Skiddaw - in pictures

The mighty Skiddaw, in Cumbria. I have ridden this route a few times now and it truly is huge!

Starting in Keswick, here is a link to the route card for the ride that I have followed

http://www.theedgecycleworks.com/mtbroutes/skiddaw-circuit-and-summit

Here are some pictures from the first time I rode it

View of Skiddaw from the campsite

Long winding path up past the waterfall

Nearly there...

Fast, flowy singletrack following the contour of the mountain

And climbing again, into the clouds

Its a long haul

Easier to carry

Stream crossing

Cold and cloudy - no view, but worth it!

Long, fast and loose.. the descent that is!



Gareth taking in the views




A ride worth doing again, with plenty of bridleways to extend/change the route. Hard work, but worth the final descent!

A good Route - Arncliffe

Arncliffe up and over

Approximatley 7.5 miles long – Difficult ascents so good fitness is required

Suited to Intermediate/Advanced riders

Caution when wet/poor visibility

Start point is Arncliffe Village, North Yorkshire, BD23

• Start point is Arncliffe Village, parking opposite the town hall and school. Commence north over the bridge and follow the road left.
• Take the first right up through the farm yard, sign posted bridleway to Starbottom. The trail steepens through the farm, and zig-zags the hillside.
• Soon the concrete trail breaks up and tuns to grass. Follow the clear route up over the false summit. The gradient lightens and the climb eases. The trail opens up with multiple singletrack lines to choose from, now with rocky sections can be tricky to clean in one!
• Soon reaching the top, the views over Littondale and Upper Wharfedale are spectacular, and on a clear day seem to go on forever. Follow the wall on your right straight ahead across the summit of the hill, and prepare for the descent.
• The descent starts following the wall straight over a rocky path, which soon opens up between gaps in the wall on to a long, fast and smooth grassy descent. Be careful at this point, the path does zig-zag slightly (although not sharply, the grass can be slippy when wet).
• The grassy descent comes to a sudden end with a drop. The trail is all ride-able, however taking the drop at speed can catch you out if you are going too quick and not expecting it. It can be rolled off, should you take the centre line. Or for the more advanced riders, to the right or left of the path, small 2-4ft drop off’s on to a grassy traverse can be found.

Gareth dropping off onto the grassy descent

• The trail soon becomes singletrack and very technical. From the grass, the trail bears left and thins out with no escape routes. Lesser skilled riders may want to dismount here. The drop to the right can put many riders off tackling this section, but stay focussed and take the centre line, and you should be fine. Again, caution if wet, and the rock is Yorkshire Limestone and tends to be very slippery!
• After this technical section, the trail enters the trees, following the contours down the hillside. This section is full of loose rocks, fixed boulders and rooty patches. Although it can be ridden at speeds, its a techy section to be taken seriously! Follow to the valley bottom.
• From here follow the trail across the footbridge and along the lane towards the main road in Starbottom. Turn left at the road. Saddles up high and prepare for a 2 mile road jaunt to Buckden.
• Keep left through Buckden, on to Dubbs Lane. Cross the bridge and take the 1^st left up towards Redmire Farm, Bridleway signposted Litton via Firth Fell.
• Again, the trail starts off on gravel/concrete farm track, through the farm yard, ascend the hill steadily following the trail with the woods on your left. The trail bears right and the gradient steepens, on to grass. Stick to the path here as there are boggy sections which can be difficult to navigate. The trail isn’t as definitive here, so keep your eyes peeled for wooden posts in the ground with the tops painted blue which will guide you up. They eventually lead you to a steep rocky paved staircase leading up to the top of the hill.
• From the top of Firth Fell there is a trig point at 607m. A good place for a picture and refuelling. The trig point is just off the bridleway, to the left.

Firth Fell trig point

• Back on the bridleway, the top of the Fell is flat, soon starting to descend on to Haw Fell. Initially a straight descent, with loose rocks, there is nothing too technical here. The trail steepens and some speed can be gained all the way down through the fields, now on to Ackerley Moor.
• A sharp right turn takes you through farm land, and on to a farm track, carry some speed to cross the stream at the bottom and slow down to enter the farm yard.
• Once through, continue on the bridleway to join the main road at Litton. Turn left on to the road and follow it 2.5 miles back to Arnclifffe. This road is this initial road you started on, so will enter the village over the bridge and you are back at the Town Hall/School.

Please feel free to use this route. Its a great Yorkshire Dales route that gives you a little bit of everything!

