Lake District Challenge!

To warm up before the tri I was to complete Steve’s three peak challenge of climbing the 3 highest mountains in each UK country.

I had already climbed Ben Nevis in Scotland in 2009 and Snowdon in Wales last month so it was only Scarfell pike left in the Lake District at a slight lower height of 980m.

As expected the day wasn’t very nice and fortunately the rain mainly held off as we attempted to climb up an exposed ridge only find the wind stronger than anticipated. This forced us to retreat down and take a more sheltered gully in which we passed search and rescue on our way to the top. There was a view from the top, at times but it was quite windy. The round trip took about 4 hours and coming back down we got some sunshine as we took the alternate route down a scree gully which proved to be a bit more interesting.

We camped out at Coniston the day before the tri also and Dave and I pre-rode the bike course which proved to be very useful as it was extremely technical. Then Dave and Stephanie (his wife) climbed Old Man Coniston via the run route (half way up of the mountain, yikes).

My friend Dave (from Zimbabwe) was doing the tri with me. I had talked him into it about 4 weeks ago so he didn’t have much time to train. (However he’s fitter than me and an excellent runner).

It rains a freakn lot in the Lakes! Fortunately most of it was at night. The day of the tri was cold and misty as we walked down to the water with the 100+ other athletes, all looking nervously at the cold Coniston water.

Then after milling around for a bit we were in and off! The swim leg was long! But my open water coaching had helped in a huge way and I had no breath loss problems this time and powered the swim, finishing in the middle of the field instead of near the back. This was pretty handy as it means you come out and can really attack on the bike to get into a good position. There was a 500m run up the road while stripping off your wetsuit to transition.

The bike course started with a brutal 3k climb up to Grizdale forest which then it leads you onto the slippery technical single track with fireroads in-between to break up the white knuckle adrenaline. The conditions were so challenging and all the north shore (raised wooden ledge which you ride on) was like riding on ice as the wood was wet.

Still I felt super confident on the bike course and passed a lot of participants, emerging near the front of the field after the 3k descent back down to transition.

I immediately gained another place on the run but then the rocky constant climb of old man made me give way to walking until it levelled out and we were running along a bridleway in the beautiful meadows of the mountains. It was the most spectacular run course I have ever done besides being the most brutal also!!

Then the run dropped so steeply down back to the finish you couldn’t run at full speed or your legs would end up going so fast you'd end up probably taking off and landing in a heap somewhere!

I finished the race and waited for Dave who appeared 15 minutes after me and looking a little weary. But he had done amazingly well for his first ever tri and I ran with him to the line.

I’d completed the tri in 2:46 minutes which was around my target time. Surprisingly I had finished 23 out of a field of 81 solo entries.

We celebrated with some Coniston fudge then spent the rest of the afternoon putting the tent down!

Results:

First Name	Last Name	Gender	Age	Number	Swim&T1	Bike	Swim&T1&Bike	Run	Finish	Position
Steve	Bilton	Male	31	8	0:37:39	1:26:55	2:04:34	0:41:21	2:45:55	23

Coast to Coast ride 2010 - Day 5 - "Proper Coast to Coast"

Sun 14^th – Day 5

A cold beautiful day dawned and it looked like the ride would end how it started. After a freezing start from the camping barn the hills were long, steep and immediately cooked me into a sweat.

Once I was at the top of the moors again I turned off the road and followed the double track along the ridge marvelling at the amazing scenery basked in the morning sunshine.

The North York Moors proved the most scenic and enjoyable single track part of the whole ride. I rode past an abandoned iron works (which I shouldn’t have) as I was enjoying the scenery so much I missed the turning.

After descending down the wrong way and checking the GPS I finally found the correct single track which was actually hidden in the moor scrub. Quite a lot of the track was rock slabs to provide a non boggy path across the moors. Unfortunately when the rock slabs finished this brought danger as I found myself catapulted over the handlebars as the front wheel dug into a rather deep boggy section. This resulted in a bit of a chuckle and a stinky mud logged glove.

After a long and bumpy downhill I left the moors and passed though several village and encountered a 33% gradient hill which climbed me up to sleighs moor. There had been a lot of big steep hills today which had surprised me somewhat.

Unfortunately the bridleway marked on the map didn’t exist so I finally found an alternative route down into the forest and managed to take a few wrong turns to find my way back to the road again.

It had clouded over again and it was all road riding as I screamed down the hill into robin hoods bay and the end of the ride. Cold, tired, relieved but missing a feeling of satisfaction I waited for Steve to kindly pick me up in the “chasing trails” work van.

This ride hadn’t given me the same buzz as the west country way. I don’t know why. It had been longer and harder and the scenery more dramatic. But it had only been around 2/3rds of the original route and about 30k’s of the ride had to be skipped.

But it certainly had been an adventure, cycling through the storm, making a decision to turn around on the first day, and finding alternative routes to complete the ride.

Daily Stats

Distance : 56km

Elevation gain : 1025m

Elevation loss : 1200m

Max Elevation : 400m

Min Elevation : 10m

Start Time : 10:00 AM

End Time : 3:50 PM

Total Time : 05:50

Riding Time : 04:16

Average speed : 13.1km/ph

Max speed : 72km/ph

Notes : 10k extra getting lost. Crossed out of north york moors

Coast to Coast ride 2010 - Day 4 - "Off road again"

Sat 13^th – Day 4

Sunny and very cold conditions greeted me again on day 4 of the ride. I spun left and right down country lanes following more or less the route that Steve had marked out on the map.

Leaving the dales I entered into the north York moors and immediately decided to go as offroad as possible. The ground condition was pretty good and I stopped for lunch with a fantastic view overlooking the valley.

Then the big hills came as I began to climb up to the top of Raisdale moor. The down into the valley was un-ridable and a number of walkers were quite surprised to see a cyclist pushing is bike down a mud ladened bridleway.

It was back up to the next moor via a lot of pushing through the forest. Once I’d reached the ridge the views were terrific and the different colours of the brown tussock grass swept the immediate landscape. This was finally the real coast to coast.

After following the ridge for a while I descended down the side of a steep field and arrived at Farndale camping barn. Unfortunately it turned out be a real dive of a place to stay with only a small wooden stove for heat and no insulation so it was basically a shell of a barn with some furniture and beds thrown in.

There was a family staying also so I got a lift to the pub and taught the boys how to play coin rugby after dinner.

Daily Stats

Distance : 70km

Elevation gain : 745

Elevation loss : 670

Max Elevation : 490m

Min Elevation : 50m

Start Time : 09:30 AM

End Time : 3:30 PM

Total Time : 06:00

Riding Time : 04:22

Average speed : 16km/ph

Max speed : 45km/ph

Notes : 4 k extra for going wrong way. Crossed into north york moors

Coast to Coast ride 2010 - Day 3 - "On my own"

Fri 12^th – Day 3

The wind howled all night. In the morning it revealed grey blustery skies but thankfully no rain. I had checked the weather report and decided that I would press on. The weather said the wind was dying out and the weather was going to improve over the next day.

I set off late morning and had replanned my route yet again. Since the bridleways were all waterlogged I decided to stick to an onroad cycling route to get to Richmond in the Yorkshire dales 70km’s away.

The wind was still quite blustery and I was blown up the scary A685 past Kirkby Stephen, along English country lanes and into the Yorkshire Dales national park.

The wind still made the conditions very cold, but I was keeping up an impressive average speed as I followed the twisting ribbon road through the beautiful and stark treeless moorlands of the dales.

The scenary would have been so much more beautiful if I wasn’t so cold. But the sun did come out in the afternoon and I did brave an off road excursion into Richmond which turned out to be a little gem of a bridetrack. After that it was a quick 5 mile ride through rush hour Richmond and down to the Brompton on Swale camping barn which turned out to be a gem of place, with a hot shower and tea on arrival from the owner.

Daily Stats

Distance : 73km

Elevation gain : ???

Elevation loss : ???

