4 days, 3 nights, 4 rides.
11 hours cycling, 267km, 5924m climbed,
Average strava placing on the passes 4th (behind Tejvan again!)
Main gear used on steep hills = 39-24/39-28 (would of appriciated a compact!)
Day one -
Drive upto 'The Great Dun Fell' + Camp at loughrigg Tarn nr Ambleside
Travel
Started the day with a long, pretty boring journey up the M1 and the A1(m) stopping for a couple of nice bacon sandwiches I had made in the morning, in a layby on the a66 with some nice views of the Yorkshire moors (another area I would like to explore)
I could see the radar station ontop of the Great Dun Fell for miles before I arrived at Knock (a little hamlett at the base of the climb.) Which got me pretty excited straight away. But it also made me realise just how big a 7.4km climb at 8.5% really is!
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| Radar Station - The Great Dun Fell |
Too eager to get started and up the 'hill' I did a very quick warmup down the road and back then set off.. The start of the climb was not too steep, quite a gradual slope for the first part, but then the road suddenly raised up and I found myself switching down gears pretty quickly. The first half had sections to wear you out reaching above 13% often especially on corners but never too long to make it much of a struggle. After 4km the road levelled out for a hundred metres or so, allowing for a nice bit of recovery before you enter the next section of the climb, which can only really be described as the valley of pain! about 1.3km at 13% with sections of 18-22% a number of times! i certainly felt very small in the dramatic, remote place.
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| The road winds up ahead of you. |
The decsent was like no other i had experienced, fast, smooth, bendy and no worry of cars coming round blind corners the only obstacles in the form crazy sheep that seem to want to play chicken with you!
Travel and Camp
Back in the car and with neumorous snacks too munch on I headed for keswick and then down the main road towards grasmere and ambleside. After finding the campsite and pitching the tent it started to rain and hard I ate in the car then went to bed at about 8 30!
Day 2 -
Walk around ambleside - evening ride The Struggle, Kirkstone and coniston water.
During the day
A long boring morning of walking around Ambleside looking in every other shop, which just all happend to be outdoors shops, I refulled at a very nice fish and chip shop and sat looking out at the pouring rain frustrated that I couldn't enjoy the scenerey I had come to enjoy.
Back at the campsite after a few hours of reading Robert Millars book (rather interesting and good read) the rain finally cleared and the views opened up around me!
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The Ride
I was unsure if the rain had stopped completely or if it was just a brief clearing. None the less I was dying to ride my bike. So i decided I would head over and do 'The Struggle' then see how things went after. The struggle! Yes it was exactly that, as soon as I turned onto the road which starts in ambleside I got a sense of what was ahead, climbing upalong side houses like you were walking the stairs. Eventually the road opened out and the views were amazing, the gradient however did not relent! Oh yes the top! Big ring sprint last 200m BIG mistake! over the brow the gradient eases the road drops slightly and there infront is wall of tarmac painted up the side of the hill scrawled on as if a child had painted it with a crayon. this was the struggle 39 - 28 out the saddle, in the saddle, back out wide round the hairpins, look up still not there! eventually after dragging the bike what felt like a mile your at the summit, is it worth it yes! From here I decided to procede down the Kirkstone pass and was enjoying myself so continued onto Glenridding befroe turning around to come back the same direction. Over the Kirkstone and down the struggle again. I had planned a big day for the tuesday so decided not to do any more big hill but to ride down to coniston and the lake there where I used to stay on holiday as a child with my parents, so that was nice and was a good relaxed ride to end the day.
It turned out to be a lovely evening and I was really enjoying the place I was staying and the total freedom of doing what I liked (if the weather let me)
Day 3 -
All on the bike - Langdale, Wrhynose, hardknots, wast water, Birker fell + little lane and grisdale forest and Tarn hows
A nice steady warm up through the lanes and then into the valley heading upto great langdale where the first hill known as blea tarn was. this hill was basically a warm up hill for hardknots and arguably my fave one of the trip it was shorter but had just as bigger kick in its many hairpin bends. I got onto the hill and a few cars got 'stuck' behind me, this gave me motivation and i power up the climb attacking each hairpin through the steepest part. I love riding steep hills with hairpins as you can use them to accelerate on and get some momentum for the next straight steep part if you are feeling good, or take wide and recover a little when you are struggling. With each hairpin the engines rev more so I pull over into a passing place to let one by... nobody passes.. carry on, get to the top car comes past, "was flat out mate! well done." what a feeling! but had I gone too hard too soon?
