WHERE ARE WE?
LAKE DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK
The Lake District National Park, established in 1951, covers 2,362km², and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2017. This stunning region offers some amazing scenery and challenging riding.
YOUR GUIDE
MAX DARKINS
Max loves travelling up and down the country, searching for the best routes for you to ride. He’s the man behind www.roughrideguide.co.uk
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For our trip to the Lake District’s beautiful Borrowdale Valley we’d planned a dawn ride, hopeful that we could bag a spectacular cloud inversion. The meteorological phenomenon is something this location is well known for, because it has high peaks that surround a large body of water. Cold air collects overnight and holds the mist, so rising early and getting up high for sunrise means you could be treated to the magical sight of misty clouds below you, mountain peaks popping through and clear blue skies above.
Sadly, on this occasion, with the mountaintops shrouded in cloud, we know we aren’t going to get the spectacular sunrise we were looking for. With the Met Office talking about 20mph gusts and the mountain forecast (something you should always check before riding on big hills) upping this to 40mph, we decide a lower-level ride is in order. The waterfall at nearby Sour Milk Gill is looking impressive, with a thick white foamy line of water cutting through the lush green hillside, so, knowing that we won’t be getting our planned awe-inspiring dawn ride, we decide to grab our towels and change this issue’s theme to wild swimming instead.
KNOWING THAT WE WON’T BE GETTING OUR PLANNED AWE-INSPIRING DAWN RIDE, WE DECIDE TO GRAB OUR TOWELS AND CHANGE THIS ISSUE’S THEME TO WILD SWIMMING
