[Closed] First time natural ride in the Lakes - advice needed

I have the view ranger app on my phone which you can get the national parks on for a tenner I think it works ok and gives your location on a map. I found it fairly easy to use and I am totally IT illiterate. I often take a map as well though.

Borrowdale bash is a good route to that's reasonably easy to navigate and holds up well in the wet.

Viewranger will let you download maps for offline use. Some are more detailed than others. You can also create routes on their website to follow on the app .

Never used in practice though!

buy a garmin if you've got the funds, great for tracking your rouutes every ride and for navigation. You've got it forever then.

Viewranger but I just buy the tiles I need at various UK locations (which includes the Lakes).

If you are following a route for the Threlkeld loop, bear in mind the railway line from Keswick to Threlkeld is closed following flood damage. You can follow a road over the top of brundholme woods from the swimming pool in Keswick to Wescoe, it is marked as closed but that is just for cars. Alternatively, go via Castlerigg stone circle and Burns Farm to Threlkeld.

Plus 1 for view ranger, another plus 1 for borrowdale bash. Threlkeld loop is only a couple of hours, could do that in the morning and bash in the afternoon.

Borrowdale bash is a good route to that's reasonably easy to navigate and holds up well in the wet

We have looked at the borrowdale bash. Not sure if it would be too much for a couplke of us. We have a couple of riders who would do it easily but myself and a others havent ridden for a while. We are just after a 3 hours ish ride.

How much longer would it be to go past Castlerigg sone circle? Always wanted to ride there.

I would add that learning to do some basic navigation is always helpful - even if it is simple things like re-tracing steps or bailing down to a valley floor.
Having a paper map with you, should the electronic version run out of battery/die/be dropped, is a good idea as well.

I also use Viewranger on my phone. I buy the OS map tiles I need as and when I need them.

Stone circle is probably the most direct way of getting from Keswick to Threlkeld at the moment. All road, steep climb out of Keswick then easy ride once past the stone circle. Probably 30 easy minutes from Keswick to Threlkeld. No extra to going on the brundholme woods road.

You could easily extend the threlkeld/lonscale fell route by just pushing up the front of Skiddaw when you pass. Push up as much as you can that time allows for and simply turn around and ride back down. It doesn't take as long as you think it might to get to the summit.

OK going to be shouted down but you guys sound a little nervous so...
Take it as a chance to learn something proper and good, an app is great for getting into trouble shite for getting out of it.
http://www.cyclewise.co.uk/content/guides-and-coaches.aspx
Book yourself a guided day, speak to the guys beforehand and see if you can add some navigation and real hills stuff into the day. Learn the basics and enjoy the rest of it (these guys teach mountain bike leader qualifications). If not please pop some cash in the Mountain Rescue box on the Friday night 😉

Already going to put a few coins in to pay for your kind google search for me the other day Mike! I rang Ken at Cyclewise and think they can get my bike fixed ready for the weekend. If they can I will be putting some folding money in there!

For printed out map = Ordnance Survey do really good ones, batteries last ages! 🙂 If the weather forecast is particularly bad then it can be the right call to bin the ride/go for an easier option. I think many people head up into the hills regardless, just because that is the only time slot they have and that is their objective, but the weather will always win and it makes things more difficult than they otherwise might have been. If you're worried about getting lost then being cold and wet in low visibility will make it harder.

Believe me if the weather is really bad its not a massive problem to go to the pub.

But seriously, give them a call about a guided day, how many people are in your group?
£170 for a full day, even if you only do half out and spend the rest doing some skills stuff then it will be money well spent!

If you're going up into the hills then take an ordnance survey map with you. And a compass too. You don't want to be relying on technology because the one time you need it most...will be the one time you can guarantee that it'll let you down 😐

Things can get hairy very quickly when you're high and dry (wet)..

If you're going up into the hills then take an ordnance survey map with you. And a compass too.

Things can get hairy very quickly when you're high and dry (wet)..

Agree with the comments about maps.

(just about completely off topic but some true stories)

1. I was out fell walking one day and up near Esk Hause when a couple approached me.
"Excuse me. Could you point out where we are on our map please?"

"Sure" I replied and pointed to a spot about 18" off the edge of their map.

2. Again up at Esk Hause when a French walker approaches me. "I am looking for the mountain hut. Where is it?" and he points on his map to the word "shelter". He was rather disappointed when I walked him to the cross of stone walls!

3. I'm at Hayeswater and a couple get out their "map" which is a page torn out of a road atlas. "Is this Haweswater?". "No, that's over that hill" as I pointed out The Knott. It must be said that she didn't look too impressed with her partner's map reading.

OS map paper version as back up and you can download the OS app/map. View ranger is great as well.

If you take a phone and are using it be wise to buy one of those small battery packs.

plus what the others said above.

The traverse of Lonscale Fell can be intimidating if you are relatively new at this (apols if you're a riding god). A lot of people walk the bedrock section with the big drop-off to the side, myself included. 🙂

Likewise the Bash is an odd route - has some pretty technical descending chucked in to the main Watendlath descent to see if you're awake.

Unless you're committed to the North Lakes/Keswick area, there are some nice options in the south Lakes which are also a bit better in miserable weather conditions.

Also the Vertebrate Graphics Lakes guide has 1:50,000 OS mapping, which can be handy for basic navigation.

If you don't want to get your map wet, or don't want to pay for the app maps (which are fairly cheap), you can take screenshots of OS maps when you view them via Bing maps on your phone (you have to request desktop site on Chrome). You can take multiple screenshots to cover a decent area. Not as good as looking at the bigger picture but another easy option that doesn't need network or gps. As above, not much need to do it as a new paper map includes a free download tile.

I wouldn't buy any Lake District map in the non-waterproofed version!

[url= http://www.pinkbike.com/news/tour-of-the-tarns-2016.html ] Bit of inspiration for riding in the North Lakes.[/url] Don't let the weather put you off...

that's what I do, if you bring up the area you want in bing maps, screen print and paste into word, if you then save that page as single web page it generates a folder with all the pics as png images which you can email to yourself and dl to your phone.

Unless you're committed to the North Lakes/Keswick area, there are some nice options in the south Lakes which are also a bit better in miserable weather conditions.

... IME easier to navigate than the warren of trails round the forests.

Here you go , free OS land ranger:

http://admin.anquet.com/Anquet-Free-Landranger.html

Screen shot / print or use on your phone

loughrigg terrace/ iron keld loop's a good wet weather option!

Personally I prefer Maverick - unlimited free os maps in an app, can cache for offline viewing.

And if you want a single waterproof map covering most of the lakes, the Harveys one isn't bad.

I navigate mostly from phone these days. It's fine so long as you have a backup plan. e.g. More than one nav app equipped phone in the group, and a fallback plan for when they all fail. Don't forget smartphone screens are useless in the wet, but then nothing is foolproof; laminated maps are useless when they have blown away in a gale.

Good navigation skills are essential no matter which way you do it.

Can anyone recommend a good app that can stop us getting lost or is it better to take a printed out map.