Mountain Bike Forums

Well, did this today (posting from B&B in Ambleside) - onoly fell off once
Suitably taxing on a techical level, fitness wise, not too much trouble. Could have gome round again, not sure my nerves were up to it though.

Didn;t like the boardwalk sections. Fell off on one - it was a 6” step up onto it, and it was only 60cm wide - wobbled, righted and slipped the front wheel off in the process, emded up upside down in the grass. Luckily grass at this point - to many sharp pointy rocks up there for my liking.

Anyway. Was great fun. wobbly at start, foundd the hairpins on rough stuff tricky - but applied motorcycle thinking - power on, with feathered braking to ‘tighten’ bike up at low speed - is this right then?

Ho hum. Felt better for doing it. Was fitter than a lot of people out, just slower on the finicky stuff.

Sounds like fun. Can’t advise you on feathering - not a speciality of mine.

However, I keep thinking about going up to Grizedale with my wife and kids. They are aged 9 & 11.  Mrs Cid has a 15 year old Marin with no suspension. Are there some routes up there suitable for family riding? Thanks.

Grizedale fine for no suspension bikes. Some long hills though - all forest track.
Great place.

Excellent - Is there a website?

Google shows : http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-5k2c5b
You lazy sod.

How resourceful - ta!

Just got back from Dalby Forest, great for everyone up there. Lots of technical single track yet some nice trails for the wife and kids. My teenage son managed all 23 miles of the red route. A good day out.

Thanks - that’s a good idea too.

Aye. Dalby good too. The ‘Family’ trail is fine. One little bit of ‘singletrack’, but I managed whole thing no problems with a tandem tagalong on the back.

Just wondering can i do Grizedale in a day if we set off early and is the route clearly marked.

Probably.
Your worst problem is the traffic on teh A65 - leave early to avoid I guess. Fast dual carriageway into the bottom of the lakes and up to Hawkshead. Should be feasible. Avoids the windermere road which gets so clogged up.

Feathering is sort of right. Other things to think about are where your weight is and how you release the wheel, ie, if you have your weight right back and your front brake hard on there is nothing really helping the wheel to grip into the corner. So on a tight hairpin, brake early with weight well back, then shift your weight forward and down into the fall line (inside the line of your bike’s turn - think skiing if you’ve done it) and release the front brake. The bike will (!!) miraculously track round, even on very tight, very steep drops. Of course stuff up the timing and its one hell of a good crash.