The Lakeland Loop
By Alasdair Arthur
Practical Details

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Books and Maps

We followed "The Lakeland Loop" wheelrights guidebook by Tim Woodcock. Available from Amazon.co.uk or www.mbruk.co.uk.

Once you start on the ride, you get used to taking the author's occasionally coy words on the degree of difficulty of each section and interpreting them in the light of your own experiences. We had to invent our own new categories. "Technical walking section" was one that cropped up more than once! In particular, beware any point where the author mentions "humming a ditty to deter the bike-carry blues".

It's one of a series of excellent guides, and includes detailed maps and instructions on the route, as well as useful names and addresses, places to stay, etc.

Maps

The Ordnance Survey provides a wide range of maps covering the whole of the UK. The book itself contains the relevant sections of the 1:50000 Landranger series. This includes extracts from maps 89, 90, 91 and 97.

There are larger-scale maps too. We took the set of four maps from the Ordnance Survey Outdoor Leisure 1:25000 series which cover the whole of the Lake District. These are numbers 4,5,6 and 7.

I'd recommend taking the 1:25000 series maps and not just relying on the ones in the book. If, as we did, you end up having to modify your route, you could find yourself off the maps which the guide provides. You'll also be passing through some remote countryside, and the more detailed maps you have with you the less likely you are to get lost, especially if visibility is poor and you have to rely on following fence lines or identifying small features in the landscape.

Where we stayed

These are the addresses of the places we stayed. There is generally plenty of accommodation in the Lakes though, from camping sites to bed and breakfast places and pubs to fairly up-market hotels. Take your pick.

We only pre-booked at Buttermere and Boot, because we knew they were small settlements and we would be there at the weekend. In mid-summer it would probably be wise to pre-book more.

Useful Numbers

Here are the phone numbers of the various local Tourist Information Centres.

Keswick Mountain Bikes is on +44 (0) 17687 75202.

The numbers are in international format. If you're outside the UK you dial the 44 (the UK's country code) and do not dial the 0 in the brackets. If you are in the UK, you can probably work it out without my help.

How we got there

We had the luxury of being dropped off at the start, then collected at the end of the ride - thanks Claire!

Since the trip is a loop, things are a lot easier in that you can leave your car at the start and return to it. Beware of leaving it in a remote spot though since car break-ins can be a problem- we saw a couple with smashed windows and missing radios.

There is a railway station in Windermere, the closest one to the official starting point. You could of course start anywhere around the circuit. Check with the rail operator first since there are sometimes restrictions in the UK on the carrying of bikes on trains and you may need to book passage for it. Check the "Bikes on trains" link  or ask in the newsgroup uk.rec.cycles.

What we rode

I had my Trek 930 SHX, Peter had the Trek 820 I'd sold him second-hand the previous year (which stood up to the journey with no problems - what a bargain it had proved for him) and Tony took his trusty and much-upgraded Cannondale whose frame dates from the dawn of mountain biking.

Useful Links

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Last Updated 05-05-2001
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