Whinlatter Forest
Saturday 22nd April
The North and South loop is 19 kilometres.
The weather wasn't as cracking as the last few days in the Lakes, cool and misty.
As we set off I was nervous today. We followed a family with two young boys not much older than Elleanor and they attacked each dip, turn and jump with such fearless ability it was difficult not to feel intimidated. Phil had a puncture about ten metres in and I was watching some very novice riders pass I contemplated that each red route I had attempted had included a fall. I then tried to feel a bit more positive about the route and came up with a plan of action: steady and enjoy.
I kind of achieved my main aim. I found some of the initial climbs difficult the slate was slippy and I don't like heights!
There were some very tricky and slippy rock bits towards the top which I decided to avoid cycling over.
But I stayed on at the berms. Whoohoooo!
I managed a couple of little jumps but walked down a huge rock drop. But as I proudly said as I approached Phil, 'The bike is still between my legs, therefore this does not class as walking!'. Unbeknown to me two very young, sprightly riders were sat next to Phil hidden from view by a bush giggling at me. It was very difficult to concentrate on the twisty turns come down from the top of the North Loop with such stunning views.
We had a hot chocolate and cake back at the cafe, before attempting the South Loop.
The views on the North and South loop included some of Derwent water, Bassenthwaite, Helvellyn and Skiddaw as the trail took us to an altitude of 500m (1600ft) above Keswick.
Shame about the clouds and mist.
At Easter the girls were packed off to Spain for their holidays and we went to the Lakes for some quality cycling and wandering around.
Friday April 22nd
Grizedale Forest
The official bit...The North Face Mountain Bike Trail, 16km, consists of nine sections of sinuous singletrack trail on the west side of Grizedale Forest. The trail offers adrenelising sections of single track descent with leg burning up hills, contouring through oak woodlands and conifer forest. The challenging trail also gives the mountain biker tricky board walk sections through meadows yet reward the trail rider with outstanding views along the way.
I once again found this difficult but yet again, thoroughly exhilarating. Once again other cyclists were very cautious and encouraging. My main aim was to finish without a fall. This didn't happen ;-) But it wasn't too bad. Just took a fall on a berm, it was my shoulder that took the worst of it. Mr Berry was not popular for saying 'can't understand how you fell off on the simple bit!'.
The weather was fabulous and once again the breathtaking views made me enormously thankful for the beautiful world we have been given.
In the afternoon, we enjoyed one of the walking routes around the forest. A fabulous day.
We completed the Dalby Forest Red Route in two stages.
Saturday April 9th 2011
Newclose Rigg Bike Trail- Distance 9.4 km
Stage 1 was my first experience of a red route and I loved it! People were friendly and I didn't experience anyone huffing and puffing as I was slower than them. Where possible I stopped and moved over to one side to allow them to whizz past. This did lead to my tremendously impressive fall going down a hill *blush*. The fall itself didn't leave any marks, it was the fact I threw my bike onto the bank to move aside for some very fast approaching skilled riders then fell on it that left it's mark.
After finishing this section we decided to follow the good old blue and green back to the bottom for a hot chocolate and cake.
Saturday April 16th 2011
Stage 2 was not a disappointment. We were dropped off at the top so we could pick up where we left off. First it was the Adderstone 5.3km. The World Cup track looked amazing from here and some very talented riders were rehearsing for the World Cup, one of the coaches spoke to us and chatted about the training and how he wanted them to approach obstacles.
We then followed straight into the Jerry Noddle 5.8km. Utterly stunning views across the glorious moors.
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| Upright and steady ;-) |
Finally the decent of the Riggs and Dales 13.8km. Fantastic but tiring. I loved every second and finished with a huge smile to see my girlie's waiting for us at the end.
But I stayed on at the berms. Whoohoooo! 
