Steezy Lakeland 200 Project – Jade, the Mountain Goat.

On 18th March the Steezy Collective off-road recce crew headed out to tackle the Lakeland 200. Our resident Adventure Rep, Jade Field - the mountain goat, has rounded up the trip for Steezy.

In 2021 I saw an Instagram post about cycling the Way of the Roses with Cold Dark North and the Steezy Collective. I decided to get out my comfort zone and sign up, in search of a good time and some new cycling gal pals. It did not disappoint on either front, for getting over my nervousness and putting myself out there I was rewarded with a fun weekend cycling across England and I met some super rad women. Soon after I found myself a full member of the Steezy Collective Committee and being invited to join some other Steezies on an adventure. Of course, I said yes.

The plan was to tackle the Lakeland 200, a mountain bike ITT route taking in 200 km and 6,400 m of the best bridleway, singletrack and hikeabike the Lake District has to offer. Currently (according to selfsupporteduk.net) there are only 24 people who have finished the route within the 40 hour time cut off, and all of them are men. We decided that we were going to do things a little differently – to take the time to enjoy the views and the ride, to create a short film of our adventure, and to complete the route at a leisurely pace over 5 days. We also wanted to recce the route with plans of organising a Steezy Lakeland 200 bikepacking trip and/or a women’s mass start of the Lakeland 200 in the summer in order to get as many women on the finishers list as we could as soon as possible.

Being signed up for the 2022 HT550, a mountain bike race created by Alan who is also behind the Lakeland 200, I decided I would do the route on the gravel bike I was planning on riding the HT550 on, it’d be perfect training. Kitty and Taylor were on very nice full sus Hopes and Alice, Pau and Vanessa were on hardtails. We got fully kitted out with backcountry bike bags from Apidura and riding kit from Rapha. I got to try out a full frame bag (complete with bladder system for my water) for the first time, which I was not sure about at first but came to really appreciate. The Rapha MTB range kit was great quality, super comfy and crash proof! We had gotten trousers and long sleeve tops for riding in, which would have been perfect for the Lake District in March had we not had the pleasure of a very unexpected heat wave. Somehow we managed to get 5 days of glorious sunshine.

Setting off from Staveley we had an easy first day, enjoying very rideable gravel over to Troutbeck and a fun descent to Ambleside for lunch before climbing up into the Langdales. We set up camp near Iron Keld with excellent views of the surrounding hills and enjoyed ‘Something Good’ dehydrated meals for dinner. Not what I’d usually eat but I was very impressed. Delicious, filling and easy to carry! After an early night under a super bright full moon we woke up to an incredible sunrise across the fells and ice on the tents.

The next day we were treated to lots of rideable gravel and a very enjoyable long technical climb round Grizedale before heading over to Conniston. Due to the recent storms we ended up having to climb over or push round quite a lot of fallen down trees. After one especially long and arduous detour carrying our bikes through unrideable shrub-land Pau realised she had dropped her Wahoo. Incredibly she managed to find it in amongst the tree stumps and boggy ground. Lunch in Conniston and a very steep road climb, and we were climbing up past Conniston Old Man to Walna Scar Road. This was a really good climb. After a bit of hikeabike we reached the top and immediately headed down the other side as we were being battered by the winds. Sun set as we enjoyed a chunky descent down to Seathwaite. Unfortunately I managed to get our only puncture of the trip about 1km from the pub, hungry and not wanting to get cold I set off at a jog, shouting to the others I would meet them at the pub. I was expecting them to go whizzing past but due to some faffing and stopping to put good lights on I managed to get to the pub just as they caught up to me. A couple of hours later, warm and full, we headed out into the night and found a nice spot next to a river to set up camp.

Day three was totally epic. We got to enjoy a vast stretch of total wilderness between Dalegarth and Wasdale Head, climbing up to Bummor Tarn surrounded by gorgeous empty hills on all sides. Then we had the double whammy of getting over Black Sail and Scarth Gap. Arguably the hardest section of the route, we had to hikeabike for a long time as we skirted the edge of Kirk Fell. But it was incredible, I felt tiny as the hills towered over me. We made it on to the top in time for a quick coffee before hikeabiking down towards Black Sail YHA. The joy of being able to actually pedal didn’t last long and soon we had another steep push up Scarth Gap. The sun set as we reached the top, and we could see lights at the bottom of the valley below us as we carefully picked our way down to the road. At this point we decided that the sensible thing to do was to head on the road to Keswick where the YHA awaited us with showers and warm beds. We would miss out a little of the route, but it was getting cold and we had been slowed down by all the hiking. Just a little road climb, then it’d be an easy roll into Keswick. That little climb turned out to be Honnister Pass.

A very well earnt nights sleep and multiple trips up to the breakfast buffet saw us have a slightly late start the next day, but we were soon climbing up to the bottom of Skiddaw. The next section is one of my favourite bits of gravel in the Lakes, you skirt around the edge of Skiddaw and then Blencathra with stunning views and a pretty steep drop down into the valley. The Old Coach Road took us over to Pooley Bridge before we headed up through Martindale and Dale Head. A bit more hikeabike out of what appeared to be a bowl of hills turned into a fun bumpy descent to Brotherswater Inn and the best campsite in the Lake District (according to Alice).

The climb from Hartsop onto High Street was tough. Quite a bit more hikeabike unfortunately resulted in an Achilles injury for Vanessa, making the hikeabike even harder and our ascent even slower, but after alot of stopping to snack and enjoy the views we made it onto the top. The hills fell away from us on all sides as we rode along the top of High Street and peered down into the valleys below. A technical descent took us down to Troutbeck, and we decided that the best plan would be to head back to Staverly on the road, to ensure that Vanessa’s injury didn’t get any worse and to make sure I didn’t miss my train.

I rolled into Staverly feeling a strange mix of joy and sadness. We had spent so long slowly winding our way round the Lake District and yet the five days had completely flown by. I felt strong, fit and more confident in my off road skills than ever before. I had enjoyed every minute of the trip, even the hours of hikeabike, but I could feel the post-adventure blues creeping in already. The Lakeland 200 is a really tough route, but that makes it all the more rewarding. For every steep unrideable section (be it up or down) there is a beautiful view to stare at, a stretch of flowy single track to whoop down, an hour of being totally alone in the wilderness or a technical climb you surprise yourself by reaching the top of without a foot down. The good times don’t come easily, but they were all that more enjoyable knowing that we’d spent four hours carrying our bikes a couple of kilometers. Having great company certainly made the hard times easier, the hours of hikeabike passed quicker with great chat and friends to suffer with. I will most certainly be keeping my eye out for a good weather window to head back to the Lakes and have a go at completing the route within 40 hours, and I know I’m not the only one who was dreaming of getting back to the route on the journey home.

Steezy Lakeland 200 Project – Jade, the Mountain Goat.

On 18th March the Steezy Collective off-road recce crew headed out to tackle the Lakeland 200. Our resident Adventure Rep, Jade Field - the mountain goat, has rounded up the trip for Steezy.

More Articles

Leave a Reply Cancel reply