So with a midday(ish) start I headed north along lanes before turning east to pick up the route itself in Burneside. The route gets to Shap summit via a series of back lanes, some the really old type with a strip of grass down the middle. The main problem, for me at least, was that they were all pretty enclosed so no wind to cool me off. By the time I was pushing up the grassy bridleway to the summit I was baked
Fortunately there was a breeze on top.
Then it's the first rideable bit of off-road, a gravel track that sort of parallels the A6. I think I took a wrong turn somewhere as I ended up back on the main road rather than go round the back of the quarry. Hey ho... You'd be on the road for a short while anyway before turning off towards Wetsleddale dam (think of the cottage in Withnail and I - it's that area) before following a curious concrete road which is probably the old access road when they built Haweswater dam way back when. Not in good condition though and some of the holes would be more than interesting in the dark.
After a cafe stop in Askham it was up onto the common and the stone circle. There were a couple of bikepackers heading up from Pooley Bridge, on the Lakeland 200 perhaps?
Then it was down one of the main descents of the route, not too bad despite the warnings on bikepacking.com. More refreshments in Pooley Bridge before back lanes headed up to the Old Coach Road. I was pretty goosed now with the heat and had to walk a few of the road climbs to avoid cramps. I found a good bivy spot by some sheep pens about halfway along the coach road.
The morning view of my pitch.
A rubbly descent into St John's in the Vale, glad I didn't get this far the previous night as it was pretty nippy in the valleys. You can avoid most of the worst of the loose stuff on the final bit by careful use of quad bike tracks and old quarry inclines
Then on to Castlerigg stone circle.
Easy riding along the west side of Thirlmere then led to Grasmere. The "rockfall" that shut the road for a period just happens to be beyond all the United Utility pay & display car parks. Coincidence? surely not! I mean denying shareholders extra dividend by actually delivering something useful is a bit much to ask. I was a bit early in Grasmere so had to wait a while for the cafes to open. Now on familiar territory from the Jenn rides and others around Rydal, Ambleside and Clappersgate to get to the track along the shore of Windermere. It was warming up again despite a lot of the riding being under trees. Another cafe stop just before the ferry terminal.
I had to wait for the ferry and once across I decided to short cut the final bits of track above Winster, probably only 2km shorter in the end, and headed back to my brother's. The final climb to the farm was a real slog by now. Got back about 25hrs after leaving but there was only about 11hrs of actual riding - four cafe stops might have contributed to that!
A nice route, I just wish I'd chosen some cooler days.
