So much fun! Mountain bike ride up the Old Coach Road between Keswick and Matterdale. Misty and more, so great weather for the juvenile pleasure of splashing though puddles. The Old Coach Road is always a challenge, both the relentless climb (to 437 m.) and the rocky road surface up from St John’s in the Vale. But unusually busy this July Sunday as the two-day Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon (SLMM) was being held on the Helvellyn Range with the start/finish in St Johns in the Vale. It was great to see the thousand-or-so competitors on and around the Old Coach Road rather than it being desolate and deserted.
The Old Coach Road is a classic route for all off-road traffic, so it was not a surprise to see 4WD and motorbike traffic although the fumes from diesel engines took a while to disperse.
Riding back to Keswick past the Castlerigg stones, the Cumbrian mist stinging on the downhills. I finished my day with a hearty meal with friends in a popular local pub.
