The Lakeland Loop: Last Day - Coniston to Bowness

We spent our last night of the trip in a B & B called Bluebird Lodge Guest House with the luxury of a comfortable double bed - although any bed seemed comfy after a day on the Lakeland Loop; and walked into town for much needed food and beer at the Black Bull Inn. It could have been sad to think we only had one day left of biking and a mere 12 miles at that but I preferred to dwell on the fact that I had almost completed a journey that I wasn't sure I could do five days earlier. What satisfaction!

Looking back that last day was gone in a blink of an eye and yet I know we skirted Coniston Water by road before forcing tired legs up one more climb through forest to Hawkshead Moor and the manufactured pleasure of Griezdale Forest's North Face Trail. Why we were whooping round a mountain biking trail centre on the final day of such an epic trip was incomprehensible but that's the nature of the addiction. I think it follows the 'it was there so we did it' logic.

Finally we left the trails behind and descended through Devils Gallop on the final stretch. We paused to treat ourselves to tea and scones before those last few tarmac miles round Windermere and timed our arrival to perfection just catching the ferry which deposited back at Bowness fifteen minutes later. Amazingly our car was exactly as we had left it abandoned on the road side six days earlier or was that a life time ago ...

The Lakeland Loop: Day Five - Eskdale to Coniston

Apparently I took AGES to wake up on the fifth morning of our Lakeland Loop adventure. But I was downstairs eating breakfast in Eskdale yha by 7.30am which is surely all that can be asked of a girl who took her mountain bike over Black Sail Pass the day before. The start of Day five wound down the valley of Eskdale keeping the river close to hand and revealing along the way an unexpected rainforest of Rhododendrons. The greenery towered over us ancient and vast and inspired a peaceful awe as we peddled along. The surreal nature of the ride continued as we traversed a perfectly manicured golf course in the middle of just nowhere.

Next we were forced to do a couple of miles on the road as we rode up, up, up towards Waberthwaite Fell; but at least there was a sea view as compensation on the way. Mark had nothing but bad memories of the trek across Waberthwaite Fell; 'horrible, boggy, pathless' were a few of the more complimentary adjectives he supplied. I was more upbeat about the whole thing not having tried and failed to find any discernible bridleway before and it sure beat yesterday's pain and anguish. The ascent might have been unrewarding but as always there was a fast and furious descent, this time down through Bigert Mire Farm and onto a picturesque bridge just outside of Ulpha. As we sat on the bridge eating ice creams the sun came out and everything in the world seemed right. Today we had sandwiches and crisps and having had none yesterday boy did we appreciate them. It was all very acceptable and I could almost pretend that there wasn't another up lurking in the not too distant future!

We were riding through a tapestry of starkly contrasting scenery. Birks Wood just after lunch, with its carpet of bluebells, was gentle English poetry sandwiched between the remoteness of Waberthwaite Fell behinds us and Walna Scar yet to come. But before that there was Kiln Bank which one of those climbs that hadn't even registered on our richter scale until we were on it. I kept thinking 'this isn't a proper hill' and then we'd go round another corner and still the road was rising upwards, another whole section of up. 

Finally, we turned off the tarmac and skirted the contours of Brown Haw and Dunnerdale Fells on some fabulous single track. You couldn't help but ride it like you were out for a couple of hours of fun it just grabbed you and asked to ridden in technicolour. Of course when the single track ended and the fire road took over I paid the price and was very faded as I pushed on towards Walna Scar. Mark kept saying stuff like 'were nearly there now' and 'its just round...over...through ...' He told lies all the way up past White Pike and onto some sort of slate quarry which he swore blind was part of the route despite the fact that we had to throw our bikes over slate piles as high as houses. But I could see a bridleway emerging on the other side of the quarry with what looked like a wonderful descent and my spirits rose. Mark didn't disillusion me of our direction until we hit the path and then instead of turning left and descending he turned right on a route that went up as far as the eye could see. 