Max Elevation : 600m

Min Elevation : 90m

Start Time : 11:10 AM

End Time : 4:10 PM

Total Time : 05:00

Riding Time : 03:45

Average speed : 19.2km/ph

Max speed : 77km/ph

Notes : Crossed yorkshire dales. 1k extra

Coast to Coast ride 2010 - Day 2 - "The not so perfect storm"

Thursday 11^th – Day 2

The day was rainy and the wind was forecast for gale force later in the day. We cycled out 20k to the train station basically just down the coast from where we had started the previous day and caught the train to avoid the ice lake district passes.

This is where Steve and I split up, making a critical decision which would affect the rest of the trip.

I decided to take the train south and around to Windermere were I would ride about 20 miles/32k to get to the camping barn following mostly the original route that Steve had planned.

Steve went north and would take the train to Kikby Stephen which was just outside the lake district and had about a 5 mile ride riding back to meet me at the camping barn.

We set off and I was hopefully as the sun broke through the clouds that the weather might improve.

I got to my new start point at Staveley rail station and headed off east. I tried to detour through a bridle way but ended up getting quite lost as I ended up not being where I thought I was. In the end I ended up riding through a farmers field after loosing the poorly marked bridleway and found a promising road. After getting back on course I joined the sketchy A6 and followed this until the turnoff down into the valley on a track road.

By this stage it was getting quite grey and the wind had picked up quite considerably which was also driving the rain through my waterproofs.

Fortunately the wind was behind me so it buffered me through the valley dodging the huge puddles and I ended up crossing the M6 in the failing light.

I was back on the A road and the wind was now howling all around me driving the rain. I was literally blown along the back roads as twigs and branches were snapping all around me in the dark.

It was quite a scary moment and my concern for Steve was growing as he would have to be battling into the galeforce winds.

Thank the Lord the camping barn was well marked and I ended up following the signs and getting there wet cold tired but relieved to be out of the storm.

Steve was not at the camping barn much to my dismay. I had expected him to be there an hour before me. The farmer said he saw him on the road walking. I was about to go out and look for him when my phone managed to get some signal and a text came through from Steve saying the wind was too strong and he was on his way back home on the train.

I had no food for the evening but fortunately there were two climbers staying at the barn also and they took me down to the pub which was about 2 miles away. I was relieved to have some company and decided to see what the weather said tomorrow before I determined whether I would carry on the ride.

Daily Stats

Distance : 44km until speedo broke

Elevation gain : 615m

Elevation loss : 490m

Max Elevation : 400m

Min Elevation : 195m

Start Time : 9:10 AM

End Time : 5:30 PM

Total Time : 08:20

Riding Time : 03:45

Notes : 3 hours spent on train getting to Windermere.

Coast to Coast ride 2010 - Day 1 - "Calm before the storm"

Wed 10^th – Day 1

After a later than hoped for start Steve and I set out from the west coast of the Lake district at St Bee’s beachfront and headed into the hills of the lake district in search of big mountains to ascend and descend.

The day was an absolute cracker. Blue sky, sun but very cool crisp temperatures meant it was actually quite pleasant riding conditions.

We proceeded past famous Ennerdale water and began the ascent of black sail pass. This ended being less than enjoyable as it was to steep to ride up and at one stage we had to negotiate a rockband with bikes and packs. With ice everywhere it became risky putting your foot onto any damp rocks.

However we reached the top of the pass and descended down unfortunately having to walk a number of bits due to the snow and ice.

Steve came off half way down but mercifully no damage was done.

We reached the valley floor at around 4pm which was rather too late and began to go up the next mountain to get over the next pass.

We were stopped by a hiker who advised us conditions were treacherous, with snow up to our knees now frozen solid at the top. With no light left in the day and dropping temperatures we decided to not risk it and turned around and went back down to the B&B which was back in the tiny village at the bottom of the valley.

So still a mountain range away from where we should have been and rising winds forcast around exposed areas tomorrow we would have to make a change of plan to avoid the pass.

Daily Stats

Distance : 52km

Elevation gain : 920m

Elevation loss : 810m

Max Elevation : 580m

Min Elevation : 0m

Start Time : 10:10 AM

End Time : 5:30 PM

Total Time : 07:20

Riding Time : 04:10

Average speed : 12.5km/ph

Notes : 5k extra. Hiked over black sail pass.

