A really interesting ride of just over 150 miles which Graeme Mckee has developed.

We were lucky to have an outstanding day in September to take on this long, rolling ride through the Lakes and North Cumbria.

An early start of 7am was negated by the early morning sunshine with a slight Autumnal chill in the air. We set off from the Leisure Centre in Kendal and headed out towards Staveley and over Mislet Brow to the foot of Kirkstone Pass. The cooler temperatures made the climb of the Pass comfortable enough and then plunging down to Brotherswater put us in the shade of the hills.

Progressing up the shores of Ullswater, always a pleasant ride to Watermillock we turned left up to Longthwaite and over the 20% climb that takes in the lower slopes of Little Mell Fell, this is the last of the serious climbing on this version of this ride.

A swift right turn after the rapid descent then across the A66 to Motherby and on to Greystoke with the benefit of a tailwind (we would pay for this later!) there are a lot of straight roads up towards Carlisle thanks to the Roman cohorts. We stopped at Dalston, having skirted the edge of Carlisle, at around 50 miles for coffee and bacon sandwiches.

This part of the ride is mostly flat and took in Burgh-by Sands, Port Carlisle and Bowness-on-Solway along the side of the Solway Firth with excellent views of Scotland on one side and the Lakeland fells on the other.

After a bit of a mishap with Graeme’s back tyre, a nasty split of the sidewall from a flint on the less than adequate road surface, we had to patch the tyre with a boot and hope for the best.

This is where the wind changed as we turned back South down the coast to Silloth, where I cannot ever remember going before, we found a decent café on the main street which has pavé just to add another surface to the mix.

After some watering we took the coast road down to Maryport, buffeted by the wind, we made our way steadily South. A great climb out of Maryport, long but not too steep, over to Papcastle, again on a Roman road we reached Cockermouth where we ate at the excellent Norham Coffee Shop, who were about to close but Graeme managed to convince them to feed us, note to self they close at 3.30 so don’t turn up at 3.20!

After a quick foodstop we left a very busy Cockermouth over the fell road to Embleton and Dubwath and across to the Castle Inn above Bassenthwaite Lake and down to Keswick under the very scenic Skiddaw which was dappled in afternoon sun.

As we approached Keswick we realised that Graeme had another puncture caused by the tyre boot wearing through the tube, unfortunately these are only really useful for a few miles to get home not 50 miles of Lakeland roads. We were too late to get to the bike shop but luckily Graeme had a pal in Keswick who were able to borrow a tyre from. Having used up our CO2 cylinders on both punctures we eventually found the bin to discover a track pump in the shed next to it! (Second note to self; go out with Graeme on these long rides he seems to have helpful friends all over Cumbria, we benefitted from this on Paul’s Audax with another of his contacts leaving us a handy pile of water bottles outside his house near to Kilnside when there was not really anywhere else to get fluid over there).

After a quick tweek of gears at the top of Chestnut Hill we made our way back to Kendal into a bit of nagging headwind, eschewing Holbeck Lane as we both were a bit leggy at this point and it was beginning to get dark and late. The roads were still busy so we used the cycle path back to Staveley and headed back through Burneside and into The Tap for couple of pints.

We will be doing this ride again next year but are planning to go over Red Bank and back to Clappersgate on Bog Lane and down the side of the Lake Windermere to Newby Bridge and back via Witherslack to add a few miles at the end when we have more daylight.

There are plans to add three or four of these longer rides to the club calender so riders can plan ahead to join us if they wish as they are full days out. We had a great ride over Hartside via Appleby and up to Hallbankgate which had a good turn out and was enjoyed by those who joined in. I have another route via Keswick, Caldbeck, Penrith, Kirkby Stephen, Sedbergh and Arnside and we have a couple of others for consideration. These routes and dates will be planned in advance but obviously if the weather looks too inclement we will re-arrange as necessary nearer the time.

Over the last couple of years we have, as a club, been increasing the Sunday club runs to some quite outstanding routes and distances. We are aware that some of these runs are a bit too long for some people but there is scope for someone to also organise shorter runs if they wish and it would be welcomed if anyone would like to do this for the club, we will post details on Facebook as well; distance, any testing climbs or other issues with the route and of course the all important café stop. It will be an opportunity for riders to improve fitness and possibly join the longer rides should they wish to do so.

We have built up following from our Whatsapp group and are happy for suggestions of possible routes, they not always need to be huge distances and we will be tapering the length down for the winter, 50-70 miles is more than enough when it is a bit cold and wet. All are welcome to join us and we are sure to get everyone back one way or another.

Tom Wall