21st January 2016 - Clappersgate for Claiffe

Parking bay was not under water so bonus ;) it was raining a bit, did not put off the hard core crew and as it happened we were all riding different MTBs, 26 sus' Charlie, 26 Fat Joel, 650 hardtail Andrew, 650 sus' George, 29er sus Jamie and 29er HT CT. Disna' matter what bike you have 'just get out and ride' :)
So head out up the new trailway along the road and through Pull wood and onto the other path towards Wray, onto base camp and up the bridleway into Claiffe, needed some effort to climb with the wet ground and also the odd bit of snow for JP to ride fat! Through Long Height and ride usual route to Sawrey, up road to Far Sawrey, pit stop to change brake pads (JB) and sample some of Charlies sticky flap-snack :) Then back into Claiffe for the descent down to the lake side, virtually stopped raining, that's just a mist (a bit foggy in places for head-lamps, especially on cold road sections). Along the lake shore, up into the woods again and over to the guide posts for the descent to Colthouse lane and then right and back to cars. NB: JB was not on spikes and it's much quieter, but Charlie was and made up for it. The flap-snack was needed and some folk popped some gels, virtually 25 KM! so a good ride and JP on fat wednesday managed to clean a few climbs. Back to cars after 10pm no pub stop home for a cuppa tea!
Next ride Troutbeck.

No night time photos, so a blast from the past, the Pyrenees dreaming of summer:

View from Col d' Aspin

Sunflowers!