Coast to Coast ride 2010 - "Fun times in the Lakes"

Tuesday 9th November

Had a car hired today and drove to Winlatter forest and rode the red single track there. The route took me high into the hills and I ended up cycling through fresh snow at the top. This was looking a bit ominous for things to come on the coast to coast.
After the cycle I potted around the lovely town of Keswick and drove up to check out the view from Skiddaw which looked over Keswick and Derwent water (lake). It was pretty windy at the lookout and the weather changed quickly as the cloud rolled in and the rain began to bite as I ran back to the car. Not before I’d had a chance to marvel at the views of the sun shooting dramatically through the clouds. The lake district was living up to its reputation for me for being one of the most stunning parts of Britan.
Steve from Scarbourgh joined me later that night in preparation for the start of the 5 day coast to coast tomorrow.

Coast to Coast ride 2010 - "Just trying to get there!!!"

Monday 8th November


I had booked this day as a holiday and got to London Euston train station to discover that my train had been cancelled. That was the start of a very long day as I waited an hour for the next train which I merciful managed to get on. But then it got worse as the train was delayed then connecting with the next train which was delayed and meant I missed the last train of the night which was to take me out to Whitehaven on the very western part of the north of England.
So they dumped us in a taxi and managed to squeeze me and my bike in! And I ended up getting to my B&B two hours after my original ETA.
What a mission of a day to get up to the lake district but I had arrived and I could finally relax and look forward to enjoying what the venue had to offer!

Westcountry Way MTB ride - Day 3

Day 3 - Horseford B&B to Tregonwell house B&B, Minehead

Distance - 83km (estimated), 73km (actual)

Total ascent - 1320m

Altitude at start - 210m

Altitude at finish - 0m

Estimated total riding time - 7:30

As you can see from the stats this is the longest day with the most elevation gain. Most of the distance was offroad also meaning more work.

I set off later than anticipated full of a traditional cooked english breakfast. I hadn't slept as well as I would have liked last night, being up and down all night for toilet breaks, trying to get comfortable on the bed then noting the rooster who announced the approaching morning.

The weather was glorious sunny and was already pretty warm when I set off at 9:45. The legs moaned and complained as I rejoined the main route, forcing a stop to stretch out against a field gate.

I crossed the busy A361 and passed through Knowstone about 1 hour later.

Then it was off the country lanes and onto the rough stuff as the route took me back through the forest, out through a farmers field before climbing up a technical rocky trail to the entrance of the smaller (but no less beautiful) Exmoor national park.

Then it became the case of scaring the sheep, dodging the big boulders and opening and closing a million gates. The route briefly followed the moors before descending into a forest and following a gurgling river up to a bridge made up of rock slabs called Tarr steps which was indeed a very popular spot for the bank holiday. In fact it was teeming with tourists and I fought my way over the bridge and got out quick.

Right after this my back wheel promptly dislodged from the bike. But since I was not really moving it was a quick fix and counting a blessing that this had not happened while I was moving at speed.

There was a boggy field to negotiate after with a brief moment trying to find the right way then a quick lunch stop at corners gate, before pressing on realising this indeed would be a long day.

This confirmed when I reached Exford and discovered the slow leak in my rear tyre had leaked to much air so it was a quick tube change and then straight up again to more Exford moors.

I opted to detour to the highest point in Exford which was well worth the reward, as the clear 360° panoramic views were well received. With a fun and bike breaking technical downhill, skipping around big rocks I gently dropping down another 200m of elevation loss.

Back down on lower ground there were several villages to pass through and a small river to cross. The book said to use the footbridge instead of risking a ride across. I didn't see a footbridge so risked a ride across only to get stuck and get wet feet and splash my precious maps. Once I had crossed I could see the footbridge only 20m upstream. Doh!

I knew in the back of my mind there was one big hill still to come before the long descent into Minehead and it didn't disappoint.

I cycled half of it then rounded a corner on the climb and saw the rest of the hill stretch into the distance like Jacobs ladder. At that point the legs gave out and it was a bike push to more level ground.

