SMTBE Day 2 The Epic – 40km 1050m (Strava Estimate)
We awake on Day 2 to glorious sunshine, a full English and lots of tea and coffee. After much faffing, Andy decided more was needed and swap wheels before we all set off on our adventure over to Staveley.
A couple of km’s on the road to warms up the legs before we hit the trial with the first (and last) gradual climb over some fairly boggy terrain. A short decent brings us down to a river crossing. In true roadie style (Craige) bottles it and takes the bridge, while the rest of us geezers take to torrents and forge our way through. Big grins and wet feet were found on the other side, however the grins where short lived when we soon came across our first taste of bike hiking.
For what felt like an eternity, with the exception maybe of Dave ‘the mountain goat’ Bates and Charlie, we all made our way up 800m of climbing to the top of the first peak overlooking the southern end of Haweswater Reservoir. Some pretty amazing views set the backdrop to an awesome decent with some steep, rocky and technical sections that you’d never find in a trial centre. Everyone made it down safely with no major spills, so Andy topped it off with a 180 spin right at the very end when braking for the gate.
A short pedal around the end of Haweswater brought us to our break for a nibble on our packed lunches and a spot of sunbathing. This was (unknown at the time) the calm before the storm, as we then started our second major climb and some tough bike hiking up 1300m. A small stone shelter at the top set the scene perfectly for a recital by Rob of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
We continued to make our way down and past Kentmere Reservoir before ending up back on the road. A little pedal along through Kentmere and we start another small climb to finish the day with nice decent down what is known as 3 rivers. Fortunately no bike hiking was required but a fun and fast decent awaiting which took in 3 river crossings before bringing us down into Staveley and a visit to the Hawkshead Brewery, few pints and a mooch around Wheel Base bike shop.
After filling bladders (the Camelbak variety) with beer we made the our way over the last couple of miles to our glamping ground and a neighbouring group of lasses on what can only be described as the worlds lamest Hen Party. A 5 star BBQ and fire pit compliments of Charlie and his GF topped off what can only be described as a truly epic adventure, with some tough but very rewarding riding – what an amazing day.
By Stuart Fisher