I wanted to cry. Instead I pushed - incredibly slowly. I think it is probably the slowest I have ever pushed my bike but eventually we made the summit of the highest pass on the whole trip. On cue it started to rain. I was determined to be grumpy but the descent was just impossible to resist and within moments I had a smile on my face as we skated on boulders and surfed the pebbles past all those poor walkers in the rain. True they had strolled up the pass while we had suffered with our bikes and packs but as they joked about grabbing a lift on the way down I knew it had been worth all the effort. 

Racing for fun - the Nutcracker Rounds 4 & 5

Just back from our Summer holidays we should have been race fit for Round 4 of the Nutcracker Series at Fremlington Edge in Swaledale; a place we had never mountain biked before. Even as we parked the car I didn't like what I could see of the course - a massive grassy ascent straight onto the open moorland, not that you could see the moorland it was somewhere over the horizon! If there's one thing I struggle with its going vertical on grass ... I know I'm just a moaning minny. 

Time was of the essence if we wanted to get a practice lap in before Ben was due to start his race at 10am so we got going. Almost instantly it became apparent that it was a very tough course for Adam, 11 years old to be cycling so we took it steady while the other two disappeared into the stratosphere. OK it wasn't that steep but it felt like it. I had started using clip ins in the previous two weeks and thought I'd see how I faired with them on the course - badly was the answer! We were both out of sorts and it would have been a smart move to turn round and save our energy but unfortunately for Adam I was too stubborn to go for that option. We didn't make it back until just gone 10am when we could see Ben's race disappearing into the distance and Adam's first session on the Time Trial course was already under way. Poor kid, the rest of the field were fresh as daisies while he had been dragged round a seriously strenuous course for the last hour and had some nasty war wounds on his legs to show for it. Still he gave it his best shot and after both the timed lap and cross country race managed a very tired fifth place.

Photo taken by Enigmatic Photography; photographs of the event can be viewed on flickr. 

Meanwhile Ben was coping well with the physical ascent on the main course grabbing a few places as he toiled upwards and managing to hold onto third place during the very technical descent from Fremlington Edge and onto the finish line. A tough course and his best result to date - fantastic.

Photo taken by Enigmatic Photography; photographs of the event can be viewed on flickr. 

Once the kids had finished doing their thing the adults had a few hours to contemplate what lay ahead before lining up on the start line at 2pm. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite so successful on the grassy ascent as Ben had been and it was every bit as bad as I had imagined but once I reached the rocky moorland tracks I could get into my stride and the technical descent on the home bound leg of the course was pure focused adrenaline. I had ditched my clip ins for my beloved flatties but there was still a tricky little section that got the better of me. After the radical descent the track became barely a wheel width wide and clung to the contour of the hillside. On the first two laps of the course I found myself pitched off the right hand side of my bike into a steep bank of bracken and nettles at this point without quite knowing why. I'm sure toddlers often find themselves abruptly unseated as they struggle to gain command of legs and arms but as an adult it is a most bizarre sensation. Still I got the better of it on the final lap; a small victory but one I was happy to take. What's more I was the second woman vet over the line - or the last which ever way you want to look at it!

Photo taken by Enigmatic Photography; photographs of the event can be viewed on flickr.

Mark was the final Lewis clan member to cross the finish line and managed his own personal victory being the last man to complete four laps in the time allowed - although three laps more than enough for me. The kids did a brilliant job of supporting us throughout the afternoon; and I'm not sure they weren't going faster on foot than I was on my bike.

September saw us at Camp Hill to complete the Fifth Round of the Nutcracker and this time we got ourselves  a bit more organised. Mark and Ben did their practice lap in plenty of time before the 10am race. Meanwhile I hung out with Adam so that he could enjoy his Sweat Monster's event without being traumatised before he started. This worked much better and I still managed to fit in most of a practice lap before the elite race got under way. Unfortunately it was Ben's turn to suffer and he got a puncture very early on in his race. I was waiting for him at the finish line and was slightly anxious when he didn't arrive back as expected; then an ambulance crew was sent out to a boy having an asthma attack and I got really worried. Not that Ben has ever had asthma but being a parent is not always a logical thing. Finally word came back that he was running the entire course rather than have DNF against his name - I think I was prouder than if he'd finished at the front. 

