Royal Wedding Weekend

Me and Callum met up for a couple of pints back home at Christmas and decided we needed a least one weekend of riding together before the big trip in June. The Lake District is about halfway between Cal in Glasgow and me in Hinckley so it seemed like the logical choice. Plus it would give us some decent hill training. The 4 day weekend of the Royal Wedding and May Day holiday seemed the perfect opportunity to get in some riding.

Day 1: Oxenholme to Ambleside
I took the train from Hinckley via Birmingham up to Oxenholme and met Callum there. After changing into the obligatory lycra we plotted a rough route and set off. From Oxenholme we headed back into Kendal and onto the A5284 towards Crook. This was the first time we had ridden together and it took about 5 minutes before I went right at a junction and Cal went straight on. Think we need to work on communication and navigation! We joined the A592 and headed south along the shore of Lake Windermere. Although the road followed the shore, it was relentless series of ups and downs and the road surface was really rough. Running tyres at 90 odd PSI really transmits every bump into your hands. Taking the A5092 from Newby Bridge to Broughton-in-Furness was a superb idea. Although we had a pretty nasty climb, the downhill into Grizebeck was well worth the effort and saw us hit speeds of 44mph (Cal) and 48mph (me). That's the quickest I've been on a push bike and what a buzz it gave me! Target is now the big 50. Heading North along the A593 we had a nasty headwind all the way to Ambleside.

The Ambleside YHA was our accommodation for the night and provided us with everything we wanted. After some beers and a rather expensive burger in the nearest pub we turned in for the night knowing that, in the morning, we were heading up the fearsome Kirkstone Pass.

Day 2: Ambleside to Derwentwater
After a surprising OK sleep in the hostel we saddled up and headed for the Kirkstone Pass (we stopped for breakfast in this wee shop and fuelled up on home made flapjacks the size of bricks). For those of you who don't know it, the Kirkstone Pass is a well known climb in road cycling circles and regarded as one off the toughest in the UK. Check out Kirkstone Pass and The Struggle. The Struggle starts from Ambleside and is significantly tougher than tackling the pass on the A592 from Windermere.

Beginning of "The Struggle"

The 3 mile climb is totally brutal and almost killed us both. The last bit up to the pub at the top is easily the steepest road I've ever ridden up. Although the climb was miserable, the feeling of achievement of getting to the top without resorting to pushing the bike was overwhelming. Unfortunately the pub at the top was shut so a victory pint was out of the question (also might have been a bit early seeing as it was 10.30am). The descent down the other side towards Patterdale was really sketchy. The northerly wind was really gusting and blowing us all over the road which I must admit was pretty scary. We eventually ended up stopping for lunch in a small pub near Newbiggin.

We had a change of pace in the afternoon and explored the rolling back roads of Cumbria. After a quick stop to tighten the bolts on my pannier rack, we hit another cracking 40mph+ downhill past Uldale. Joining the A591, we headed for Keswick then down the B5289 towards the Derwentwater hostel.