The Borrowdale Shakedown - time to put the Orange Fives through their paces

Every couple of weeks I get the urge to go and ride in the Lakes, I just love the whole getting away from it all and smashing some loose wide open lines with my mates. Borrowdale is the perfect playground with which to get to grips on our new Orange Fives and so, once some phone calls were made, a motley bunch of loveable rogues were soon put together and we hit the A66 across the Pennines.

The warmer Spring weather was starting to hit and it was soon to be a really nice day. Rather than starting at Keswick, i.e. the way all the guide books recommend, we started at the Swinside Inn.  This meant that we thankfully missed the big road section and could instead go up and over the gorgeous Catbells twice - a fully stacked day of rock strewn climbs and descents galore, perfect for seeing how our new bikes handled.

Getting up and over Catbells isn’t easy, a technical climb to start you off where you need to get that rear wheel dug right in and then as it gets steeper the bike goes up and over the shoulders.  

I found my Five Diva easy to carry, it’s a lighter frame to what I was riding previously and this in turn held more advantages later in the day. You see the descent over the other side is absolutely nuts, really steep with very tight corners.  My Five skipped its way merrily down the descent with aplomb, the combination of the 27.5 wheels being fully armed with the new enduro Michelin Wild Rock’R2 tyres and the light frame made for excellent handling and traction.  

Having said that you can’t rest on your laurels down here, I did take a spill or two such is the technicality of the terrain, Steve was the only one who made it down clean, whooping away as he went.

All too soon we were crossing over the bottom of Derwent Water to the start of the big climb up to Watendlath, ready for the next descent…… rocks, rocks and more rocks in no particular order. The last time I rode down there I was on 26 inch wheels, these new 27.5 puppies quite literally swallowed the trail up.  Still getting used to the Diva, which was the whole point of the day, I made a note to drop the front end a little bit when I got home, just to balance the front to back weight out a little, other than that I couldn’t fault the frame.

We had a quick ice cream stop at the picturesque Rosthwaite, for our defence they make their own gorgeous ice cream here and it would e a shame not to try the local delicacies! 

Back on the bikes and up the next mega climb to the Honister pass. From here it’s a U-turn into a traverse and then down another sick loose descent to Grange.

I was pretty spent by this point but it wasn’t over, another hike a bike up Catbells was definitely worth it for the descent on the other side, I came a cropper again towards the bottom getting my bike tangled up amidst rocks and boulders.  But hey, still smiling, that’s the adrenaline buzz for you.  

 Loved the day so much we all went back up with a bigger bunch the following weekend, in the snow!

All in, the Diva is a very agile bike, I need to drop the front a little bit but it’s more or less dialled in from the word go, definitely benefits from a dropper seat post I must add.  Acceleration is good and it feels really stable in high speed rock strewn turns, I’m looking forward to railing this baby at the enduro races.  Look out!

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Welcoming in the New Year.....with a fell run!

Admittedly we're not your run-of-the-mill bike team, although I guess you already worked that out by now, all of the team thrive in the great outdoors.  

Whilst the throngs of people congregated in various places to see in the New Year both Angie and Steve were snuggly tucked up in bed to see it in in a different way......with a fell run...... here's Angie with the commentary....

Steve and I decided that 2013 going to be all about doing new and memorable things ...and what a better way to start the year off than with a cheeky run up the Great Gable, which the seventh highest mountain in England!

Naturally it had been chucking it down cats and dogs the week leading up to it however we decided to just go regardless to what Mother Nature could throw at us.  The weather wasn’t that bad in the morning when we woke, just low cloud.  

An hour and a half later we were at Seathwaite Farm in Borrowdale and quickly got ourselves ready, trainers on, lightweight jackets and a small rucksack with a map and a drink, easy!  The fells above looked grey and oppressive, the low cloud meant we couldn't see if there was any snow up top …it was very atmospheric, pure Lord of the Rings!

Off past the farm we went and along the track over Stockley Bridge, up ahead we could see the first climb and it started to go up, and up, further on it went, and went, we pushed on and pushed harder, the lactic build up telling you it was a good work out.  Just imagine being on a stepper machine at the gym for a good 30 mins solid at high intensity, yeah?  OK, I think you got the picture a little there!  

As we climbed we kept looking back over the views that were starting to open up across the Borrowdale valley, it was a beautiful feeling to know that it was New Year’s Day and there wasn't another soul to be seen, just us and nature.  It's a canny good feeling that!

It started to ease up as we ran along a singletrack path beside a small beck, trying to get our breath back as the terrain became a bit more tricky underfoot.  Boulders and ankle twisters at your desire!  The path lead us to the edge of Sty Head Tarn, from here you can either head off to Scafell and the surrounding fells or head towards the right for the Gables.  This is where we were headed, off up Great Gable. 

(Edit: Lee here, I cannae get this darned photo to centre, sorry!)

The fell gets a lot of foot fall on Remembrance Sunday (11^th Nov) when hundreds of people and a priest summit the mountain to hold a service around the memorial and show respect for the men and women who fought in the war.

Having got our breath back it was time for another steep incline up the south face of the mountain, man-made steps have been put in here and it’s a bit of a thigh killer.  As we got further up the steps disappeared, a drop in concentration could mean a twisted ankle, or worse, best to be on your guard.  The over night rain had iced over on the rocks, it was incredibly slippery just like running on wet glass.  But then, that's all part of the challenge.

Reaching the 700 metre mark we started spotting patches of snow and little flurries were coming down, rather magical.  Not long later we were at the top, the wind was just so bloody strong that it was freezing our faces and fingers off. You could just see across to Scafell where there was quite a bit of old snow on the tops.  We both chucked on warmer jackets and buffs, then set off to run down to the Windy Gap (titter ye not!). 

When you're out on the fells you soon learn how quickly the weather can change, literally in a snap of the fingers.  Mist had dropped and we couldn’t see much around us, it was so much fun though once we got some speed up, it was like being on a downhill bike and picking lines the whole way. Excellent fun!

Got back down to the Sty Head Tarn and then just cracked on all the way back to the car.  This wasn't before heading off the trail after finding some sweet sheep tracks with off-camber sections mind, we raced each other picking the high lines.  Such fun! (Thank you 'Miranda'!)

Back at the car it was an easy decision to make..... a pub lunch you say? Well how could we not!? Mmm, most delectable! Haha!

Lake District fell runs are going to be one of my main staples for 2013! 

Absolutely loved it!

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