Threlkeld 9.4.22.

[The Hodge]

10.00am meet at the car park nr.the Village Centre...on the road that leads to Blencathra Field Centre..any later and we would be struggling for a parking space ...

A few touch points of the route itself ..
Blencathra Visitor Centre
Skiddaw House (YHA)
Mosedale
Calebreck mining track to bridleway on
Fellside Brow
Fellside
Road to Holborn
Mining track to Longlands
Road ( Cumbria Way ) to track on left opposite and just beyond Peter House Farm .
Track ( very steep climb ) up to Whitewater Dash ( Waterfall)
Continue on track back to Skiddaw House ( YHA) ..
return on outward leg ..
There is an alternative return which is excellent but would depend on the amount of battery range ..and also a very sketchy traverse on some rocks on the side of Lonscale Fell where a slip would result in death ( or worse !) .
I've never tackled this section with a heavy ebike but it's hard enough with the weight of a normal mtb ..
Get your O.S Landranger out for a look..
So far only "Possibles " ..but hope to firm things up towards the end of the week ..
Anyone else ..?

 

[The EMF]

10.00am meet at the car park nr.the Village Centre...on the road that leads to Blencathra Field Centre..any later and we would be struggling for a parking space ...

A few touch points of the route itself ..
Blencathra Visitor Centre
Skiddaw House (YHA)
Mosedale
Calebreck mining track to bridleway on
Fellside Brow
Fellside
Road to Holborn
Mining track to Longlands
Road ( Cumbria Way ) to track on left opposite and just beyond Peter House Farm .
Track ( very steep climb ) up to Whitewater Dash ( Waterfall)
Continue on track back to Skiddaw House ( YHA) ..
return on outward leg ..
There is an alternative return which is excellent but would depend on the amount of battery range ..and also a very sketchy traverse on some rocks on the side of Lonscale Fell where a slip would result in death ( or worse !) .
I've never tackled this section with a heavy ebike but it's hard enough with the weight of a normal mtb ..
Get your O.S Landranger out for a look..
So far only "Possibles " ..but hope to firm things up towards the end of the week ..
Anyone else ..?
View attachment 85357

Can’t do this jaunt this weekend my friend….not out at all over weekend due to family commitments..
Look forward to riding it later on in the year if it happens

 

[The Hodge]

No problem Wayne..cant put this off any longer as I've been itching to do it for a while ..( solo if need be ) ..

 

[Geordy paul]

If there’s room for a slow one ? then I will try and make this one.
I’ve ridden around Skiddaw a few times but not done the track from Mosedale before.
So some new ground for me there.
What sort of mileage do you reckon it is? In my head I’ve got that at close to 30 miles so a two battery ride for me.

 

[The Hodge]

Hi Paul ..the more the merrier ..but as things stand there is just the two of us at the moment ..
I've got the mileage closer to 25miles but that is only a rough guesstimate..
I'll get back to you again on Friday ..

 

[philmedomsley]

One of my favourite rides. Weather looks good for Saturday. Managed to complete the ride with a couple of bars to spare last summer.
The Lonscale Fell/Latrigg and back along the railway path is a great way to finish the route. Or cut short by cutting down to Brundholme.

 

[The Hodge]

One of my favourite rides. Weather looks good for Saturday. Managed to complete the ride with a couple of bars to spare last summer.
The Lonscale Fell/Latrigg and back along the railway path is a great way to finish the route. Or cut short by cutting down to Brundholme.
View attachment 85564

Yeah Phil ..that is the bit I alluded to with regard to being slightly dangerous ( Lonscale ) ..did you finish on that section last summer ?

 

[philmedomsley]

Hi Neil, rode that section three times last year. Rode feet up once in the dry failed twice in the damp. Only ever managed to ride it feet up once in the past thirty years on a non ebike.(I was in my 20's riding an emmelle) I find it easier on the ebike due to the wide tyres.

 

[Cebeem]

Can’t do this jaunt this weekend my friend….not out at all over weekend due to family commitments..
Look forward to riding it later on in the year if it happens

Hi Paul ..the more the merrier ..but as things stand there is just the two of us at the moment ..
I've got the mileage closer to 25miles but that is only a rough guesstimate..
I'll get back to you again on Friday ..

sorry Neil but not too far for me to do this weekend Sure we have done the finish bit before as with my fear of heights / imminent possibility of death I tend not to forget these routes

 

[Cebeem]

sorry Neil but not too far for me to do this weekend Sure we have done the finish bit before as with my fear of heights / imminent possibility of death I tend not to forget these routes

Obviously should have been too far to travel!

 

[The Hodge]

Sure we have done the finish bit before as with my fear of heights / imminent possibility of death I tend not to forget these routes

..more than once or twice Colin..but always on normal mtb bikes at half the weight of an ebike to carry over the rockiest section on Lonscale Fell..
It is quite a journey for you ..so completely understand .
We will catch up soon although I'm having a family ride next week 16th..with my daughter & partner.

 

[SteveSSS]

If this is still an open invite, I'd like to join the ride. I've riden all parts of it before.

 

[The Hodge]

It is ...however Steve there would only be myself & you ..but you are more than welcome to join me

 

[SteveSSS]

That works for me, I'll see you up there tmrw.

 

[The Hodge]

That works for me, I'll see you up there tmrw.

Look forward to it ..

