The rock climbing and (mostly) the gardening meant we needed a rest day – our hands and backs were wrecked! Of course a rest day didn’t mean a day of idleness…
Past trips to Borrowdale (in the Eastern Fells) have been either quite chilly (f’in freezing) or ended in near benightment and tears. Today however, we enjoyed more of the glorious Spainish sunshine! π
with Kendal somewhere in the distance behind
On the second long climb up to the summit of Breasthigh Road we were over taken by a group of three Land Rovers crawling up the RUP. This sort of off-road driving has been banned on almost all of the Lakeland tracks, but Borrowdale is just outside the park so it continues here. It does look like great fun, and it’s really quite impressive how the Land Rovers cope with the massive (0.6m) drops and steps in the rocky track. But it’s also more than a little troubling how they churn up the loose ground! At one point on the descent to Borrow Beck the loosened rock, gravel, and stone on the track has been gouged out to create a channel perhaps 2 metres deep and as wide as a Land Rover. Not good.
I can see this track being closed to 4x4s soon if the National Park’s plans to extend their boundaries to include Borrowdale go ahead. Perhaps that’s a good thing?
Anyhow, we had our revenge. Mountain Bikes are way faster than 4x4s going down hill, I blasted past the three Land Rovers on the exciting descent. I could hear the CB broadcasting from the tail vehicle through the open windows of the lead vehicle as I went past, “… there’s a crazy biker on the grass to your left, watch out!”
Needless to say, I wasn’t quite as mad as Pete on the descent. In fact I walked much of it because the churned up ground and loose boulders were just too tricky for me. But despite walking I still caught up with the land rovers.
Amusingly enough, the only time I fell off the bike was while I was stationary waiting for them to move on – doh! I don’t think they noticed tho’ because they were too busy watching out for Pete. π
The off-roading did look fun, and reminded me of adventures in the Ghost, so I’ve got mixed views about it. I think they try to fix the road up, but it has already been spoilt for my skill level. I suppose mountain bikes make a mess of tracks as well, just not quite to the same extent. π