The Lake District 3 - Buttermere, Whinlatter, Newlands and Honister Passes

Heavy rain was forecast on the Thursday, and so it turned out as we woke to very heavy rain and strong winds, so we went out for a day in the car and almost got stuck in a mini flood.

The upshot of this was that I was really ready to do some serious riding on the Friday.... Amanda was feeling tired and did not want to cycle so she said that she would follow me round in the car, and take some photos and video footage (please see the base of this post), and provide any support along the way.

I planned a medium length route but it would take in the climbs of Whinlatter Pass, Newlands Pass (from the West) and Honister Pass (also from the west via climbing Whinlatter twice).

We drove to Brathwaite and this just gave me enough time to warm my legs up prior to the first climb of the day, Whinlatter Pass, which is rated in "Greatest Cycling Climbs" as 5/10. So it proved as this was a nice introductory climb with just one steep section and the greatest issue being the carpet of pine needles on the floor which reduced traction.

Once over the top though there was a nice long decent and a very picturesque ride towards Buttermere, which is where Newlands Pass begins.

I was really looking forward to cycling Newlands pass (rated 8/10) as the picture in the above mentioned book, it looks beautiful as the road clings to the sides of the mountain with the abyss to the left.

Before you get to this though, you have to contend with a 20% section immediately out of Buttemere, which takes you past a car park and then levels slightly onto the section that you see above. Lovely though this part of the climb is, you are being lulled into a false sense of security, as immediatley around the right hand bend at the top, is a 20% section with a couple of very steep corners. Once through these though, you are greeted at the top by the Moss Force waterfall which comes cascading down the mountainside right in front of you...

Note the knackered look!!

You really benefit from this climb though as the decent is the best that I did the whole week. Steep to start and then it just keeps going for around 5 miles......Loved it... and then punctured near the bottom, and my so called support vehicle was no where in sight until I'd finished pumping up my new inner tube!

I repaired, and then made the decision to turn around and go back up the climb from the other direction, which would also be into the wind, so being a long steady climb, it would be better training than to do Whinlatter again. It was and although hard work due to the steep section near the top, it was very gratifying and set me up for the decent and the short ride to the base of Honister Pass, which is described as "the most beautiful of the lakes passes" and rated at 9/10.

Again I loved this and for the first time I was so tired as I reached the last section of 20% I wanted to give up and stop....but I didn't and I'm so proud of myself for keeping going. This pass is lovely, although we visited it when the weather was quite grey, this wasn't a bad thing though as the traffic was virtually none existent.
This picture, shows me nearly at the top having just been through the slate gate that marked the entrance to the Honister Slate Mine....

....where we had hot soup, coffee and managed to spend over a hundred quid on a clock and chopping board for the kitchen - support vehicle caught me up here quick enough! They do look nice though.

 Check out the clip from the lakes by following this link, and don't forget to watch in HD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ8qOXabXuM

Nobody was surprised when the weather the following day was the best of the week as we packed up the car and headed back home. A great week and hope to be back before too long.