Nan Bield Pass Back to: Nan Bield Pass Feature Home
About time we
did another route in the Lake District. This one is a high mountain adventure, with the toughest and longest carrying section of any of our routes. if you hate carrying your bike up loose rocks and indeed solid rock, don't do it. For the hardy minority who like to push their limits, the rewards include some of the best descents and scenery in the lakes. Another advantage is the relative accessibility of the starting point at
Staveley near Kendal. We made it too easily from Leicester in just over two and a half hours, something of a novelty for a Lakes route.
Small
is not so beautiful
The ride starts out on the well publicised 'Kentmere Circuit' which is quite a nice little tour of the local foothills, but a bit short on distance and high mountain views for our
taste. From the parking spot HERE you ride half a mile along the cycle path then a short tarmac climb leads to a grassy bridleway which soon provides your first little challenge as the trail narrows to a singletrack between hedges and the loose rocks need momentum to clear. This is only a hillock though and you're soon racing along easy farm tracks until passing through a gate leads to a straight, flat singletrack along the edge of fields.
Cowsty
Pats...
By now the stature of the views has grown a whole league and you'll thrash your camera but save some film, you've seen almost nothing yet. You soon descend slightly to the first of many rocky fords (this ride doesn't break water crossing records, but it's not called the Lake District for nothing), don't be tempted by the singletrack heading left, unless you fancy a big drop off in to the icy water. Like most of the fords this one is easily
rideable, just hit it with some momentum or risk an embarrassing wet dab. A short steep climb follows then a roller coaster cow pat track bags you the top of the first major descent. The only double track wide drop of the day it's a hardcore laced delight with high speeds until (those with a soul) come upon the superior view of the outcrop known as the Cowsty
Knotts.
Wet
and sticky
Cameras snapped again and only one annoying gate stood between us and the rest of the drop down to Kentmere Hall. A tidy blast that was and now up past the church, left then right for the grassy climb up Green Quarter Fell. This one's rideable with some grunting (and a food stop, bananas and M&S buttered sticky Malt Loaf: yum) all the way to the top and the massive change of character as you crest on to Cocklaw Fell. In November the moor was all golden grass and boggy streamlets but with a few sections of nice singletrack. This bridleway crosses the collecting system of Skeggles Water and if it's completely dry you can be sure there will be an awful lot of hose pipe bans in place.
A little deft diverting can see you across with only a short carry and on to the larger than life views and descent down in to
LongSleddale. Keep your weight back and all the boggy depressions can be braved through, probably. A little slip sliding is inevitable but spare the trail and don't lock your rear up all the way down. After a steep section a small wooden gate on your right is the bridle continued, but we preferred the straight on past Sadgill Wood and right hander down the rocky BOAT to
Sadgill. Lot's of nice line choices and rubbish unrideable ones too. A gate halfway down spoils the fun a bit but bunches the group to start the race again (watch out for the blind bend at the bottom...).
A dab or two is
all it takes
Left across the bridge and you're heading North up towards the towering Gatescarth Pass, make the most of the views of Goat Scar and Raven Crag on the flat, as you soon run out of puff on the cobbled climb. Now, those of you with less than calves of steel will begin to suffer this hideously long climb. We had along our regular
rider Matt Barratt, winner of this years Sports Category in the National Series. He made the cobbled section of the climb with only a couple of dabs, see if you can do better! Once you reach 1200 feet the cobble climb ends and a small bridge and locked gate lead to the next even steeper grassy climb. Matt joined us in the foot slog to around 1700 feet where we stopped, turned around and stood in awe of the immense view below us. Time for another sticky malt loaf and some malicious lies to the effect that we were only half way up the pass. Matt didn't fall for it and we were soon mounted up again and cresting the top on a rock studded grass track. Now the descent to Haweswater sucks you in with a series of no holds barred switchbacks festooned with loose fractured rock. Although there is a 'flat' bit in the middle there is no let up in the technicality of the riding. The second drop seems even steeper than the first but the whole lot is rideable all the way to the gate near the bottom.
