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Thinking of riding Helvellyn next Friday. Route plan is to park at Wythburn, ride on the road along Thirlmere to Legburthwaite, head up and then down Sticks Pass towards Glenridding, then head back up to the summit and down Birk Side to the car park. A fair ride.
I know the A591 is closed, can you get through on a bike or do I need to plan another route up?
Also, how are the conditions?
Thanks if you can help.
You can't drive to Wythburn at the moment, the A591 is closed between the top of Dunmail Raise (from the south) and Thirlspot (from the north). Until they get it open in May the best option would be to park up on the north side of the closure, then when you're coming off Birk side down through the woods you'll cross a fire road, turn right and you can follow that all the way along above the road.
Also... it's currently full winter conditions up there with the snowline at 500m 🙂 and the longrange forecast is staying cold up to the middle of next week. The summit plateau of Helvellyn actually tends to stay relatively clear of snow as the wind scours it away but there'll be deep drifting and ice on the paths up/down.
Yes can confirm the plateau is wind scoured and very icy, was up yesterday on an outing around the edges.
Thanks Elliptic, that's very helpful. Suspected there'd be snow up there - not ridden either pass before so need to decide whether I want to do them for the first time with snow and ice or wait to 'normal' conditions return.
I did a not dissimilar ride last summer (except I went up Birkside as well as down). It's a plenty tough enough ride on a nice day, especially if you've not done it before (and I don't [i]think[/i] I'm a complete big girl's blouse), so I wouldn't be trying to do it in the snow for the first time.
Cheers, I'll leave it until later in the year then hopefully get more enjoyment out of the descents.