Please take note this route is following public bridleways and I accept no liability should you become injured. Always wear a helmet!

Thanks for reading

Helvellyn - October 2011

Last October the news said to expect a hot weekend, so we packed up and headed to the Lake District, with the plan to ride something BIG.

I wont bore you with the details, but here are some cool pictures from Englands third highest peak.

 

The only way is up!

 

Steep climbing

Top of the ridge, clear path now following round to the summit

 

Fast and rocky



More than just sharp rocks to worry about hitting on the way down!



Missed the walkers, but didnt avoid the rocks! Two snake bites at the same time.

950metres worth the climb

 The Orange Alpine 160 felt at home!



Group photo at the summit. Gareth (left), me and Nick (right)

Still full of energy!

The end of the descent

Epic day out, with perfect weather conditions. Sadly we didnt take any photos of the descent, as we didnt stop and break off from it! But I am sure you can imagine how much fun it was! We came down the infamous Dollywagon Pike and past Grizedale Tarn.

So after 4 hours climbing to the summit, it took around 35 minutes to get back to Glenridding car park. Swiftly followed by fish and chips and a night out in Keswick!

A great ride I highly recommend as long as your not scared of hights. One I will certainly be riding again.

Thanks for reading.

Filming 'Roots Riding Uplift Day' Promo Video

8am and the phone's ringing, It's Saturday morning and I've been up about 15 minutes. My head is pounding and the activities of the night before start streaming back into my head. Knowing I was to be up early to meet the Roots Riding team and a few trusty comrades, I really shouldn't have been drinking like there was no tomorrow, because there was - and it was here.

James is on the phone, the van is outside, everything is loaded and ready to rock and roll! I stepped outside into the fresh air and think, today is going to be a long day!

The sun was shining all the way up to the Yorkshire Dales and the first stop was Embsay. We arrived just after 10am and thats when it started. Snow! It was cold, wet and snowing hard, but that wasn't going to stop us. This day had been planned for months. The banter in the van (I say banter, I mean mockery of my freshly shaven head and blatent intoxication of alcohol) had worked us up and we were ready. Ready to ride hard!

We set off over the Moor and headed down the bridleway, into what seemed like the eye of the storm. We were soaked and freezing, yet cheerful and full of conversation, most likely because we didnt have to ride up to the top of the Moor to start with! A novelty to start a ride up a hill! Straight to the good stuff! After all, thats the whole point to why we were there that day!

Let me tell you a bit about Roots Riding. A good friend James, who I have known for a long time, wanted to showcase what's on our doorstep and get people out enjoying what we enjoy regularly. Having a huge passion for bikes, and working in the industry for nearly 10 years, James wanted to combine his love for the bikes, with his passion for the Yorkshire Dales. So he took the gamble and escaped the ratrace, to live the dream by working for himself and doing what he loves. After months of preperation, learning new skills, qualifying as a guide and countless miles in the Dales, putting together the very best of mountain biking trails for others to enjoy, that was it. Roots Riding was born.

So back to the Moor. After 5 miles or so on bridleway and singletrack we descended to the first check point. On the way down, Nick the cameraman had taken position and captured us all perfectly descending a steep farm track to the road where a warm van and friendly faced driver was waiting with a flask of coffee and some fresh banana cake.. just what the doctor ordered! James loaded the bikes away and we were off! The heaters were on full, drying out gloves and coats and we made our way further up into the Dales. No messing around here, this is all about the riding!

We were weaving up narrow, dry-stone wall lined country lanes cutting out a really tidious road climb, that most people would have to ride to get to the next section. Thanks Roots Riding, saving my legs and energy to have all the fun going in my favourite direction: down! We were out and on the bikes in no time, through a gate and we were off. This time, no snow! Infact the sky had brightened up, and we were off on to a narrow techy rock section that seemed to contour the mountain endlessly.

Nick came with us this time, wanting to really capture what this whole exercise was for. Which he did, perfectly! The day went on, more descending mountains, back to the van,  more banana cake, then driving to the next location, and so on. All the best bits were captured on film and were ready to be put together into a video.

My hangover had gone, a great day was had by all, I'd ridden alot of what the Yorkshire Dales had to offer and I had done it all in one day! Mint.

Here is the finished video, so you can see for yourself what an excellent day it was!

If this looks like your kind of thing, I can't recommend Roots Riding enough. Contact James on the link to his website above and see what he has to offer. Mention reading this, and there may be some banana cake in it for you too!

Thanks for reading.