6th October 2011: Lake District Special Ride

So, the day had arrived at last. Possible route variations had been previously reconnoitred in weather varying from pleasant to glorious. This Thursday the forecast was horrible: very stormy. Norman was quite open about it - he didn’t take his carpet slippers off when the weather was bad. Trevor had sprained his ankle playing badminton! But any of us could have been excused a touch of Tevez on such a day. The committed, brave and stupid were in the Grange car park early: Mike G, Bryan, Andy, Ray, Martin, Liz, Clive, Ivan, Jim and myself.

We set off along the promenade ahead of schedule despite Mike having to sort out a shopfull of extreme weather gear. The view across Morecambe Bay was lovely. Soon we were winding steeply up the quiet lane to medieval Cartmel and coffee. Cartmel Priory is claimed to be “the most beautiful church in the North West” with a fascinating history. There is also a racecourse and a Michelin starred restaurant, L’Enclume, which featured on ‘The Trip’ with Steve Googan and Rob Brydon. The staff at the Mallard Tea Rooms were friendly and efficient.

Photographs by Ivan Davenport

Now warm and not wet, we continued uphill to Haverthwaite, north along the beautiful Rusland Valley, through Grizedale Forest passing Breasty Haw on our left, and then Ray punctured. This gave Ivan a chance to photograph the group in the narrow lane while a rogue driver attempted to use us as skittles. Down we whooshed to Esthwaite Water and soon reached pretty town of Hawkshead. Hawkshead is an ancient town that has flourished from Norse times. It is a village of higgledy-piggledy houses, archways and squares with strong connections to Beatrix Potter and William Wordsworth. We meandered through the tourists and headed for Outgate and the climb to the Drunken Duck for lunch.

It was warm, a nice environment, fine beers, good quality food (if a bit pricey) and, when it came to a doorstep ham-sandwich in greaseproof paper, a bit pretentious. Exactly as expected in fact! We were just about to go back out when the rain hammered down, but five minutes later and nine of us were ready to go. Where was Mike? We found him struggling to pull his overshoes on and trying to get his arctic wardrobe in order.

We were soon grinding up to High Cross and then plunging down to the lovely undulating road alongside Coniston Water. The lakeside ride was a highlight; a beautiful unspoilt stretch of water with the Old Man of Coniston towering over the far side. Talk with Martin turned to Donald Campbell who had piloted Bluebird down this stretch of water at over 300 mph before disaster struck in 1967. From Brantwood, the former home of John Ruskin we cycled south past Peel Island, the inspiration for Wild Cat Island in the Swallow and Amazons books of Arthur Ransome.

Then followed a leisurely few miles meandering down the Crake Valley. At Spark Bridge we realised that Liz and three others were not in tow. Mobiles were either switched off or unable to connect. In the absence of a crate of carrier pigeons on the back, Martin gallantly cycled back uphill to find out what the problem was. It turned out Liz’s chain had exploded, damaging the front changer at the same time.

We eventually arrived at Penny Bridge and Greenodd for coffee and cake at the Bridge Deli. They are caterers for weddings etc. so not properly set up as a café. Service was quick and friendly and the coffee was spot on, even if there weren’t enough chairs. Mike had been delayed messing with his headset so chose to sit on the carpet rather than a metal keg. 

This part, and the next part of the route, had only been cycled by Jim and I two days before, in an attempt to travel southwest without a gruelling roller coaster ride. We crossed the river Leven and followed a dodgy Sustrans Route 20 stretch before an easy ride alongside the river to just south of Haverthwaite. The B5278 was fast and flattish going south, but it was a longer route and quite hilly from Cark to Grange, so Jim had convinced me that ‘Killer Hill’, as he referred to it, was the best option. We rode down a couple of miles to Stribers then made an acute left up a quiet, sheltered and very hard climb. The fit chaps and Liz were waiting patiently when the walkers and very slow grinders eventually made the T-junction at the top. Down past the mucky farm and alongside Cartmel racecourse, through Cartmel, with the weather becoming more consistently damp and murky by now. Then past Headless Cross and residents of Headless Close, left at the top of Allithwaite, along pleasant, quiet Wart Barrow Lane across the hill and finally back down to the coast road close to Martin and Liz’s caravan. About 46 miles completed and still an hour to go to lighting-up time.

The weather didn’t really bother us: I didn’t even use my proper waterproof, and the sheltered valleys and lanes meant that we didn’t have to battle against the wind all day.

Two thoughts struck me sitting in the car: the actual weather when cycling is often nowhere near as bad as the forecast, and if I was Martin Whitmarsh I would never employ Mike Gilbert (only pulling your leg Mike).

Thanks for your support and company on the day, I hope you all enjoyed it; also thanks to Jim for partnering me on a number of scouting missions beforehand and providing sound advice.

See route map and/or gpx file download.

DH

Author's corrections: it was Andy that punctured, not Ray; despite my Tevez aspersions, and Trevor's apparent good humour, his lawyer informs me that he has irrefutable medical evidence of a dicky ankle.
Note to editor: I may have a tendency to use marginally iffy words, but I think you were wrong in changing 'shopful' to 'shopfull'.
P.S. This week, regrettably, Mike confirmed his unsuitability for employment with McLaren by turning up at the wrong circuit.
DH