After spending a fairly warm weekend in the south of this fair country I was quite surprised and happy to see us northerners get a small share on the sun pie. Deciding that anything Keswick based would be inundated with old people wearing beige shorts and more red socks than you can shake a stick at, we opted for the quieter area of Haweswater.
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| Blue Sky over Haweswater |
We started by riding (then pushing) our bikes up Gatesgarth Pass, this is usually a descent for me but I wanted to try something a little different. We met a few people coming down as we ascended and it turns out they would be the only people we would see (except for one grizzled old farmer). Once at the top it was a quick blast down to a stream and then a series of boggy climbs, wet descents and calculated guesses as to where the bridleway had vanished too. Luckily we guessed correctly and found ourselves at Swindale Head and met the aforementioned grizzled farmer.
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| Not lost exactly just unsure of direction |
To get back over to Haweswater again you take the Old Corpse Road, I had heard this was a good descent so that's why I was here. The first section of the climb was steep, once it finally flattened out it was back to more guessing where the bridleway may go amongst more boggyness. We definitely strayed from the bridleway once or twice but finally after what seemed to be a never ending series of fake summits we spied Haweswater and our way down.
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| Fast, steep and stunning views |
The run down was pretty good, quite steep in places but all rideable and fun, the view over Haweswater as you drop back down the valley again was stunning, then just as you begin to get a feel for the track you reach the road at the bottom. Apart from the boggyness it was a good ride out, t-shirt and shorts were all you needed, the sun was warm and the remoteness of the area made it feel like you were really exploring.
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| The view was so good it was a distraction |
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