I stopped at Selworthy beacon, drunk in the views of the coastline with Wales in the distance, then headed down a sweeping descent which threatened carnage if one was distracted by the views of the harbour. The descent whisked me back amongst the trees then before I knew it I was back at sea level in the harbour of Minehead. 10 minutes later I was at the front door of the B&B, tired, ravenous, satisfied and still elated after the downhill section to finish the day. It hadn't been quite as painful as I had imagined.

After a wash I headed down to Weatherspoons for a cheap reload of carbs and some local cider before taking an evening wander around the waterfront. Day 3 done!

Westcountry Way MTB ride - Day 2

Day 2 - Bellever YHA to Horseford B&B, South Molton

Distance - 75km

Total ascent - 1050m

Altitude at start - 335m

Altitude at finish - 210m

Estimated total riding time - 5:55

After an annoying night in a dorm with a "thunder" snorer I downed a massive breakfast and hit the Dartmoor road to ominous grey skies, a sharp breeze and more adventures waiting to be had.

Flowering yellow and purple gorse bushes, shaggy sheep and more Dartmoor hills appeared before me on that nippy grey morning. After some paddock pedaling I mistook a private drive for a bridleway which resulted in 5 minutes of friendly banter with some locals and I was off again grinding up through more the Dartmoor farm fields.

I opted for a big road climb as opposed to a big offroad climb and spun my way to the highest point of Dartmoor at 500m.

With the wind blowing and temperature quite low I stood at a cross of tracks next to Hookney Tor stone boundary wall and debated which way I should go.

The compass came in handy and off I headed only to confirm with some oncoming fellow mountain bikers that I indeed should have gone through the gate just behind me. They were a God send as I probably would have descended down the wrong part of the mountain. So checking my speed on a fun steep singletrack descent to Shapely village I arrived with burning brakes and a grin as wide as the ocean.

Then the rough stuff turned into tame english lanes which consisted of some brutal short climbs through Changford. I was back offroad and hour or so later cycling above the spectacular Teigh valley with a big gorge dropping away to my right. Impressive views.

I crossed the A30 then the rain came, light at first then heavy as I huddled under a tree thankful for the waterproofs and pack cover.

Within 10 minutes it had blown past and I was off again with wind behind me and the sun shining. It was back onto some more bridleway as I continued the two moors crossing, stopping again to shelter from a longer and heavier squall shower. Then back on some brief singletrack of the Taka trail and I swept down a dark descent to Chulmleigh, opting for the shortcut and frowned as I cycled past a sign which read 25% gradient. And it was a steep final granny cog climb up another English lane, through a long dark tunnel of trees and then pressed on with screaming legs and behind to my next overnight stop at the Horseford B&B.

It was easy to find the B&B and only a 2k detour off the main route. I turned up and they knew immediately who I was. I guess it’s not common to arrive on a bike somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

Horseford B&B was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

It was a 1400's farm house, huge with old wooden beams everywhere, low doors and ceilings downstairs (people were shorter in those days). There was an original spiral staircase up to the first floor where I was staying. The kitchen was dominated by a huge solid wood table which could have seated 16 people.

Cilla had cooked that night for me as I had requested, so I sat down with the couple to enjoy a hearty helping of cottage pie and apple crumble.

There were 5 other guests staying in the B&B that night also. Four physio girls and a guy married to one of them who was training to be a minister at Oak hill bible college. I hit it off with him immediately. Everyone was very interested in my journey and why I was doing it so it had to be explained several times that I cycled up big hills and 75k today just for fun.

I also learnt that Horseford farm rescue wild ponies from Dartmoor that have been abused by their owners and try and make them manageable for people.

Westcountry Way MTB ride - Day 1

Day 1 - Plymouth to Bellever YHA in central Dartmoor national park.

Distance - 50km (estimated), 62km (actual)

Total ascent - 960m

Altitude at start - 0m (sea level)

Altitude at finish - 335m

Estimated total riding time - 5:45

The trip started not quite to plan. After a sleepless night at the anticipation of the upcoming ride I hauled myself and gear down to catch the 6:22am train.