 

[BrentH]

Would have liked to join you but only just seen this.
I've ridden the Lonscale crags paths both ways a number of times on my eMTB. Got to admit there are a couple of points I have yet to clear but most of it is rideable. Finishing a ride with a blast down Lattrigg is fun (watching out for walkers of course).

 

[The Hodge]

Would have liked to join you but only just seen this.
I've ridden the Lonscale crags paths both ways a number of times on my eMTB. Got to admit there are a couple of points I have yet to clear but most of it is rideable. Finishing a ride with a blast down Lattrigg is fun (watching out for walkers of course).

That's a shame Brent ..it would have been good to meet up with you on a day that had a couple of surprises
Surprise number one was catching sight of @philmedomsley as I was waiting to exit the services at Penrith ..as I didn't think he was coming ..
Great to meet up with Steve triple S ..the bloke certainly knows his way around a bike and the pair of them were good craic ..
The ride itself started off in bright, sunny but really cold conditions and after a relatively easy well surfaced track to Skiddaw House the drop down to Mosedale was on a track that was rocky ,muddy as hell and very slick ..saying that a rider on a gravel bike seemed to be having a whale of a time slithering his way down !
Surprise number two ( as I've previously done this ride ) came just after the climb up to Whitewater Dash when my battery ran out ..now there is a strong rumour that it might have had something to do with the fact that Phil took us up a shortcut that he had ridden previously which ended at a padlocked gate with barbed wire on it where we had to turn back ..
I'm not pointing any fingers here ..just saying that might have contributed to it
After 26 miles and 2,800ft of climbing with another 8 miles and 600ft+ climbing still to do ..it was character building to say the least ..
Look forward to riding with you again Steve ..tapping into your knowledge around the Grizedale area..whenever that may be ..
Phil you are totally forgiven for your beer contribution in The Horse & Farrier ..
Cheers to you both
A few pics ..

 

[SteveSSS]

Good day cheers guys!

 

[BrentH]

Sounds great, hope to catch you guys another time.

 

[philmedomsley]

Great day out. Thanks for organising the route Neil. Less turbo more eco would be my tip of the day.

 

[The Hodge]

Great day out. Thanks for organising the route Neil. Less turbo more eco would be my tip of the day.

Turbo my arse..you know full well that I used nothing but Tour..although I might have to give some thought to using eco as that would definitely be more preferable to nothing at all..

 

[RsGaz]

Turbo my arse..you know full well that I used nothing but Tour..although I might have to give some thought to using eco as that would definitely be more preferable to nothing at all..

I can highly recommend a second battery and an EVOC e-ride backpack, so good that after only five minutes you hardly notice the extra weight, much more preferable to running out of power.

 

[Cebeem]

One thing I would say Neil is try to use eco more - what you will find is that in many situations you get there but takes longer However if your perception of emtbing is to get round as fast as possible then you will suffer the consequences re battery life and I begin to wonder why Bit concerned that as ebikers some of us could be heading to a future of not happy unless we have even more torque or even resort to trail motor bikes if faster and faster is a major factor in being out on the trails

 

[The Hodge]

Speed has nothing to do with it Colin ..tour mode has always been my " default" setting ..and having previously ridden that route with juice left in the tank ..it was more to do with the conditions of the day ..windy/ freezing cold and muddy..
I wasn't alone in having battery concerns as both Phil and Steve conserved what they had left by switching off completely when mine went suddenly ( the last bar for the first time ever gave very little range at all ) except on the steepest of climbs ..and finished with very little left in the tank .
I'm usually spot on in terms of estimating " range" and have done longer rides with more height gain than this without having to resort to eco ..and it not like I'm using emtb or turbo ...but a 34 mile ride with 3400ft of climbing is pretty close to maximum range even on a warm day .
@RsGaz ..if you felt the weight of my back pack you would maybe understand why carrying a second battery is a complete non starter....
But thank you both for your suggestions

 

[Tubby G]

8 miles left with no battery power. Surprised you didn’t call mountain rescue

 

[BrentH]

I can highly recommend a second battery and an EVOC e-ride backpack, so good that after only five minutes you hardly notice the extra weight, much more preferable to running out of power.

 

[BrentH]

I’ve just invested in that exact setup after running out of battery twice around the 15 mile mark. I am a big guy and was riding steep technical terrain in cold weather, but still wanted more range than that (after all, that’s one of the main reasons I bought an eMTB).

 

[The Hodge]

8 miles left with no battery power. Surprised you didn’t call mountain rescue

The thought did cross my mind ..however upon reflection it occurred to me that while I've done that route many times on a normal mtb ..the only time ( twice) I have done that route on an ebike has been to start at Mosedale ..a much shorter version which omits the climb ( and return) from Threlkeld ..oops ..
What is now more concerning is am I beginning to lose my marbles ..

 

[Tubby G]

The thought did cross my mind ..however upon reflection it occurred to me that while I've done that route many times on a normal mtb ..the only time ( twice) I have done that route on an ebike has been to start at Mosedale ..a much shorter version which omits the climb ( and return) from Threlkeld ..oops ..
What is now more concerning is am I beginning to lose my marbles ..

I’ve only ever run out of battery once and it was at Dalby so found the nearest escape route fire road and rolled all the way back to the car. Suppose you don’t have that luxury out in the wilderness !

 

[Geordy paul]

Gutted to have missed another ride, hopefully will get out soon.
You must all be fitter and lighter than me.
34 miles is close on two full batteries for me