Last year I had a bash at this with some naivety that all 200km loops are about as tough as each other. I'd done the Kielder100 loop without incident so thought this would be fine. I changed my mind towards the top of Black Sail Pass. My extensive bikepacking setup took every ounce of energy to haul up the very un-ridable bridleway. Then the reserve tank to carry down the equally un-ridable other side. The comfort of a tent, big sleeping bag, mat etc doesn't compensate for the pain of having to carry all the kit up the hill.
This year I changed tactic and went for a night start. On a recent local Dales loop I set off after tea and this worked really well. If you have to ride a night, why not when you are fresh? For the Lakeland200 this has the effect of reaching some of the hard bits in daylight (mainly Blacksail) where as for me last year a 6AM start from Staveley saw me yanking my bike up as night began. The easy bits (1st quarter + Honister to Keswick) get done at night. The downside is that I didn't hit any towns during business opening hours. I would have paid a king's ransom for a bacon butty.
The other change I made was to go very light. As light as I thought I could get away with. I have a PHD light bag with Dryshell that on wet grass works fine without a bivi bag. With zero rain forecast this is all I took. After an hour of rain on the second night I realised there wasn't much point lying on the ground imagining the luxury of a big plastic bivi bag and carried on. Some gambles pay off....
Those that have read my replies to LL200 posts may have realised how much I hate this route. Not just because it beat me but because my idea of a bike ride is where you get to pedal a lot. The LL200 isn't like that. There is a lot of carry. Carrying up very steep hills is a major component. Carrying down the other side factors highly too. My idea of a bike ride is where you show off the best bits of the area. The LL200 isn't like that. I genuinely wanted to never ride there again although I'm certain there really is good riding to be had.
The LL200 is a real test of strength. It is much harder than the 2013 BB200. The 40 hour limit to get your name on the board is not generous it is realistic. If you get your name on there you should be very proud of yourself.
At about 6PM on Saturday I flew past my car in Staveley with no intention of braking until outside the chippy to reduce all risk of the shop running out of sources of calories. I was in a bad way energy wise and to be honest not safe to have been on the hills any longer. High Street finished me off. I was over the 40 hour mark (about 43) so no honour list for me. However, the biggest prize is not having to ever do it again.
My tips:
- If you are doing it against the clock, realise this is a seriously hard route which takes you up some serious peaks. While I'm a novice at long distance biking I have a lot of mountain sense/experience and was glad of it. Navigation is fairly easy with a GPS (all paths are obvious) but the remoteness and steep rocky terrain mean there are significant risks. If I could have taken extra thing on the ride it would have been a second rider.
- Takes tubes. I had three pinch flats during the second quarter. There are lots of sharp rocks on the ground and a lot of well made paths with sharp edged water channels. Admittedly my heavy rear wheel (Rohloff) had a lot to do with this. My full suss would not have had the issue. I rode the last 30 miles with no method to mend another which meant slowing on the downs to avoid costly mistakes. No village shops stock patches/tubes.
- For climbing this technique worked really well for me: Empty bike contents into rucksack, sling bike onto back so bottom tube rests on top of rucksack, climb hill. The two minutes spent transferring load are well spent.
- Water: There is lots of it. If you have a filter you might only need one bladder/bottle. One of those filter-bottles that Keep Peddling sell would be perfect as streams are everywhere (as well as pissing sheep).
- Food: Tricky one. I passed a lot of closed shops on the first quarter (night time through to early morning). I then rode around Keswick to find nothing but the petrol station open at 8am. I was glad to have bought plenty. There are loads of places to buy supplies so it is a case of plotting where you'll be at certain times.
- Some bike shops don't open until 10AM. The two LBS locations I saw are Grizdale and Keswick. No other types of shop stock bike spares.
- Watching a black swirling tornado near the monument on High Street. Walkers scurrying everywhere. Sheep not bothered.
- Boy to father "wow a biker.....up here"
- Walker on High Street asking for help in locating his destination town (fancy map, no idea how to use it). I pointed at the town shaped thing in valley bottom.
- Helping lone walker to safety near Black Sail YHA. He was late down after night fall and you can't see your own feet without a light so just sat where he was. He couldn't even tell he was two minutes from the YHA. A lesson for us all there (spare emergency light).
- Lying down on the first (cloudless) night and whilst eyes adjusted to the billion stars a shooting star performed its final dance directly overhead.
- Fish, chips, curry sauce.
- Smile on face as I drove home.
If you are experienced, strong and wanting to properly test your mental/physical performance this should be on your list (as an ITT). If you want to experience some great Lakeland riding consider doing it (or a variation) as a multi day route. The difference between a sub 40 hour and multi day exploration is massive.
