| Where | Great Langdale South loop (The Lake District) |
|---|---|
| Date | 16 August 2004 |
| Duration | 1 hours 45 minutes |
| Distance | 4 miles (~6 km) |
| Weather | A lucky few hours of dry weather |
| Trail conditions | Wet and rocky ground |
| Rider | Age | Bike(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Clare Doran | 19 | Feet |
| Mark 'Tarquin' Wilton-Jones | 24 | GT LTS 2000 (TWJ) |
Trip report
Description by Mark 'Tarquin' Wilton-Jones
Pictures taken on a subsequent walk along the same route.
"I'm going for a walk." ... "Anywhere in particular?" ... "No, just a walk." ... "Mind if I join you? And - can I walk using my bike?"
The footpath at the end of the Great Langdale campsite began with a 'NO CYCLING' sign so we headed further down the
road to the nearby bridleway. This began by heading up towards the South ridge before becoming a comfortable stony path,
but then; big disappointment. Classic Lake District stepped path. I tried cycling up it, but was forced to give up after
only a short distance. Although the stones were nicely smooth, the stepping was just too high, and the bike bucked and
reared up, making it impossible to maintain pedalling.
After pushing for a while, the path levelled out and became a much more entertaining narrow path through bracken.
Often too narrow and rocky to be able to pedal. Some walkers informed us that it would be only 10 minutes at walking speed
to get to the path back to the road. We had said that we would be only a couple of minutes, and we had already taken over
half an hour.
We continued, but after a long and very enjoyable rocky downhill and a short climb taking over 30 minutes, we
turned around. Meeting the same walkers, they told us it was just around the corner beside a stone barn. This time, their information
was correct, and we took the path (the way continuing along the valley soon earns another 'NO CYCLING' sign after a campsite,
just as it becomes a proper track ... GRRR!).
The path became a dirt track and could be followed as part of the Cumbria Way bridleway, but we crossed the river at a
bridge and continued beyond to join the road. Not too far along the road, we used the old road instead. This is more of a
track with puddles, and occasional patches of Tarmac. Clare decided not to take up my offer of sharing the bike and ran most
of the way along the old road. This joined the main road back at the start of the bridleway, and we returned to the campsite.