My first meeting was with a Maori fellow from Wellington who had decided to cycle the Taka trail three days ago but had not booked any accommodation. Good luck I said, it’s a long weekend and everywhere will be full. Kiwi ingenuity and a nice smile works he said. I had spent the last month planning my trip so I didn't envy him trying to find a place to stay when tired and hungry.

Four and a half hours later I stepped out of the Plymouth main line rail station into a warm sunny summer’s day, but immediately there was a problem.

I had been diligent in replacing everything worn including my chain to reduce the chance of gear failure, but had failed to spot that the rear cassette was also badly worn. This meant that the new chain would not slot into the worn cogs so as a result the chain was skipping which meant peddling was impossible.

So I tried to find the bike shop listed in my ride book but it didn't exist anymore. Then it was off to find tourist information that was at the bottom of the hill. They then sent me back up the hill into town again and I finally located very well hidden bike shop and the student mechanic promptly identified the problem and replaced the rear cassette.

So finally I was ready to start. I returned to the information centre again and set off from the starting point which I though was Smeaton’s tower, but it wasn't.

After about half an hour of going round in circles I realised that I was in the wrong location and promptly located Smeaton’s tower (a lighthouse), took a photo and went.

It was now 13:45, about 2.5 hours after I had planned to start and I was quite worried that I would not make it to the hostel before dark as I had about 50km's to cover with quite a lot of up to get there.

So it was pedal to the metal. The first part of the ride followed the national cycle route 27 which took me back to my original starting point then followed a costal path around the Plymouth harbour before heading inland.

I promptly got lost trying to decide which maze of routes to follow, but then finally found the start of the west Devon way and pinned back the ears concise that I had lost more valuable time.

The west Devon way followed an old disused train line and it gently climbed to 100m altitude, occasionally busting out of the forest to pass over valleys with rivers and forest below.

With a steep granny cog climb over Clearbrook common I entered Dartmoor national park and promptly missed the critical turn. After about 3k I realised the error when I saw that I was heading back to Plymouth. Oh well I got a great view of my starting point and headed back up the road to take the correct turn.

Dartmoor was phenomenal. After a decent amount of road climbing, finally the proper offroad started as I climbed up a demanding rough bridleway to near Hartor Tor at 440m. On the way I had passed close to the filmset of the new Steven Spielberg movie which I wasn't allowed to know about but was invited to detour to have a look at. Unfortunately time didn't allow for detours so I continued.

The trail eventually flattened out onto beautiful almost silky smooth single track and I raced on stopping only to snap pictures of the marvellous views and Dartmoor ponies.

It was stunningly peaceful and beautiful in the Dartmoor moors. I saw a few people and several locals stopped me for a chat. I guess you don't see someone riding singletrack with a big pack on everyday.

I wisely avoided the "boggy" shortcut option and descended into Princetown in gusto and stopped to recharge energy levels.

The evening was beginning to set in so I hurried on to get stumped at a weird bridleway junction, but found the correct route and headed up for the hills again onto Dartmoor way technical singletrack stuff.

The book mentions you should check the river levels before attempting the preferred Dartmoor stepping stones routes via excellent technical singletrack. River levels looked ok to me despite the deluge of rain the area had had in the last week, so I decided to make an adventure out of the trip and took the preferred option.

Technical singletrack what the heck? What is this guy on who wrote the ride guide? It was about 50% un-ridable at best due to the amount of tree roots but at least the stepping stones were absolutely fine. I got lost again high on a field full of gorse, and began to panic that I wouldn't get a bed or meal at the hostel and called them to say I was an hour away and pre order dinner.

I quick found where I needed to go and bushwacked through the gorse back to the correct bridleway, crossed the river via more stepping stones, pushed my bike up another un-ridable track and to my relief found the fire road road which got me to the hostel in 5 minutes! I was closer than anticipated and ended up arriving at 17:15 just as dusk began to approach from the sky.

Relieved, hungry, tired, sore, I checked in. It had been a gruelling and nervous first day with a number of wrong turns, but I had seen some of the most beautiful countryside in England and was away from the bustle of London. A very action packed first day.