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.....and seeing how deep the rabbit hole goes, by the end of the week the weather will turn, this blissfull indian summer at an end, could someone please suggest an unmissable descent, a final fling if you will, i tend to be a fairweather rider these days, so once the gales set in, i hibernate till spring.
PS. My benchmark descent would be something like Sticks from the summit or Nan Bield.
Aye lad. I'd get your good self down to Bike Treks and have a word with Andy,Keith,Sarah and fellow staff.
If it were me I'd head out to Claife heights via wray castle then..onto beyond fields,left up to base camp. Follow fire road to scab moss/high moss. Blast down to far swarey and after pub turn left(BW)back on ya self. up and over Mitchell knots...one hell of dh to bass how.
Head back along gravel road to red nab. Back up to basecamp. Then got to look here fella... a cross road at Guide post - turn right dh..previous you'd have blasted past high moss( 1st loop) and down past wraymires tarn, don't do that again.
From Guide post onto Rough Hows and down to Colthouse.
Another great DH! Ride on road to knipe fold where you take a left up to the Iron keld plantation. Don't miss the sign post right..at the top..you'll bare off right and up steepish track.Then another great dh to near Stephen how;you'll pop out onto the A 593- HEAD DOWN TO SKELWITH BRIDGE.
Take a load off at CHESTERS and have coffee and cake. FINISH - the loop via Loughrigg tarn and onto intake wood..turn right at the top of hill(on road) and follow trail(BW) along Loughrigg terrace into Ambleside.
One of many little gems..if you're feeling mega you could easily include grizedales famous beastie dh..plus many others cracking bits of trail.
PEACE
Ps do ask the chaps at BTs they know their stuff and will be happy o help.
Go further north
Borrowdale bash is a classic loop with some interesting options
these are a step up from nan bield tech-wise
Esk hause->sprinkling tarn->stonethwaite probably the downiest downhill I've done
Honister->warnscale bottoms->buttermere mind blowingly technical
4 passes if you're mental
Hellvelyn to wythburn is supposed to be good
and if you want cheek.....lots of possibilities
Great post scud, following that specific route, might well be a bit of a headache, sounds good though, my heart pines for the high fells on this ride. Some very good outings there Donk, to be honest I have done most of those, but bingo the very one on my mind at the moment, is that descent off Helvellyn, only one way to find out whether it is a classic, I guess. I have no reservations about riding cheeky stuff, it is all fair game, as long as you ride responsibly.
Have you done the cheeky option off Sticks Pass (Seldom Seen)? Did it for the first time yesterday and it's a belter. First bit is pretty damn exposed though!
Get your map out and follow...you'll soon pick it up.
It short; Ambleside to Low Wray,Low wray to Claife.
Two different loops of Claife Heights,the last one has you heading to Knipe Fold/Iron Keld.
Finto via Loughrigg. Trust me...the dh's are worth it.
Grum nope, is that from the top of the mine, will get the map out.
PS. That looks great, would add quite a lot to an otherwise brill descent.
wooo donk, that route you mentioned warnscale bottom looks ace, this is the route down:
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from here: http://www.wainwrightroutes.co.uk/haystacks_r1.htm - the path is also pictured on photo 5
I'm researching lakes routes for a trip in oct.
Skiddaw, descend off the steep scree, then ullock pike. Ooft.
Fergal - it's superb IMO. Seems like it goes on forever and means you don't lose height on the boring track down from the mines. Feels alpine at the top then some lovely twisty rooty rocky stuff through the woods.
Just be careful at the start.
If it were me I'd go and do high street whilst it's dry...
I did the Borrowdale Bash recently and hated it. But some stuff we found around Latrigg, Keswick and of course Whinlatter was exceptional.
Wouldn't bother riding bash again.
Did High St last week and it was great! rode from Staveley via Garburn Ill Bell down to Pooley Bridge dry as a bone 🙂
obviously did not do the locals version of the Bash 🙂
That`s right, clearly didnt do the "local" version.... 😉
Skiddaw and Ullock is where it`s at 8)
I would love to have a crack at the local version.
