Two Days in the Lake District - Route Suggestions?

buckmulligan

Hi, I'm planning a couple of days in the Lake District later in the summer and was wondering if you guys could give some advice for a two-day itinerary that covered as many of the best roads around there?!

Initially, I was thinking of knocking out the Fred Whitton route in just the one day but thought it would be much nicer to split it into two, maybe a north loop and a south loop, or an east loop and west loop, giving the opportunity to tackle some of the bigger climbs (e.g. Hardknott/Wrynose and Honister) from both sides over the two days, as well as explore some of the other roads in the area; I'm happy to do up to 100 miles on both days so long as it's worthwhile riding.

I haven't booked any accommodation yet, so starting point is flexible at the moment but it looks as though Ambleside might be a good central(ish) spot for such a plan. I'm thinking of heading to the surrounding areas (North Pennines and Yorkshire Dales) shortly afterwards and have some good routes planned for those areas already, so I'm just interested in the Lake District area really.

So does anyone have a good two-day itinerary for seeing as much of the Lake District as possible on two wheels?!

Many thanks! Adam

Ben6899

It really depends on how far you want to ride, but notable climbs for me are...

Lake District
Whinlatter - easier (and more interesting IMO) from the west
Hardknott (close to Ambleside)

North Pennines
Hartside
Great Dun Fell (one way up to the satellite station)

Yorkshire Dales
Buttertubs - north from Hawes is the easier route
Grinton Moor - climb from the north and enjoy the long, fast descent into Leyburn
Fleet Moss

mamil314

Fred Whitton CCW and CW!

ugo.santalucia

FWC but do it in one day, it's not a long ride and if you only do half of it, what are you going to do the rest of the time?
Also, I suggest going up the Struggle instead of the main road.

All mapped here

https://www.strava.com/routes/14178256

buckmulligan

Thanks for all the replies.

Sure, the Fred Whitton route is a great option but I was thinking by spreading it over a couple of days then I could also hit some of the lesser-known roads and routes in the area as well and explore a bit further e.g. down to Coniston and the southern portion Windermere and perhaps up to Bassenthwaite.

I'm happy to do that kind of distance on both days but just keen to spread my wings beyond the usual hotspots and make the most of my time there.

mrb123

BuckMulligan wrote:

Thanks for all the replies.

Sure, the Fred Whitton route is a great option but I was thinking by spreading it over a couple of days then I could also hit some of the lesser-known roads and routes in the area as well and explore a bit further e.g. down to Coniston and the southern portion Windermere and perhaps up to Bassenthwaite.

I'm happy to do that kind of distance on both days but just keen to spread my wings beyond the usual hotspots and make the most of my time there.

You could base your 2 day route on the Fred but extend it to build up the miles. A great diversion would be to cross the A66 at Troutbeck and then head to Mungrisdale and round the back of Skiddaw. Come back to Keswick via the back of Bassenthwaite Lake and rejoin the Whitton route.

Plenty of options in the South Lakes too for similar extensions.

davep1

I did the Fred a couple of years ago, one of the hot years. I found it hard, and I would not have been getting back on the bike the next day. But then I live on the South Coast, and there is nothing round here to match even the easier hills on the Fred (there's a lump on the way to Hardknott that is probably the equivalent of Steyning Bostal, I'd never heard anyone mention it before!)

I looked at doing Great Dun Fell that weekend too, but I reckoned it would be a 3 hour round trip in the car from where we were in the Lakes, and I didn't want a long hard climb in my legs the day before the Fred.

The Fred route comes out alongside the Struggle; that looked a lot harder than the way we got to the same point.

Bear in mind if the weather stays good, the heat really saps your strength, turning climbs that aren't too bad into show stoppers.

ugo.santalucia

Just do the FWC route in one day and stop minging about...

you can't split it in two, because there is no shortcut from the halfway point back to Ambleside, unless you come down from Keswick, but that leaves you with a very easy day one and all the climbs on day two.

You can make an easier an marginally shorter loop by cutting Honister and Newlands and go straight from Keswick to Winlatter... however, IMO the loop down Borrowdale and up the two passes is the best bit of the ride.

You can also cut Newlands and Whinlatter, by heading straight at Buttermere, but even there you miss some of the best bits

You can't win

honeybadger99

This is a cracking ride if you fancy a slightly different route to the Fred
https://www.strava.com/routes/462769?hl=en-GB
Slightly less mileage at 90 miles but it packs in over 11000ft of climbing. Along with the usual passes of the Lakes (Kirkstone but via the struggle, Hardknott and Wrynose) it also takes in some less familiar climbs. Blea tarn near Grassmere, Klin bank cross in the Dudden valley are two that spring to mind (they're both in the another 100 climbs book) There is also the biggest climb in the Lakes, Corney fell. Starting at sea level it tops out at just over 1100ft.

john1967

Honeybadger99 wrote:

This is a cracking ride if you fancy a slightly different route to the Fred
https://www.strava.com/routes/462769?hl=en-GB
Slightly less mileage at 90 miles but it packs in over 11000ft of climbing. Along with the usual passes of the Lakes (Kirkstone but via the struggle, Hardknott and Wrynose) it also takes in some less familiar climbs. Blea tarn near Grassmere, Klin bank cross in the Dudden valley are two that spring to mind (they're both in the another 100 climbs book) There is also the biggest climb in the Lakes, Corney fell. Starting at sea level it tops out at just over 1100ft.

Please note the road around thirlmere is closed until Autumn at least.

honeybadger99

john1967 wrote:

Honeybadger99 wrote:

This is a cracking ride if you fancy a slightly different route to the Fred
https://www.strava.com/routes/462769?hl=en-GB
Slightly less mileage at 90 miles but it packs in over 11000ft of climbing. Along with the usual passes of the Lakes (Kirkstone but via the struggle, Hardknott and Wrynose) it also takes in some less familiar climbs. Blea tarn near Grassmere, Klin bank cross in the Dudden valley are two that spring to mind (they're both in the another 100 climbs book) There is also the biggest climb in the Lakes, Corney fell. Starting at sea level it tops out at just over 1100ft.

Please note the road around thirlmere is closed until Autumn at least.

My apologies, didn't realise. Would you be able to go the other side instead?

mrb123

Honeybadger99 wrote:

john1967 wrote:

Honeybadger99 wrote:

This is a cracking ride if you fancy a slightly different route to the Fred
https://www.strava.com/routes/462769?hl=en-GB
Slightly less mileage at 90 miles but it packs in over 11000ft of climbing. Along with the usual passes of the Lakes (Kirkstone but via the struggle, Hardknott and Wrynose) it also takes in some less familiar climbs. Blea tarn near Grassmere, Klin bank cross in the Dudden valley are two that spring to mind (they're both in the another 100 climbs book) There is also the biggest climb in the Lakes, Corney fell. Starting at sea level it tops out at just over 1100ft.

Please note the road around thirlmere is closed until Autumn at least.

My apologies, didn't realise. Would you be able to go the other side instead?

Yes you can. It's a bit busy but at least it's a good surface because it all got redone after being damaged in the floods a few years ago.