"Hawkshead Brewery Tour" an 80ish mile meander along the quiet lanes of N Lancs/S Cumbria 28 April

[oldfatfool]

Perhaps I have undersold the route by describing it as a meander - let me point out that this is a fantastic varied ride, spending much of its time in 2 AONBs and a National Park, utilising stretches of regional and national cycling networks, on roads used by at least 4 Sportives that I can think of off the top of my head (and I'm not charging you £30), with minimal traffic. The brew stops are top quality and the weather will be warm and sunny.
Any more takers?

If we hold out do we get a free Gillet and feed stations with nubile young ladies in bikinis?

 

[Ajay]

If we hold out do we get a free Gillet and feed stations with nubile young ladies in bikinis?

You could always try to half-inch a gilet from Wheelbase (not recommended), and you could ask Colin to strip to his mankini to serve you at the cafe (definitely not recommended)

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

i've just noted the estimated average speed is 14 mph. i don't think i'll be able to do that on fixed, maybe 12 mph. will i be too slow? i don't mind being left in areas i know, but this is not familiar territory.

 

[ColinJ]

i've just noted the estimated average speed is 14 mph. i don't think i'll be able to do that on fixed, maybe 12 mph. will i be too slow? i don't mind being left in areas i know, but this is not familiar territory.

The gpx route file from Bike Route Toaster will not load into Memory Map, which is my preferred software for viewing routes (I like the OS mapping). Hang on ... Okay, I loaded the gpx into EasyGPS which did understand it, then resaved it and whatever was wrong with the file was corrected.

I really like the look of the route! There seems to be a bit of everything on it. The total amount of climbing doesn't seem excessive. About 85% of the route is flat or downhill (not that the downhills will help you that much on fixed). A couple of the climbs look really steep but not that long. The highest point on the route is at about 240 m, but it should be remembered that we do go down to almost sea level in places so there is about 230 m between the low and high points, compared to about 350 m on some of our local rides.

If the average speed is 14 mph including the stops then I'd be making my own way back too!

Ajay guessed that we'd take about 8 hours for the 82 miles. If our stops totalled 1.5 hours, that would be an average speed of 12.5 mph when riding or 10.25 mph overall. I suspect that we might be a tad slower than that on the day given that the 64 mile ride on Saturday took about 8.25 hours including stops, but I don't think we'd take much longer than 9 hours so I'd guess a minimum moving average of about 11 mph and an overall of about 9 mph.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

fair enough. i'm still in.

 

[Ajay]

14mph wasn't what I had in mind! I agree more or less with Colin's timings.
I've no experience of riding fixed so can't really advise you, but the steepest part of the route is right at the beginning, but it's only a short section.
I'll be in no rush to get back, so it can take as long as it takes as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

thanks.

 

[Ajay]

Current rider list made up of definites/maybes/interesteds:

Me +1
ColinJ
SteveH
Stass
Bromptonfb
italiafirenze
oldfatfool
littgull

PLEASE NOTE - You do not need to have been on one of Colinj's rides to qualify for this event

Get in touch if you'd like more info - all welcome.

 

[ColinJ]

You're just testing us to see if we are paying attention, eh Ajay? You have swapped the letters round in the postcode of the picnic centre - the correct postcode is LA2 9NB. (I'm just updating the events calendar with this and other rides and Google Maps took me to the wrong location for the start/finish!)

 

[oldfatfool]

So long as my mate returns to work I have swapped a couple of days holiday so is anyone else planning on camping and making a weekend of it, weather permitting of course?

 

[Ajay]

You're just testing us to see if we are paying attention, eh Ajay? You have swapped the letters round in the postcode of the picnic centre - the correct postcode is LA2 9NB. (I'm just updating the events calendar with this and other rides and Google Maps took me to the wrong location for the start/finish!)

Yep, well spotted Colin I've asked the mods to amend. Here's the link to Crook O' Lune http://www.citycoastcountryside.co.uk/things-to-do/crook-o-lune-and-picnic-sites-p11664
I've plotted a shorter lower level return from Staveley if the weather's grim or we're delayed. I'll post both routes nearer the time.

 

[Ajay]

Here's the finalised route http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=380309
I've tweeked the return from Kendal - taking out the long slog of the old Kirkby Lonsdale road and adding the great little climb of the Col de Clawthorpe which gives us some amazing views.
Who's still up for it then?

 

[ColinJ]

Steve H told me that he is still hoping to do it, but work and/or family commitments might get in the way. If so, and no other volunteer driver steps in, I will be relying on the trains to get there and you to guide me from the station. Having survived yesterday's hilly Spring Into The Dales audax on my Cannondale, I think I will use that bike on this ride too. How bad are the steepest climbs? I got up a short stretch of 17% yesterday but had to walk at 20%.

 

[Ajay]

Steve H told me that he is still hoping to do it, but work and/or family commitments might get in the way. If so, and no other volunteer driver steps in, I will be relying on the trains to get there and you to guide me from the station. Having survived yesterday's hilly Spring Into The Dales audax on my Cannondale, I think I will use that bike on this ride too. How bad are the steepest climbs? I got up a short stretch of 17% yesterday but had to walk at 20%.

The steepest climb is at the beginning of the ride as we clamber out of the Lune valley, there's a hairpin bend which ramps to perhaps 18-20%, but it's only a short pitch. There are a few other steep sections - maybe upto 15% but all are short, there's nothing extreme to worry about. In general we ride up the steeper side of the climbs and gain height quickly so that we can enjoy the longer, shallower descents; maximising the effort/reward ratio

 

[ColinJ]

The steepest climb is at the beginning of the ride as we clamber out of the Lune valley, there's a hairpin bend which ramps to perhaps 18-20%, but it's only a short pitch. There are a few other steep sections - maybe upto 15% but all are short, there's nothing extreme to worry about. In general we ride up the steeper side of the climbs and gain height quickly so that we can enjoy the longer, shallower descents; maximising the effort/reward ratio

The Cannondale it is then! If I'm forced to walk a few yards, it will be worth it for having a really nice bike to ride the rest of the time. My Basso is not bad, but I do enjoy the Cannondale more. (I'll keep the Basso in reserve in case of bad weather.)

I've just had a close look at the route. There a couple of places where it loops back on itself for no apparent reason. I'm assuming one of those little loops takes us to the brewery? Perhaps the others were to cafes, or did you just take some wrong turns on the recce ride?