Lakeland 200??

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Mike
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Lakeland 200??

Post by Mike »

Has anyone had a go at this route? Im off now and thinking of giving it ago! Not sure ill be getting it done in under fourty hrs though but will try my hardest. Does anyone know if the route will be rideable this time of yr due to long grass etc? It looks bloody hard with a lot of hike-bike sections :D
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FLV
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Re: Lakeland 200??

Post by FLV »

If I know alans routes, which I only do from the HTR, it will be properly hard.

I'm familiar with half the route and I reckon it looks doable. I thought his time limit was 52hrs.

I fancy a bash myself but around late september when its cooler
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Mike
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Re: Lakeland 200??

Post by Mike »

its says 40 hrs on the net, im going to ride it this week hopefully :D
slarge
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Re: Lakeland 200??

Post by slarge »

Considering this myself in early September. I have a couple of days granted as a short bike holiday - would be interested to know how you get on.
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greenmug
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Re: Lakeland 200??

Post by greenmug »

I'm considering a crack at this starting Sat 31st Aug at first light. Dependant on new bike being ready.

If anyone rides some/all of it, an update on conditions would be appreciated.
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greenmug
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Re: Lakeland 200??

Post by greenmug »

Hi all, I've waited a couple of days to calm down before writing this....

I did (some) of the LL200 this weekend. Set off at 6AM on Saturday and by the end of the first 50KM thinking it was quite easy (a lot of tarmac). At 10PM on saturday I was bivying on top of Black Sail Pass using up an entire year's worth of swear tokens. I calculated that time wise the first half of the route involves MUCH more bike carying than peddling. I'd done 100K in 14 hours but spent at least four carying at a very slow pace.

I really don't get the route. I'm sure the Lakes has some amazing riding but the route seemed to not consider cycling, just a good route.

On Sunday I peddled the route to pretty much Keswick and calculated that if the second half involved as much slow going as the first I would not make it back to the car by night so I rode the roads back to Stavely. I actually really enjoyed the scenary after that point and the ability to stop and have a bacon butty without checking the stop watch.

If you are going for the sub 40 hour (like I was) then consider the mega-ultra-light weight option (emergancy kit only). I know a friend of a friend who is considering this. There is a lot of lifting bike over rocks rather than just pushing and I would have saved an hour on Black Sail alone if I could have easily carried the bike rather than lift/push/carry/drop.

While I hated it until I stopped rushing around, I learnt some excellent lessons. I'd love to do some more riding in the Lakes. Perhaps not this route :)



A couple of questions for those that have done the whole loop:

1) how much bike push/carry does the second half involve compared to the first?
2) How does this 200(ish)km route compare to the BB200 route?
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Bearbonesnorm
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Re: Lakeland 200??

Post by Bearbonesnorm »

How does this 200(ish)km route compare to the BB200 route?
I've not ridden the Lakeland 200 but it sounds like the BB 200 has much more rideable terrain. Infact if you had the legs and lungs I'd estimate that over 95% is rideable.
May the bridges you burn light your way
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