A slightly faster downhill track

Still bringing together some footage together for an edited video. Until I have that done, here is some more Lake District helmet cam footage, this time of a slightly faster downhill.

Some raw helmet cam footage from our Lake District trail

Here is some unedited footage from one of the downhills along the Lake District trail we did over the Easter break. Am in the process of editing some 16 GB of footage and will post it as soon as it's done (and when we have picked the right music to go along with it... ;-)

The four day mountain bike trail in the Lake District is behind us now. Of the four days, three were sunny with clear blue skies, and we had one overcast day with a couple of hours of rain. Overall much better than we had bargained for, considering this is the north of England. We cycled an aggregate 220 kilometers, but am unsure of the cumulative climb. Frans brought his brand new Suunto GPS along, but left the manual at home. One thing´s for sure, we climbed a helluvalot!



As you can see from these two little youtube clips the scenery in The Lake District is amazing. The weather made a difference I am sure, but we did pass through some fantastic bits of England. I guess one of the nice things of mountain biking is that you pass through some countryside that you would normally never get to .



So now all we need is the footage of he helmet cam, which I will put on here (if it´s any good..,-)

hasta la próxima
Douwe

We just arrived in Ravenglass, after 80 kilometers with significant climbs

As you can see from above photo we are on the coast, and we arrived in Ravensglass. 80 kilometers in our legs, and I can honestly say that I am knackered. Especially the rather long 25% climb was tough.

Our guesthouse for tonight is stategically situated beside the local ale house. More tomorrow, on our last day of cycling back to Windermere.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Third day on the trail

We left Keswick a little later today, perhaps not great planning as today we have a 70 km track ahead of us. We'll see. We just arrived in Borrowdale and stopped for some tea and scones. We figured it would be a good idea to mentally prepare for the 25% climb we will have in a few km's from here.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Second day completed, we are in Keswick

So after lunch we climbed up the hills surrounding Keswick, also our destination for today. On the main road it was only about 4 miles to town from our lunch pub. Our mountain trail was at least triple that, with some tough climbs and awesome downhills.

The last bit of today's track was amazing, with steep drops on our left and some skill required not to fall down semi ravines. All grat fun and we shot some amazing helmet cam footage soon to feature here.

The George pub in Keswick is our target now, real ales and some hearty food after a sunny day.

Above postcard was too funny to leave behind, it's become our motto of this trip, we hwve been lost on occasion ;)

great trail on the second day

today's route started beautifully, with a fairly long 20 % climb out of Pooley Bridge. On above photo you can see Frans sweating towards the end of one of these ascends.

Unfortunately we descended a bit to far at one point towards Ulswater lake. Luckily we found a great cafe with a terrace, for some coffee before heading back up.

Following some more climbing we were awarded with an amazing downhill all the way to Threlkeld, where we found a great pub with a beergarden for lunch. Thqt is where are resting now, about to set off for the last leg of today's trail. We are expecting some difficult and technically challenging single tracks. We'll see.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

we kicked off our Lake District mtb trail

We are on the trail, let me tell you: I have fallen in love with the Lake District. How beautiful, some of the most spectacular terrain I have cycled in for a long time.

Today we cycled from Windermere to Pooley Bridge, and we had to cross a particularly tough mountain. The climb involved some walking, and the descent was very technical. The attached photo is a view from the top of that dreaded hill. All in all we pedalled about 45 kilometers, unsure of the cumulitive ascend. Judging by the state of our legs it was plenty.

Off to find a pub for a good pint of bitter and some grub. Tomorrow's trail will be easier, we'll see ;)

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Lake District 4 day loop 2011

It has been a while since I last posted any mountain bike action on this blog, in fact it has been a while that we set out for some serious MTB action. We moved to the UK, so many of the new posts will be more UK centric, such as this one. Finally, next week we´ll be off to the Lake District to cycle a 4 day loop of some of England´s most beautiful terrain.

Our trail will start in Windermere, with a first leg to Pooley Bridge. From Pooley Bridge we will continue the next day on to Keswick. The third day will take us to Ravenglass, and on the fourth day we will cycle back to Windermere.



On our previous excursions we usually brought our luggage along with us, but this year we decided to include a sherpa service. In other words, our luggage will be delivered from B&B to B&B. As middle age is clearly creeping up on us, we opted for this little luxury. Besides, it will leave us to engage full heartedly in many of the spectacular downhills we will do. The tracks are supposed to be amazing. Expect some nice footage to be published here soon, as Frans will bring his helmet cam. There will be four of us next week, Frans, Jeroen, Marco and I.

More news from the trail next week.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe