The Mrs

ariding1978

Hi,

I'm looking for some advice on which trails in the Lakes are suitable for my Mrs. I've been biking for the last 15 years but my girlfriend has just bought a bike and wants to get into it.

We saw the Whinlatter trail on the telly the other week and she seems quite up for it. It is a trail that I don't know anything about so I'm not sure how she will cope. Is it a bit of a jump for a total beginner?

I looked at the map on the FC website and it classes it as a red route... any one know where there are any Blues in the Lakes? Grizedale maybe?
I suppose we can always head out to Dalby for a blue if we need to but i really like the Lakes and I've not done too much riding up there recently...


Any thoughts gratefully recieved.

miss notax

Hello

I don't know these specific trails, but I was just going to say that definitely DON'T start her off on anything too much for her - guarenteed to put her off for life! She sounds really keen so give her a chance to enjoy it and master elements first. A red route assumes techical ability right? If she hasn't done much riding then might be a bit much?

My OH took me to Cwmcarn as one of my first trails and - needless to say - a major domestic and me walking the downhill section resulted.... :evil:

And don't, what ever you do, laugh. Very bad mistake!

Hope that helps!

Alex

Whinlatter's probably not the best place in the world to hit up for the first time mountainbiker.

Cannock's Follow the Dog, Coed Llandegla's Red or at a push, Grizedale's 'North Face trail' would be far better starting points.

By all accounts Whinlatter is a bit of a monster!

The Northern Monkey

if your just wnting something simple.. ie not really singletrack, just somewhere to ride thats easy technically but ca be a bit strenuous and fun at the same time... why not try the fire road at Grizedale?

I don't think the NFT or whinlatter would be suitable for a complete novice.

tlw1

bigbenj_08 wrote:

if your just wnting something simple.. ie not really singletrack, just somewhere to ride thats easy technically but ca be a bit strenuous and fun at the same time... why not try the fire road at Grizedale?

I don't think the NFT or whinlatter would be suitable for a complete novice.

Agree, then take the odd singletack off the fire road - everyone is happy!

ariding1978

Thanks for your suggestions... I didn't want to face her with giant drop offs or anything too demanding. Will give Whinlatter a miss then for the time being and build up to that one.

Was just thinking that one of the trail centres in the Lakes might have had something a little less extreme that the beginner could have a play on.
Not to worry - will stick closer to home and play in the Dales.

Thanks again...

The Northern Monkey

What about delamere? Never been there myself, but I've herd there good single track. can't sa how tough it is tho.

dave_hill

ariding1978 wrote:

Was just thinking that one of the trail centres in the Lakes might have had something a little less extreme that the beginner could have a play on.

Grizedale's deffo the best. What a lot of people forget is that as well as the North Face Trail (NFT) there are also miles and miles of forest roads, many of which are waymarked as bike trails.

Granted, it's not very exciting, but it will give her plenty of oppurtunity to practice climbing, descending, braking, changing gear and so and so forth without having to cope with too many difficult challenges all at once.

Another beauty of Grizedale is that there are hundreds of little shortcuts (some official, some cheeky if you know where to look ) which you can incorporate too, to allow her to get used to dealing with more technical riding without being too long.

Once she's built up her confidence and basic technique with these, you could try moving her on to the NFT. It's not TOO difficult although as has been mentioned loads of times before, some of the boardwalks are off-camber and narrow and they can be lethally slippy when wet. Unfortunately the trail designers didn't build in any chicken runs to skirt round them.

Another possibility in the Lakes is Claife Heights. This is the area on the Western shore of Windermere North of the ferry landing. There's loads of little trails and snickets within a couple of square miles and it's an exceptional area for beginners, with some spectacular views of the Central fells from the shore of Three Dubs Tarn.

The Northern Monkey

Can't you ride around windermere? or part of it? I seem to remember walking half and getting the ferry back when I did some adventure training there years ago.

rhext

+1 for Dave Hill's comments. Whinlatter's got lots of forest roads and tracks which could be ideal for a gentle introduction. Just bear in mind that the forest is spread over some rather large hills. Starting at the visitor centre (for example) and then heading downhill might fill your other half with enthusiasm...for the first 10 minutes or so. You might find the trip back to the visitor centre rather less entertaining, so some prep work with an OS map would be worthwhile.

Nero50

Hi!

I was new to all this last august, my first ride being the blue at dalby, very quickly got bored of that and now ride the red trails. Just dont try stainburn too soon, my leg is still purple, although the walk around the black trail last weekend was fun! :roll:



p.s im a girl!