I will be honest, I felt a bit underbiked on my Camber. Like the bike just couldn't recover from the big rock hits.
I got around just fine but at Whinlatter the bike felt perfect and flew.
I`ve only just gone FS and so have done everything on the HT, and i mean everything (round here anyway). 😉
It was do-able. I just thought I brought the wrong tool for the job that day.
Camber was perfect for 95% of the other stuff that week.
So, anyone here ridden Hall's Fell Ridge on Blencathra? Being referred to as 'Blendanger' apparently. 😆
looks like fun Grum. [img] 
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I love blencathra for walking as you can get to the top quickly and easily and the route down past the tarn is a nice scenic walk.
Yeah Blencathra via Sharp Edge is one of my favourite walks/scrambles in the Lakes.
Not sure how much I'd be riding on here though:
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For a great option on Blencathra, ride/push up Blease fell from the field centr, along to the summit , then north past Atkinson pike, continuing above foule crag. Turn SE at the col, descending the FP above the beck to the bridge, then up and over Mousethwaite comb to scales and beer. It's high, long, fast, not overly technical and I was laughing out loud for most of it.
I heard Lacondeguy went in deep, on halls fell.
Blencathra is a great hill, have only ridden the ridgeline of Scales fell, this is pretty mellow, but a nice way down.
we are staying in the lake district all next week,and looks like the weather is turning....
any wet weather route suggestions as well?
any wet weather route suggestions as well?
Grizedale bridleways. Fantastic fast and technical riding, all low level.
Yup - Grizedale/Claife Heights is great in poor weather.
Cheers TomB.
You can get another good low-level day out of Grizedale going north from High Cross and doing Tarn Hows, Tilberthwaite, Little Langdale, Esthwaite, Loughrigg, Skelwith Bridge, High Arnside, Iron Keld.
any wet weather route suggestions as well?
Everything is so dry that it will take a deluge to turn things in to a bog. What you will get is the top couple of centimetres being soft and potentially very slippy.
Many (most?) of the Lakes trails have a good stone base so tend to be all-weather but you might want to stay low level if the weather is grim just for comfort's sake: waiting for your mate at the top of Walna Scar in a hoolie wouldn't be my idea of fun.
How the hell can you not enjoy the borrowdale bash? Madness.
I seem to remember some guys from Keswick riding Halls Fell recently - they said it was a crazy tech fest.
As for wet weather suggestions, just stick a jacket on and ride where you were going to anyway 🙂
And Seldom Seen off Sticks is essential and brilliant.
Big respect to anyone who rides down Hall Fell Ridge. No, HUGE respect.
Yet to do Wytheburn descent yet but have heard good things.... "better than sticks" apparently 😀
Skiddaw - Ullock best done on a week day I would say. Awesome.
Sticks - Seldom seen - love it. Changes all the time. Brilliant.
Wet weather routes?
Get a coat on and let some air out of your tyres 😀 Although saying that it might be more than the rain you may have to look out for...move onto Thursday/Friday forcasts in this URL!!!
http://www.mwis.org.uk/english-welsh-forecast.asp?fa=LD
burn the heretic!I did the Borrowdale Bash recently and hated it.
Admittedly the magazine version is 1 great descent, a couple of good ones and some nice singletrack linked up with a big old chunk of road but check out the map and there are a lot more variations on the theme available 🙂
Start Borrowdale bash early then after hazel bank descent up Cumbria way, Stake pass across to eskhawse sprinking tarn styhead tarn to stockley bridge fantastic descent then up Honister & turn right up Dale head & down the descent to Dale head tarn.... round the back of the tarn & cut across to pick up the old mine works descent very techy to pick up Castle Crag great ride but pick your days for it.
Just putting a marker down.
I did Wythburn last weekend. Best tech descent I've ever ridden. I was buzzing so much at the end I couldn't talk properly.
