28th November 2013 - Ings for Robin lane

5 turned up at Ings, George, Joel, Grant, Jamie and CT, but Jamie was on his skinny wheeled 29er, only good for the road so he rode with us up to the Dubbs track then he turned for home, a hot bath and hot food, we were only just warming up! A nice warm up is Dubbs, then turn left at Garburn track, then enjoy the downhill all the way to the road, just watch out at as the leaves fill the gullies and can catch you out. A quick road section into the village of Troutbeck and up Robin lane,  first flapjack stop (with some gingerbread:) then continue along heading to Jenkins crag. The conditions were pretty good, no wind, no rain and nicely warmed up so enjoy the testing descent, so where to now we discussed at the bottom, either a road section or back up for an alternative choice...we went back up the rocky section, then you can ride up the left hand side or walk the right, someone made the right choice and went left and cleaned the climb! Now second flapjack stop, the more technical challenges and a blast back down Robin lane (a bit of wind chill), down the usual narrow track to the church and then up through Limefitt, approaching the steps past the caravans we realised Jamie was not here so who would go for the challenge..actually the steps are ideal for a Niner ;) onwards and upwards to Garburn, then left up Garburn to the Dubbs track, nice and steady. Enjoy the blast down Dubbs and back to the road, now more wind chill and very cold on the last section before the cars and there was actually ice on the cars, it was freezing! A great ride on a starry evening. Next ride TBA.

21st November 2013 - Gilpin for Whitbarrow

3 made it out for this cold winters night, Jamie, George and CT; chilly in the wind so no standing about, better once warmed up and out of the wind. Head off down the Lyth Valley road and take the bridleway opposite Lyth valley hotel for a testing first climb (Row Road onto Back lane), then right along the track (Whitbarrow road), then we find a fallen tree across the track and just this once JB had forgotten his folding saw...so we climbed over :( and carried on, down past fell edge wood, past the re-built house and down their drive watch out for the sheep! Left onto the road and head down the road to the next 'muddy' route, high low wood and it was not too muddy, it has been worse and it was ridable ;) mostly. The across to the wood, a quick snack and ride through the woods to enjoy the descent, we tried the tricky route and it's ace trying to ride the very steep section, say no more! Back via the Greendale wood, watch the autumn leaves for a nice run to finish, back to the cars. Next ride is Lowick, updated, now meet at Ings.

Saturday 16th November - Staveley for skills session by TrailHum - Kendal Mountain Festival weekend

As part of the Kendal Mountain Festival TrailHum were offering some free skills coaching and a few of us booked in. Neil, Joel and CT, we met up at Staveley Mill Yard and there were 12 folk in all including some family groups, we split into 2 groups taken by John and Ewen, the three of us went with Ewen and headed up 3 rivers. Ewen asked us what skills we wanted to look at and covered balance, weight distribution, braking and cornering, we were going to try for manual for Neil, but ran out of time, due to punctures....Lesson#1 when changing from tubeless set-up due to a split tyre CHECK the old tyre for thorns ('cause with sealant thorns are sealed) BUT when adding a new inner tube the thorn makes a new hole!!! I am not saying who this happened to in the group...Cornering was the main lesson for me, so just have to practice and practice, so watch out the next ride we are out.
See a few photos of our experience and also of the bike night at Kendal mountain festival, a good night hosted by Ed Oxley (see his web site for video link) and also here for the Not Bad trailer. Some of the films have mad skills, so potential for Thursday evenings!

Ed Oxley and Steve Peat at Kendal Mountain Festival

CT down the bottom of 3 rivers

JP nailing the rock drop!

14th November 2013 - Farleton from Milnthorpe

Grant, Neil, Jamie and CT met up in Milnthorpe for a little pootle to Farleton, it was cool so layer up and then head out along the lanes, skirt Holme then past the farm and up the bridleway. Along the way we noticed Grants rear wheel was pringled, a spoke had snapped, so he took it easy no big drop offs. The bridleway heads up a rock strewn track which offers a good climbing test (even Grants wheel made it up), then along the track and follow through two gates to the fell, then tee off left and enjoy the trail. A good skills test, so CT fell over:) keep your eyes on the trail. The evening warmed up with the riding, then back down the climb, enjoy! A nice road ride back to warm down, chat, home to wash mud off. Next ride Whitbarrow.

7th November 2013 - Troutbeck

This was going to be a ride of two, Grant and Neil but Grant 'convinced' JP to head out into a wet and chilly night. So three headed off from the church for a short ride, up through Limefitt and on to Garburn. The discussion was that up was good so we headed up and over to Dubbs. At Moor Howe we passed a group of other riders, there was a girl in there somewhere, identified only by the hello's as the lights were to bright to see clearly. From here we headed back towards Troutbeck and up Longmire, down to The Howe and back to the road. Heading across the field to Town end the ground was soggy after all the recent rain, at the road we headed up Robin Lane and back down to the road, down through Town End and then the bridleway to the church where Grant chased a badger, or was it a badger chasing Grant? 

Next ride: Milnthorpe for Farelton

Saturday 2nd November 2013 - Gisburn

So this is now Thursdays ride! but folk wanted somewhere different and Gisburn it is, Joel, Grant, Jamie and CT met up at the hub in Gisburn forest nice and early. The forecast says dry-ish to start, damp later, JPs car said 2 deg cold early on, but no rain so game on. First test the skills loop, then off for the red route, downhill to start with great sweeping berms, then single track in trees and away you go, see map here http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/Gisburn-Forest-map-web.pdf/$FILE/Gisburn-Forest-map-web.pdf or web site here http://www.forestry.gov.uk/gisburn.
Not sure how much to say but a good ride, varied singletrack, with rocks and some board-walk and they use cut trees not manicured decking so it's not too bad. We got all the way back to the hope line for Jamie and Grant to have a go and it started to rain, CT took some phone pics and JP rested, then back for the last pieces of the red trail, with CT having to stop in the rain and pump up a slow tubeless flat (somehow some air escaped during some radical riding;) Back to the cars for coffee and cake, then those heated heats for the ride home, cheers JP. Next Thursday ride will be from Troutbeck; with an updated ride list to follow.
Here are some pictures:

31st October 2013 - Halloween ride Sedbergh

OK so 3 hardy soles, Joel, George and Jamie ventured out to prove they weren't scared on Halloween night...but no one factored in the weather, damp and windy with lots of water on the roads not tempting, no amount of encouragement could entice anyone out, must be those heated seats making staying in the car the best option; not even a pub visit, so back home they went with the view to re-schedule to Saturday. See next blog....