Lakeland riding is some of my favourite riding in Britain, this ride is a bit of an epic and it did nearly finish me. 4 hours of solo riding, a snakebitten rear tyre was nearly to much for me, more on that later.
Starting off with Loughrigg terrace with views over Grasmere and Rydal water. Following the route of the Loughrigg, Langdales and Elterwater ride. Back up over Loughrigg fell views over to Windermere, before dropping down to Skelwith Bridge. We head over to Hodge close before splitting from the Elterwater ride and heading over towards Coniston via holme fell. Some amazing Lakeland scenery over the fells and cracking riding to boot.
Passing the head of Coniston the ride climbs up to the North Face trail in Grizedale before dropping into Hawkshead. At this point it's easy to get carried away on the North Face trail and miss the bridleway descent down to Hawkshead. this route misses that descent, taking it misses out trail however avoids a road descent. Heading back to Skelwith Bridge over Oxen Fell gives us more stunning views of Coniston, the Langdales and High Street. Retracing our steps from Skelwith Bridge back up to Hodge close, and rejoining the Elterwater Ride and heading over to the Langdales.
Although this is the last of the ride some of the best trails have been left until last, there are some great rocky ascents and descents from Hodge close over to the Langdales. There is one particularly good rocky descent down towards Elterwater, the one that claimed by 3 ride old rear tyre. Really must remember to check tyre pressures more often having set up new tyres. A rocky rooty piece of single track, that's sure to bring a smile to you face no matter how tired you are now feeling.
There's a little more rocky double track and some back roads into Chapel Style and back to Elterwater, before it's time to call it a day.
| Distance | 50km |
| Time | 4-6hrs |
| Climbing | 1300m |
| Starting location | Elterwater |
| Pubs, cafes | The Maple Tree Café, Britannia Inn, Skelwith Bridge Hotel, Chesters By The River |
| Parking | Car park near the village of Elterwater |
| Route | View route on Strava View route on Komoot View route on Garmin Download GPX |
Mountain Biking in the Lake District, contains 24 short, medium, long and full-day mountain bike routes in the Lake District. Grab a copy on Amazon now.
Don't forget to check out my favourite Lake District routes!
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