Start Borrowdale bash early then after hazel bank descent up Cumbria way, Stake pass across to eskhawse sprinking tarn styhead tarn to stockley bridge fantastic descent then up Honister & turn right up Dale head & down the descent to Dale head tarn.... round the back of the tarn & cut across to pick up the old mine works descent very techy to pick up Castle Crag great ride but pick your days for it.
^^^^^ This will put hairs on your chest!!... 🙂
There's a photo in this month's MBR of that descent.
Dunmail
Which descent ? I'm a month behind on MBR, work over seas at work & only got last months.
It's a big day out the route I've put above but a corker. There's the Ambleside to Keswick up Rossett Gyhl too but a long carry...
[i]grum - Member So, anyone here ridden Hall's Fell Ridge on Blencathra?[/i]
Halls Fell and Doddick are both worth a go. We don't tend to ride off the summit into Halls - there's an unridable section, so we usually carry up the ridge then turn around just below the top. However, my preferred descent would be down to Scales tarn, down the steps and along the valley, ending at the White Horse pub.
Which descent ?
The old mine works descent.
There is indeed Dunmail (I took it). It's properly nuts, one of the steepest nadgeriest bits of trail I've ridden.
Dry as a bone last night at Ullswater:-)
Other than the excellent suggestions given my recommendation would be start at Wheelbase head up Kentmere on east side over to Green Quarter and down to Sadgill, up Gatesgarth Pass over Harter Fell (push that bit) and at Nan Bield shelter go up towards High Street over Mardale I'll Bell and then head south along to Froswick, Ill Bell the Yoke and descend to Garburn pass. At this point either head down to Kentmere and back along west side of Kentmere to Staveley- Or turn around and ride back to Nan Bield pass and down to Kentmere.
Its excellent single track over the top and the views are stunning if its like today with clear blue skies.
[img] https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/HocGnOk4p9XZf3SFwEMUcZKzgZzNVfWoTcnPEpKcfeglL5h5A4edXQFKt01mJ8hW40p7Lgy6p_YqErbBsGk3xEMoVIkKaHd7Qy5T=w711-h150-nc [/img]
It's properly nuts, one of the steepest nadgeriest bits of trail I've ridden.
It was a mild relief for me after the steeper bit off of Dale Head tbh, though my brakes weren't working too good that day.
View was nice from the top though...
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Tomaso,
Great loop you did, something similar in summer, though blowing a hoolie climbing Ill Bell but what a laugh all the way down to the top of the garburn, there was a short bit lots of sharp slate sticking up great fun & walkers were good too.
Last year we were up there and I have never been so cold in June - the weather was truly awful wind and rain and unseasonally cold. It is pretty high up and the weather can make the exposed bits scary.
Lakes riding...all agreed ..is bloody amazing FULL STOP
Go nuts and ride off Scarfell into Washead..just for the fun.
You may get a few groans from uncle Bimbler and auntie Ramble..bugger um. Not like literally mind. Just smile and nod and carry on.
Climbers will probably Clap you on.
Sheeps may get in your way..isn't that what the bunny hops for?
Kids: ride past hollerin,they'll think you're koool or nuts ( prob both) and hopefully they'll go Whoooah and disarm the irritated parents..they'll just be insanely jealous anyways!
Just one rule...Don't Bin It
Someone mentioned Halls Fell ridge, we walked it in the snow. I certainly wouldn't be going anywhere near it with a bike!
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[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/66452821@N00/8238843754/ ]IMG_0469[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/66452821@N00/ ]ritcheyp20[/url], on Flickr
😯 not the place to have problems with your brakes. Did it one go (with a couple dabs) couple weeks back, 7ish minutes of almost constant hard braking, smoking brakes at the bottom.the steeper bit off of Dale Head tbh, though my brakes weren't working too good that day
Tomaso good shout that, never really considered not riding down NB once at the shelter, I do like Ill Bell to kentmere tho (just done an out and back before - with the ullswater loop at the top for added silliness), will have to give that route a try soon.
Well yesterday was the day of the week, ended up doing the Wythburn descent, over way to quickly and our fix the fells friends have been very busy, way to man made and for my liking, follow the yellow brick road.