In contrast with yesterday’s more leisurely book about historic houses (Houses of the Lake District) today we have two for the more energetic among us. I admit that I’m not qualified to judge myself but recently I gave Mountain Biking in the Yorkshire Dales as a birthday gift to a younger family member. He was delighted with it so I thought I’d put up here the Lake District volume in the same series.
To quote from its description on Amazon, Mountain Biking in the Lake District has “24 exciting, original routes for all abilities, arranged by difficulty, from Kendal to Cleator Moor in the far north-west and Keswick to Winster in the Lyth Valley. … Routes are graded for distance, difficulty, ascent, time or how much of the route goes off road.”
The second book here is Lake District Mountain Biking – Essential Trails, the 2nd edition of this bestselling guidebook. It has 26 of the best mountain bike rides in the Lake District, between 12km and 60km in length, suitable for all levels of mountain bikers. There are rides around Walna Scar, High Street and Borrowdale, as well as lesser-known routes.
So then, if you’re young enough, or older and still fit enough, here are two great helps to planning your next visit to what the National Park people now call the “Adventure Capital” of England. Personally I’ll stick to the combination of car and two feet and will watch with admiration as you, or others like you, force your two wheels up the rocky slopes.
