Summer Jennride 2025 21st June(Summer Solstice)

[whitestone]

Well that forecast had, shall we say, a passing resemblance to reality thunderstorms on Sat night with localised flooding. Dull and patchy rain this morning.

Saw Rich as I was driving through Ambleside, he said a few had had an “interesting “ night.

[ton]

some boners on jennride after refreshments at the ODG.

[Johnallan]

Top weekend as always. Thanks again Rich! And everyone else involved, including all the riders that make it what it is

[fatbikerbill]

What a fabulous weekend. That was the best weekend's riding in the lakes I have done. I did the gravel route obviously!

Sadly I had two breakages. My rear mech smashed a rock, fortunately at the highest point of green quarter fell.

The other was near total catastrophe. Trying to hide from the rain under my tarp I shuffled backwards and broke one of my bearbones poles. Luckily I also have the carbon extender so managed to bodge a repair.

Stu, if you see this. Do I need to order a new set or could I post the broken set and you replace the broken one?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/KXfW8Tv1gLPXnYcM8



Apologies struggling to upload the photo.

[Al]

Had a great weekend, definitely a tough one. Not sure id want to repeat that hike a bike up the side of kepple cove.
Saw a few familiar faces and managed to get the tents up before the proper storms hit.

[padonbike]

Jenn Ride Part A, Saturday:
Routine semi-tough MTB bike riding - which I came psyched up for. However hard the terrain was, I was good for a 90km day to the ODG. I took the forecast of 30°C seriously and hydrated carefully on the Friday night with an optimum 4 pints of ale. The Glenridding Youth Hostel track to the shoulder of Helvellyn (800+m SLM) was - surprisingly - 80% rideable.
Richard Munro's route to ODG in Great Langdale was excellent. I got there at 6pm.
Then, just when you're sitting down at the pub after a longish day, you realise that you lost your phone somewhere back on route, most likely at the top of the last pass.
On the grapevine, you hear from an incoming rider that two girls hiking towards Borrowdale have picked it up!

Saturday Part B:
So, not much choice but to head off back over the Stake Pass that you've only just pushed the bike over, chasing after them.
My cash card was with my phone, so not like I could sit at the ODG and drown my sorrows anyway. I finally found them just before Borrowdale, by which point I'd done 2 extra hours hard after already being quite tired. Inhaled a quick pint and a bag of crisps at the pub in Stonethwaite, briefly met some Bearboners, then crashed out at Borrowdale, cooked my noodles, (which I was fortunately carrying), then got in the Alpkit Soloist tent by 2130 before some serious thunder and lightning started.

Sunday Part C:
Not technically the Jenn Ride as I was now something like 10 very difficult kilometres off route.
Woke at 6am, just wanting to get over to Ambleside as soon as possible to rejoin the last part of the route.
It was too windy to light my stove so I just had some water and a couple of cereal bars for breakfast.... something that would quickly come back to haunt me as I suffered from sub zero blood sugar within a couple of hours of interminable bike pushing.
Saw a hikers sign saying, "Grasmere 8 miles", so I set off following it.
It turned out to be a really nasty HAB over Greenup Edge, which rivals stuff I've done in Fisherfield, the Tollie path and the Postie path: truly gruesome, especially as I woke up pretty tired and unrecovered from the day before.
Finally made it Alpkit Ambleside to meet up with other riders and devour the food and coffee that the nice people at the shop had laid on for the event.
My spirits really went skywards at Ambleside once I had some food and chatted with the staff and other riders and, instead of going directly back by road, I was able to contemplate the final 20km of the route.

Sunday Part D:
At Alpkit Ambleside I met up with Valerio, un fiorentino simpatico, who has lived in Manchester for ten years and totally embraces this crazy British bikepacking thing, so much so that he is the organiser of Tor Divide.
It was great just riding back with him and chatting, especially as just a few hours earlier, heading slowly up to Greenup Edge, I had felt like the most forlorn and forsaken human being imaginable (I do have a penchant for the melodramatic at times!)
So, it's officially a DNF, notwithstanding the fact that my deviant phone-recuperating route may have ended up being more demanding.
The perfect excuse to return next year then……

[ton]

@padonbike

oh heck mate. we wondered who it was who lost his phone. we were at the ODG when someone came to Rich and mentioned it.
myself, i would have phoned home, and told them to ring my phone, and asked the finder to post it later,
i for one would have bought you a couple of pints man.
good effort tho. hats off.

[postierich]

511195167_10163696753146474_6901954754344915928_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
511081093_10163696753851474_8835356057277389606_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
510597829_10163696753591474_4239049282642224613_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
510422536_10163685817371474_8387619870012147256_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
510440452_10163685817331474_98092004713829118_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
509436619_10163685818116474_8880682922518321849_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
510353074_10163685818396474_2878004592403739216_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
510402225_10237311501156248_8084372745896814638_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
509607061_10237311504316327_5907890892932870060_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
502594145_10163683889226474_2055177695037558377_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
510383684_10163683891326474_8123745485287460143_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
509437671_10163683891666474_5937968633326620487_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
509434501_10163681285661474_152800243421912902_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr
508821055_10163669981941474_3797845291112062357_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr

[In Reverse]

@padonbike - we were the Boners you met when you got back to the pub in Rosthwaite. We got a room when the weather started.

Shouldn't laugh at your Sunday travails but

[Valerio]

Thanks Rich for a fantastic route, I kissed more rocks and bogs than I'd have liked but I was after the views, big climbs and gnarly trails and I got exactly what I was after.

It was great meeting so many people from this forum, including Filippo aka @padonbike, it's such a small world!!!

[padonbike]

@padonbike

oh heck mate. we wondered who it was who lost his phone. we were at the ODG when someone came to Rich and mentioned it.
myself, i would have phoned home, and told them to ring my phone, and asked the finder to post it later,
i for one would have bought you a couple of pints man.
good effort tho. hats off.

Thanks for the good vibes......I'll take you up on a pint or two at a later date, maybe the Winter Jenn ride
I always ride in the wilds with my phone on airplane; some guys from Hamsterley Trailblazers offered to ring it too, but to be honest even if it wasn't on airplane I don't think there was netwrok in the valley to Borrowdale.
For the record: I did have a fab weekend.