The Camp Hill course was so much quicker this time in the dry than it had been during Round One in the wet; and since it is a much less technical course than the one at Swaledale I thought I'd give my clip ins another go. The combination of both factors meant I lapped at least ten minutes a lap faster than in April despite there being an extra lap in Round Five. Yeah, I know it's starting to sound like 'biking for boys' not 'biking for girls' how boring! Anyhow despite all that fantasizing I still managed to come last but hey ho I definitely beat all those millions that didn't even enter! While I had to settle for last place Mark had another good race and managed to finish about half way up the field - slow but sure improvement. So there we are only one more round of the series left which is a shame but hopefully we'll get to do it all again next year.

Mountain Biking at Kielder

Summer 2010 and we had decided to revisit Kielder to check out the improvements in the mountain biking since we were last here in 2005. It wasn't just the place that had changed, the kids had too, Ben is now taller and faster than me and Adam just can't wait to be able to say the same. On the last visit we camped and the rumours about the midges are not exaggerated which certainly ensured the tent erection was a fast and furious activity. This time round we decided to go up market and booked into Kielder yha for four nights where we made full use of the drying room and the great food which is served up every night on site.

We woke on Tuesday morning keen to get our first ride of the holidays under way. During the night it had rained, everything was wet and there was a fine drizzle falling - still it was warm and there didn't seem like any reason not to get going. We called in at the Bike Place to get some maps and the consensus seemed to be to start on the Lonesome Pine Trail with the option of expanding into the Bloody Bush Trail if and when we felt the need. We should have taken more notice of the warnings in the literature 'As with all trails in Kielder, please be fully prepared for riding in remote environments and come properly equipped. The weather can change rapidly and small equipment failures can quickly turn into a more serious situation. Always let somebody know where you are going and when you are due back.' ...

The weather didn't improve but the singletrack was simple flowing fun perfect for the conditions under wheel. Even the poor light couldn't disguise the beauty and remoteness of the surrounding countryside revealed once we'd climbed 'Stairway to heaven' and made it to the 'Lonesome Pine' section of the trail. The latter comprises one of the longest sections of Northshore in the UK. The boarding is two metres wide, not because cyclists can't steer very well this far north but because the trail is so exposed that in windy conditions nobody can steer very well! 

The boys were keen to take a left turn at this point and explore the Bloody Bush Trail while I decided to stay with the Lonesome Pine Trail and hit the 'Purdom Plunge' with renewed vigour. Less than five minutes after we'd parted company the weather decided to up the anti big time. First came the rain, torrential seems like an accurate description, it was simply bouncing off the ground. The trail transformed into a river almost instantaneously. The temperature plummeted and the rain became hail which was thrown equally viciously from the leaden skies; my skull felt like it was being fast frozen in its helmet. There was thunder, lightening, the full works it was both scary and exhilarating and the fabulous descent down 'Bewshaugh' was a race against hypothermia. A slip, sliding, helter skelter of a ride where speed and the need for shelter pushed against the increasing likelihood of bike and person parting company. One part of my mind was completely  engrossed in the ride while the other was praying that Mark had turned back and was hard on my heels with the kids.

Half an hour after I'd made it back to the yha I was starting to feel warm again but it had taken a long, long hot shower, dry clothes and a warm drink. Now I was fretting about the rest of my family. I knew they didn't have enough warm clothing to sustain an extended period in these conditions. Thankfully, three sodden figure appeared shortly, Ben wearing the only pair of waterproof trouser and Adam with a silver survival blanket wrapped round the inside of his waterproof jacket. Two minutes later and they were both in hot showers. Lesson learnt - despite being August we didn't venture out again without full waterproofs ...