The Lake District 1 - Hardknott, Wrynose and Birker Fell

I have been to the Lakes District a few times, most notably, after we got married. This was only for a couple of days though, and it was for a different purpose that we headed North with the bikes on the back of the car and on to a small cottage near Windermere.

I had studied a great deal of info on the passes in the area that I wanted to do and decided that if time and weather allowed, I would try and cycle the Hardknott, Wrynose, Kirkstone, Whinlatter, Honister and Newlands passes (rated 10/10, 10/10, 7/10, 5/10, 9/10 and 8/10 respectively in "the book"). This would of course be tricky as I only had five days, and the weather in the Lake District can be wet to say the least.

We woke on the Tuesday morning to rain - no surprises there - but the forecast did give some reason for optimism as the day wore on.
Having planned three different routes, myself and Amanda debated which of the rides we should do first. After a while we thought that we would start with the hardest and then at least we could get it out of the way.... So Hardknott it was.
As we set off to the start point the rain increased and with it our plans changed accordingly - we decided to drive over Wrynose Pass from the east (the harder side) and then carried on over to Harknott and drove over that, also from the east which is debatably the easier side.
Once the terrifying drive was over ( I have never driven a road where I have had to go down as well as up in 1st gear), we decided to park at Dalegarth Station which sits half way between Eskdale Green and the beginning of Hardknott Pass. Despite the station being closed since it was out of season, we got our gear off and as we did the rain relented and we headed west for the four(ish) mile warm to the base of Hardknott Pass. What I like about this though is the fact that you can see the pass ahead at this stage. No hard sections hiding behind a corner where you can't see it. No it is all laid out directly in front of you, as if to say "Come then if you think you hard enough"



Here is a picture of the two of us at the famous red telephone box that marks the start of the climb....it has clearly seen much better days.

Much has been written about this remarkable piece of road and it is true to say that it is a very hard road to describe to someone that has not been there. Certainly, it is not like anything that I have ever seen before.

You set off from the phone box above, over a bridge and into a small wooded section. The road is already starting to steepen as it goes over a cattle grid and past a small car park, and this is where things start to really get tricky, as the gradient now increases to 20%. Next two 25% hairpin bends rear up in front of you and if you weren't out of your saddle, you will be now. This section is really punishing and I stopped at the top of here briefly to take a photo or two. You can just make out Amanda at the bottom of the screen - pushing already.

Looking back down towards Eskdale Green

Looking up the next section

Sorry this is so poor but it comes from my phone.This is taken from the top of the first steep section.

If you can get through this bit the road levels out (relatively to a very gentle 10% ish) but this section is very important as the finishing section is so steep, it is all you can do to stay upright. Amanda took the camera as I headed off towards two 30% hairpin bends the first of which is a left hander and is so severe that the cars' tyres have caused the surface to ripple where they have turned so sharply.

This short clip is taken from the top of the second (and steepest) section and shows the severity of the pitch.

If you can get through this then you have done very well and once through the second bend, the worst is out the way and although it is still very steep to the top, it is nothing like as tough. There is a slight sting in the tale though as a few false flats kid you as to where the top is so you are as well not to go too hard at this section as you could well undo all your good work.
I waited at the top for Amanda who duly arrived on foot and as I then hung on tight for the decent, which is a nerve jangling, full on-test of braking, concentration, arm strength and the abilty to keep your weight as far back as possible. It's a shame really as you deserve to be able to let the bike go after your monumental effort of the climb. Amanda got full value for her walk up by also walking down - saying "it was just too steep"
Once at the bottom we turned left towards the Westerly ascent of Wrynose Pass.... Another fearsome climb from the East but much less severe from this side.
By the time we got to the bottom of Wrynose the rain had started again and the route now took us back past Coniston water towards Tover.
We thought that the major climbing was complete only to find another climb coming out of Lower Hawthwaite, and then turning right at Ulpha we saw a wall of road and a 25% gradient sign. When you are cold, wet and tired this is a massive slap to your morale, but we hauled ourselves up, first this and then Birker Fell and enjoyed the beautiful long decent down towards Eskdale Green and the long flat finishing stretch towards the car park.
We arrived soaking wet and ended up getting changed underneath the kids' slide in a Wendy house, as it was the only dry place around that we could get into.
It was a great day ... full of triumph and really hard cycling.... and a red hot bath to soak to limbs in before doing it all again the next day.

You can see the route on MapMyRide here http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-kingdom/-eskdale,-the-lake-district/383129051036182489