Borrowdale Bash

When I say Borrowdale Bash I actually mean a variant of as I usually start and finish near Grange as you don't get much extra fun time if you ride to and from Keswick. Much less snow here than the previous day at Haweswater and the descent from Watendlath was reasonably dry too, the sun even came out for a bit. The little bit of singletrack leading across the top to Castlecrag did have a few snowdrifts but nothing major and the descent back down toward Grange was mint as usual.

Should have brought a sledge

Tried to do a short loop near Haweswater, that takes you up Gatesgarth Pass, drop down to Swindale Head then up and down the Old Corpse Road, we didn't make it. Most of the climb up Gatesgarth was covered in snow, up to knee deep at some points. It was very difficult to see the actual bridleway that went up so we just followed various footprints and a vague idea of the path. Once at the top we decided not to continue the route in these conditions and made our way back down. It was more rideable than I thought and at least if you fell or slid out the snow was pretty soft. Not the fastest of descents but still a good laugh.

One heck of a slog up

A drifty and slidey descent

Drumlanrig (Ride 20)

I realise I have missed a few rides out here but honestly I have ridden a bit since the last post. A few have been repeat rides like Grisedale Pike, Whinlatter and Mabie, but I did manage to do two newer rides at Hamsterely Forest and Laggan Wolftrax, both places are fun and worth a visit.

This Sunday a trio set out to ride at Drumlanrig, it lies about 20 miles away from Dumfries so as such isn't that far away from the riding at Mabie and Ae Forest but definitely has it's own character. For the most part the trails at Drumlanrig have a very natural feel about them, you won't find much rock and pre-layed bedrock trail, instead you'll find natural flowing woodland trail littered with rooty sections.

The conditions on this day couldn't really have been any better, we got a tiny bit of hail/snow but for the most part the sun shone and the trail was in great condition, a little damp as your tyres sunk into the dirt but lovely and grippy, the roots were also missing their usual slippy wetness so the techy root sections were just that and not lethal. We did the red/black route and it tracked at just over 10 mile which is a nice distance, on a longer sunnier day you could probably do it twice or just relax by the river afterwards and take in the pleasant surroundings.

A little snow in the air as we stopped for a quick snack

Chromag Collectors

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