeded to try and grab a few hours kip before the rigours of the next day. It was one of the stranger nights I have spent. Conversely, for Scotland, it was extremely warm and in the humid, pitch dark it felt like we were in an unfeasibly large bed full of hundreds of strangers. Different conversations and jokes bombarded us from every angle, despite the fact that I was wearing a fleece over my head in an attempt to sabotage the midges’ plan of attack. All in all the perfect preparation for my very first race!

The next day dawned hotter than ever but fortunately in the daylight the midges had abated so bare legs could be risked otherwise I fear heat exhaustion would have been a real likelihood. Many people had registered the night before but as we hadn't made it up in time we went and signed in as 'The Cobbles' and got our electronic tags and race numbers - this was a first in itself. The fact that we were in a team event meant I could watch the start which was just as well because I was feeling somewhat intimidated by all the lycra encased testosterone roaming about the place. Once the start was over it was an hour before the leaders completed their first circuit so there was plenty of time to get into the atmosphere and chat to other competitors - I was rapidly coming to the conclusion that I had well and truly jumped in at the deep end of mountain biking challenges.

If I'm honest the first circuit was heart stoppingly scary, I had never even been on a bike in Scotland let alone ridden in a competition. The circuit was totally unfamiliar so the only way I could approach it was to tell myself I could and would cycle whatever was round the next corner. With hindsight this was probably not the most sensible approach and neither was it the right approach to getting the fastest time - sometimes its quicker to get off and run. But by now the fact that I was in a race was eclipsed by the need to prove to myself that I could do the route, all of it, on my bike. Two years later all I can remember is the heat, the effort and the adrenalin. The second circuit was better in that I knew what was coming and that I had already done it without killing myself but it was also worse in that I knew what was coming .... And the third circuit nearly did kill me, the thought of some horrendous fall began to seem very attractive compared with other option of continuing to keep the pedals moving. I knew there was no way I was going to make a fourth lap not unless it would save the world or at least a child or two ... we haven't yet been back to take part in more of the '10 series' but we will. The sense of comradeship between the competitors and the feeling that everyone who took part was a winner are memories for life; and it was the first of something that continues to be a source of great enjoyment and fulfilment to me.

Other mountain biking challenges and races that I can recommend include:

• Grizedale mountain bike challenge
• The Altura Whinlatter mountain bike challenge
• British Mountain Bike Series
• The Nutcracker MTB XC series

It's great news that there is now a mountain bike series in the north in the form of the nutcracker series - so if you live in the area get involved. The first race was in April but there are another five to come and if I can do it anyone can!