What a carry on
Before you reach here your hands will be aching even with hydraulic disks, this is a massive downhill by UK standards, 1000 feet lost in a distance of one mile. Hop over the gate (they keep it locked!) and there is still more descending down to the car park at
Haweswater, fast and furious with a couple of natural ramps it's a hoot. Once you reach the car park wall a tight singletrack is visible back-tracking to the West and uphill. This is the way up to Small Water and it's 90%
unrideable. We started determined to ride whenever we could and soon began the long carry up this tortuous, torturous, treacherous trail. (sorry, got carried away with the Thesaurus...).
Mirror,
mirror
Some of the route is up solid rock and much of it has more the feel of a semi-dried up stream bed than a real path. It's about this point that right minded people will begin to question the reasoning behind it's bridleway status, you'd surely need a trick, circus horse to get up here, hi ho Silver. Eventually and after some cursing we reached Small Water, which surprise surprise, isn't that small, being about 1000feet across and half that wide. Still, it is smaller than other lakes in the area. On a cool Winters evening this is an eerie place, the water forming a mirror pool echoing the steep mountain amphitheatre around it's banks. Your first glimpse of it is with your head almost level with the water surface and the dotted line on the map, seemingly goes straight up it's vertiginous rear wall.
Where's
the bridleway??
Winding around the right hand of this surreal sea is a tight little ditch of a singletrack which will challenge your pedaling with it's raised sides. Don't get too carried away with the bike riding thing though as only a couple of hundred yards is possible before the second stage of the climb to the pass begins. At this point some of you are going to think we're having a laugh at your expense. A jumble of loose rocks, giant boulders and slippery, boggy bits form the remainder of the six hundred feet to the top. This climb could break your spirit or break your ankle, I was glad of my shin pads at one point, when I slipped and painlessly bashed my right pad on a sharp outcrop of stone.
This is the kind of climb that may make you realise why hikers wear boots with ankle support. Take time on the way up to look back at Small Water and the valley below, fortunately once you reach the top the view isn't the only thing that makes it worth the quite hideous effort. Standing at the top of the Kentmere valley a long singletrack stretches out of sight before you, and it's all top quality. The first few hundred feet are on steep switchbacks with one or two very tricky tight turns. Only the best will make it down this section cleanly but it's a real buzz if you do. Even if you couldn't ride it all, this has to be one of the most spectacular descents around.
Take it easy!
Just before this section levels out there are some steep rock steps which require careful consideration on anything less than a freeride bike, you don't want a big spill this far from the road. Matt made it down on his Giant Team The next section is rocky singletrack with stone built drainage channels crossing at intervals that will need a good hop to clear, most can be managed. This trail just never let's up, with embedded boulders, stream crossings and drop-offs you'll need all your skills and concentration to make it cleanly. Up above Kentmere Reservoir this long downhill does climb gently for a hundred yards or so, then it gets back down to business. The trail widens and crosses a peaty section then mixes up the whole peat and rock thing and throws in a steep drop which will scare you silly.
Turning Japanese
Next a grassy plain is crossed at warp nine avoiding humps and lumps, will this descent never end? Actually, no. A wide ford leads to a gentle doubletrack and finally on to the road, they think it's all over, it's not, quite. Straight across the road leads to an unpromising looking field, appearances can be deceiving! It soon turns in to a great trail with a huge solid slab stone bridge to cross, careful on that sharp edge now, Tom managed to pinch flat his rear by hitting it way fast, the gert big Kamikaze that he is. A quick tube change and we were off on more fast running trails with a final blast up to the road at Green Quarter, even when there isn't much height loss the trails round here are great.
Now you have a stark choice, climb back up on to Green Quarter Fell for some another top descent, or beg off home down the almost completely downhill back lanes. Yes you've guessed it, we chose the road, we were completely shot through!