3

A short road section took us to Blawith and there we had another short break, a bite to eat and a relax in the sun.  Some more tricky climbing lead us onto the Beacon Tarn where we encountered the 'Swamps of Despair'.  Despite some careful route finding, no-one stayed dry here!  I'm pretty sure that some of these swamps have swallowed people and bikes whole! 

 

Swooping down into Torver we decided to finish off the ride by pulling steeply up onto the Walna Scar track by way of the Tranearth bridleway.  This is quite a long climb on a bike, but it's such an interesting way up with lots to see and challenging obstacles to be ridden that it keeps the interest all the way up.  A quick blast down led us to the finale of the day - some secret paths leading down into the village that would prove to be the most technically demanding of the day. The way down covers ground that is steep, loose, greasy and twisty.  This really tests the bike handling skills and when we all emerged at the bottom still smiling and with all our limbs and bikes intact I knew we had had a good day. Sitting in the sun with cups of tea and large portions of apple pie and cream were a fantastic way to finish off the day.

 

Thanks to John and Roger for joining me and being good sports.  Keep smiling guys and hope to see you out again

Paul Alalouf.

Cover picture;

Mags, Jean, Betty and Jim on the Zugspitze, 24th July 2008.