After a hair rasing decsent on the worst surface road in britain this sign awaits me at the bottom.
Maybe i should have taken the last hill easier!
wrhynose was far too steep to take pictures on.. the wet roads making it even harder to climb especially out of the saddle. This one consistently steep with a few sections of 20/25 thrown in for fun a middle section of around 15 was a bit of a grind but i found good rhythm and kept my momentum forwards. A bridge approaces surely a bit of rest? No!.. The worlds steepest bridge?! over that before leading to an even steeper section upto the false summit. A real leg burner hitting 20% for a good few hundred metres, encoraged on by a couple of moterbikes I make it over and plundge down into the amazing valley below.
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| Wrynose Decsent |
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| Hardknots upahead |
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| many bends on hardknots |
The first hairpin of hardknots, a minibus overtakes me, loses its momentum slowing down, causing me to slow also, then upon trying to accelerate again my rear wheel skids and never finds grip before I know it im sliding back down the 25-30% gradient, just unclipping intime to half save the fall. push the bike round the bend to a shallower bit (12%) get back on but never really find my rhythm again and just ride up the climb with the adrenalin gained, unfortuantly over before I knew it! Then on the decsent, of which I did mainly at about 5kph directing an elderly couple reverse back down and turn around after the man, "went white froze and put the handbreak on refusing to move" good deed of the day done and got out of a scary descent. great :) the next part of the route was an undualting ride out and upto wasdale head along the very scenic and stunning wastwater underneath the shadows or Scarfel and Scarfel pike. This is where I had my main food stop and purchased a few goodies from the shop. I had been trying to eat one item of food per 30 minutes during the ride, in the form of gels, bars and cereal bars.. Whichever was convinent so long as I kept putting fuel in the tank.
When planning the route I Thought i had picked an easier way back!
The next part of the ride was very scenic and I dont think I saw a car for the next hour and half! Some very little lanes and some very steep climbs. Eventually coming down of the hills towards coniston water after some very nice scenery, I was onto probably the first fast road of the day where I easily cruised along at about 21mph till entering into the forset areas around grisdale. The last stop of the day was Tarn hows an amazing place with great views of the coniston mountains.
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| Largely varying scenery of the ride! |
The evening
This campsite was not quite as remote and dramatic as the last, however I did apprecitate a shower ;)
to escape the nosie of familys and holiday people I walked out over to castlerigg stone circle round the corner to have a look and relax before going to sleep. Not much to say here are the photos...
Unfortunatly there seemed to be just as many people at the stone circle as there was back at the campsite..
Day 4 - Final day
The north west passes
I woke up and my legs were feeling pretty stiff and heavy clearly the last 3 days were catching up on me. I had planned to do the passes and then go round and do hardknots and wrynose again but decided it probably wasnt the best idea to do so.
Honister pass from seatoller
After some of the other hills i had done I was expecting more from this one.. sure it was steep and tough but a flat section in the middle gave a nice rest and then I paced myself on the second part, when really I could of gone much harder as I was at the top and going down the other side before I knew it!
Newlands pass
Such a contrast from the rocky intimidating harsh landscape of honister this one was green and grassy luring you into a flase sense of comfort.. much like the last I reached the summit much before I expected. In parts it was steep but I never felt worried or in trouble on it, especially after finding my rhytem very early on.
Whinlatter
All in the trees never that steep and not that long, I pushed hard up this one and just enjoyed it as a road to train on rather than a nice area to look at same for the other direction on the way back over whinlatter to get back into keswick.
Overall I had an amzing time and really enjoyed cycling in the area! the roads are unbelivable and very tough no matter which direction you go. I will certainly be going again when I can as I am sure there are many more hils and nice roads to explore and break myself on. Theres only one way to make something easier and thats to do something harder before! Now I am back in the peaks the roads that once were hard and mega steep now feel like normal hills and I have had the confidence to push myself on them rather than just survive them :D that ofcourse means more KOMs
