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

Critical Mass in Madrid- BiciCritica

Today a special edition of BiciCritica, Madrid´s version of Critical Mass, was organized. Essentially a large mob on bicycles that take the streets of the city centre, today some 3000 strong.



The weather was amazing and at around 18:30 we pushed off from Cibeles, first in direction Neptune for a u-turn again in direction Cibeles and following that toward the north to Plaza Castilla. The police were trying to guide all as much as they could, and really only succeeded at the front of the mass.



It was awesome to take the major thoroughfares of this wonderful city, and we soon filled the entire width of the Castellana, hardly a narrow backstreet. Some of the motorists, who had no choice but to wait, were a little peeved. The majority took it well through and were in awe of the sheer number of bikes passing by.

Prior to pushing off I was interviewed by the TV station Cuatro, for a nine o´clock news section. Checking it out later on I noticed they had reduced my contribution to the mere "Soy de Holanda.." (I am from Holland)...:-) Below some video footage of my own of parts of the BiciCritica.





Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Camino credentials ready, good to go

We just picked up our credentials for the Camino. This is essentially the booklet you fill up with stamps on your way to Santiago. It is required to demonstrate the minimum number of kilometers such that you can qualify for the Compostela, the proof and official document. For cyclists the minimum is 200, and we will do about 700 so no problem there.

This time I will claim to have done the Camino for pure religous reasons. This in order to receive the niver caligraphy version with my name translated into Latin.

Let the fun begin, only a couple of weeks until we embark on the Camino del Norte.

Hasta la próxima.
Douwe

Pedriza on a wonderful sunny April day, with a twist

Yesterday, Sunday 25 April the sun was out and it felt more like summer than spring. We headed out to La Pedriza in Manzanares for an MTB trail in the afternoon.



The climb was tough as usual, and as we were approaching the top a few dark clouds were gathering around the peaks. It looked a little ominous and from experience we know that the weather in these parts can turn quite quickly and become real nasty in a matter of minutes. The only reason for us to choose an alternative route, was the thunder and lightning that we saw approaching from the north-face of the mountain.


So we descended using a route we had not taken before. It took us right through the pine forest on the southern side of the mountain, taking us right back to the Manzanares valley. Yet again an amazing trail, and certainly great for training as we are approaching the Camino del Norte in May.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe