Helvellyn MTB loop - Is this the best bridleway in Britain?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ค. 2021
- Helvellyn MTB loop - Is this the best bridleway in Britain?
Helvellyn, at 955M tall, is the third highest mountain in England. It also has the highest bridleway, going all the way to the Summit with a number of options to descend (most of them bridleways too). For this ride, we picked my favourite loop going up Keppel Cove and then descended via Dollywaggon and Patterdale on a wonderfully clear and warm day.
Now Dollywaggon isn't everyone's cup of tea as it is rough as a butchers dog, being surfaced with set stones, big drainage ditches and pitched at enough of a gradient to make the whole experience a rough and tricky ride but the bridleway that follows it from Grisedale Tarn back to Patterdale is stunning. My favourite bridleway ever.
This was another best ride of the year with great mates, laughs galore and a raft of funny, frustrating and out of the ordinary experiences along the way. I think the lads enjoyed it; guess we will have to wait and see what they say in their videos!
Marc's channel used to be called TheGib MTB but is now HallMarc Trails: / @hallmarc_trails
Christian (Electric Mountain Biker): / @electricmountainbiker
Conor's channel, Conor_BeechMTB: / @beechiescootz
Shaun doesn't have a TH-cam channel. He has a ton of GoPros but what he does with the footage is a mystery!
I use a Stuntman chest harness, far better than the standard GoPro ones, offering more stability for the camera, more camera positions and much more comfortable. Click the link to get yourself one from Amazon. amzn.to/35tbq75 - กีฬา
![เกิดใหม่ทั้งทีก็เป็นสไลม์ไปซะแล้ว ซีซั่น 3 - ตอนที่ 64 [ซับไทย]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Pmsta0byEpk/mqdefault.jpg)
Yet again, you pulled another epic adventure out the bag for us. What I really love is seeing how you ride down, then comparing it to the lines I choose when walking down it 🤣
Fantastic edit of the day, and really loved it. Cannot deny there were points when I questioned what was I even doing, but they were fleeting thoughts as I was just so knackered 🤣
Cheers mate, was a proper good day for sure, for many reasons.
It's good to be a bit apprehensive at times as it keeps you concentrated. Everyone did really well on this ride, especially given how rough and full on it is.
Regarding my lines, I try and go for what looks to be the quickest route, even if it means going over rather than round the boulders. Doesn't always work out 😂
@@Stopadoodledoo we shall see at treat you have in store for us next then I guess 😍 a nice flow trail please 🤣🤣🤣 never going to happen I know!
@@ElectricMountainBiker There were a few of those yesterday mate, but you couldn't make it. As such, it's straight back to crazytown for you 😂
@@Stopadoodledoo I am soooooo lucky 🤣
Done this in 1994 with two other guys. Absolutely brilliant. None of our bikes had suspension!!!
I can only imagine how much you ached afterwards; Garburn was bad enough on rigid 90’s bikes 😃
Bloody love the look of that vitus!
Yeah, it's a proper lovely looking bike and judging by how he did, rides damned well too 👍
Brutal that mate, but again, stunning!
Dollywaggon is brutal mate, but kind of fun in an ‘oh my god’ kind of way.
The bridleway down Patterdale though, sublime 😃👍
@Stopadoodledoo looks pretty good mate, so long as you don't wreck your derailleur! 🤦♂️
@@MTB_Trekker fixed within minutes mate, thank God. I always carry a spare mech hanger with me 👍
Only just found this, absolutely great craic. You can certainly handle a bike. Well done being able to add commentary all the way through that - brilliant.
Thanks mate. It was definitely a challenge to keep on waffling on down Dollywaggon although not as challenging as when I did it in the snow, ice and gale force winds on Christian's eBike - thought I might die that day 😂
i used to run this route as a fell runner, just got an MTB Nukeproof Mega 275 cant wait to do this.
It’s so good mate, Dollywaggon is harsh but a bit of speed really helps; Patterdale is just heaven.
I have so much respect for fell runners; the speed you guys carry both up and down over harsh terrain is astounding 👍
@@Stopadoodledoo thanks mate, I’ve hung my trainers up now, 52 and wanted to do something different,went out getting used to the bike at the weekend, very impressed.
Another great tour with fantastic trails and scenery, well ridden, thanks for sharing mate. Ride on and have fun
Thanks. I love Helvellyn, so many great trails on it and on a clear day, teh views are truly spectacular 👍
Loved that..... Though it made me feel exhausted watching it. Really tough route and you bossed it 👌Always great to see the action gang out on the hills!
Cheers mate and yeah, it's a toughie alright but so good, especially on a day like this was.
I really should stop saying Action Gang as people may start taking me seriously and think that we actually refer to ourselves as that 😂
@@Stopadoodledoo 🤣
Awesome you guys look a fun bunch to be riding with, great ride! :)
Cheers mate. Yeah, they're a great bunch, we always have a proper good laugh and nobody takes themselves seriously (probably quite obvious from our videos), which makes a huge difference. No egos at all 👍
Love trails like that! Top video and top riding! 👍👍
Thanks mate, they're my favourite type of trail too 👍
The track down from the tarn is brilliant. I use it as a short blast on an evening and session parts. It has got all sorts of tech to practice on. Great video again Jason
Thanks. Totally with you on it having all sorts of technical challenges; roll-ins, tight sections, awkward climbs, the lot. I just love it 👍
Good forecast so hoping to do this one tomorrow; best eat some spinach for the arm pump
Nice one. Sorry, been away for a couple of days (Dyfi) so only just catching up with comments; how did you get on? Arms still working? 😃
@@Stopadoodledoo was out with my wife who fancied Sticks Pass so we did that instead. Gorgeous sunny day with some old snow still up on Great Dodd
If I ever need to give my bike a shake down I know where to ride, Jesus christ!! Fair play mate, taking it to the extremes!! Looks such an amazing place to ride, think I got arm pump just from watching!! Brilliant edit as always. Well done all 👊 No lid on that stuff is asking for it!!!
Well they did ask to ride it, even after seeing how I got on doing it on Christian's eBike the other week 😂
Helvellyn is something else, so many trails on it (and most of them bridleways). A lot of effort getting up but then you have massive techy descents (around 3000' descents).
As for the fool with no helmet, probably didn't want to wear one in case it messed up his hairdo. The strap from the typing wand is going to do that anyway 😂
Brilliant video mate, i dare say patterdale & dollywaggon aren't everyone's cup of tea but there's a certain sense of achievement for getting down them haha, i did love grizedale tarn, my favourite trail of the day 😃👍
Cheers mate and yeah, this is a ride that polarises opinion greatly, mainly because of Dollywaggon but as you say, the elation when you have got to the bottom of it (and your arms start working again) is incredible. And then you get the descent from the tarn to the bottom and that is just (in my eyes) sublime 👍
Just come across your channel and all i can say is absolutely spot on 😀 haha love your commentary, lol “he’s not actually paragliding he’s set off in his sleeping bag and his tents set off “ had me in stitches 😀 I’m a keen biker myself and look forward to watching some of your vids as i’m wanting to take my mtb up some mountains 👍🏼
Thanks mate, really appreciate that.
What's not clear from the footage is that the paraglider looked really grumpy for some reason, when you would expect him to have a Cheshire Cat grin. Maybe he'd farted in his bag thing and couldn't escape from it 😃
Getting up into the mountains on a bike is just amazing, they let you get to places that you may not otherwise go to and also be able to cover a lot of ground in a relatively short time 👍
@@Stopadoodledoo Haha spot on 😂 keep up the good videos, i’ll enjoy watching them and try some of your routes out.
Bridleway after dolly wagon looks awesome. Great riding as always. Me and ian from lake district rider were saying how good/fast rider you are when we met up that day. We were just down the road at haweswater
It's an awesome bridleway Andy, a real shame that you and Lake District Rider couldn't join us - I'll give you more of a warning next time 👍
Looking forward to seeing what you got up to at Haweswater.
Looks like a fun place to ride 😃👍 nice channel mate, subbed 🔥🤟
Thanks mate, appreciate it. Helvellyn is so good, so many trails on it and all are massive descents 👍
Totally Brilliant mate ! It’s a real testament to your riding skills and the endurance quality of a modern day mtb . You really suckered Marc n Christian…..fancy asking your young daughter to make up benign friendly names for some of those crazy trails …..Dolly Mixture Waggon and Patta Cake Patterdale ! Watching you is like watching a Brendog vid ( plus loads of witty comments ) ……Marcs version tells the true story for us amateurs 👍
Cheers mate and yeah, they fell for it with the trail names 😂 Still need to show them Seldom Seen, which sounds mysterious and hidden, but is incredibly exposed and fun 😃👍
That looks amazing another great video
Looks way to tech for my skills for sure but one day
I did go to whinlatter last weekend and loved it
Thanks mate. It is a bit full on but definitely something to aspire to; Sticks Pass, the other well known descent, is nowhere near as rough.
I'm a bit hard on Whinlatter (and trail centres in general). The biggest downer for me was that the only time I have done it, the two previous days rides had been Ullock Pike, and then Whiteless Pike & Rigg Beck so it felt utterly tame in comparison.
I've got mates who love it there 👍
@@Stopadoodledoo
Yeah I get exactly what you mean mate I'd love to do the natural ones around the lakes but I don't know the lakes at all its only 1 hour away for me but I just dont know it and my skills are limited at the moment
Loving the vids though 👌
@@jasondarbyshire_photography A great starting place is Grizedale Forest, but using the bridleways rather than the North Face trail. Most of them are more technical (and natural) than Whinlatter but not to a level where you won't be able to cope.
I did a ride round Claife and Grizedale last September (up on TH-cam and Strava too - Jason Thomas (Stopadoodledoo) on there 👍
@@Stopadoodledoo
Thankyou very much I will definitely give that a go fully appreciated mate 👍😀
Great riding - and fully agree on lack of helmets. Bonkers.
Thanks; it's a shame that you and Andy (Trail Finder) couldn't join us on this one, I believe he was going to suggest it to you.
No helmet down there is just stupid; the two lads looked way out of their depth, we watched them basically walk the section from the climbers hut to the bridge so God knows how they fared higher up. I guess the fact that they walked it was a godsend, really.
Bizarrely, they asked Christian where Helvellyn was as that's where they were heading 😳
Yeah he did mention it. I'll get up Helvellyn again at some point but giving it a swerve at the moment after breaking a rib up there in the autumn.my bike landed quite heavily on my head during that crash, which underlines the stupidity of not wearing one. Sounds like they were very clueless about what they were doing without any appreciation of what they were getting into. Helvelyn is for experienced riders only I would say.
@@Lakedistrictrider Was that the crash on Raise where you were riding with Andy? If so, I saw both of your videos and it looked like a nasty one and one of those that just happens instantly (the worst kind as you're not prepared)
Yeah that's the one mate. One of those slow motion ones that seem to hurt more. Actually the pain didn't really kick in for a couple of days but then kept me off the bike for ages. Its the risk of the sport when bouncing over loads of pointy rocks and we accept it as part of the game hey. Bloody hurts when it goes wrong though 👍
Never been biking in the lakes. Really need to have a go. Think skiddaw and ullock or whatever it is will be on the list soon.
You really should make the trip mate, Peaks on steroids and I know you love your big mountain rides. Ullock is wonderful but a bit of a controversial one to film; it was a video from there that Tommy C decided not to publish!
@@Stopadoodledoo ah. I wondered which video he was getting grief about. I've been riding without the gopro a few times lately. It takes over the ride sometimes 👍
@@Ruffest Absolutely mate, it's like a weight has been lifted from you when you leave the camera at home
Enough to rattle your feckin fillings loose 👍
It's a rough one for sure mate 👍
I felt beat up just watching that 😵
Yeah, it's a bit brutal. I was sore the next day 😃
Hello I did this route started at patterdale up grizedale tarn up dollwaggon but did on 🍊 phase ebike hike a bike 24kg bike up dollwaggon the down stick pass I used 2 bar off 🔋 on this route.
Wow, I bet that was painful pushing the eBike up Dollywaggon. When I took Christian's (Electric Mountain Biker) eBike over Helvellyn back in May, I managed to ride a massive chunk of the way up, going via Keppel Cove, and that was despite there being a fair bit of snow on the trails higher up. If you plan to do Sticks again, I would ride up Keppel and then at the top of the zig zags, turn right and go over Raise; pretty sure that would be 100% rideable on an eBike, and you wouldn't be missing much by not going over the summit.
@@Stopadoodledoo i was push my bike after the stone 🏠 up to grisedale tarn
@@ashleyscarth8363 I don't even want to imagine what that was like 😳
Great video! Gale force winds last time I was there with my dog, could almost fly her like a kite on her lead !! Is the descent you took on KOMOOT?
Thanks Mitch. We got lucky with the wind on this day although it was a bit stronger up there than the 5mph that Christian told us had been forecast. When I went up at the start of May on Christian's eBike, the wind was so strong that it lifted the back end of his bike up and swung it round when I was pushing it!
Not sure the route is on Komoot but would be surprised if it isn't, as it's pretty well known and all legal (bridleway from start to finish) 👍
Cheap parking too! Great route,
Cheers, it is a great route but you feel battered by the time you get back to the car. I didn't know about the cheap parking at Patterdale Cricket Club myself until last year, saves a fortune over parking at Glenridding. Not sure if it's only available when there's no cricket matches on though!
@@Stopadoodledoo most times now, we tend to park there, Dolly would sort a lot of mtbikers out, brutal,
@@werdna230667 Yeah, I didn't want to say it in the video but Dollywaggon is not a trail for someone who is inexperienced or, dare I say it, someone who has mostly ridden nothing but trail centres before.
I want to do this with my son next year but I haven’t got a clue which way to go and would definitely get lost.
Can you give me a summary of the route or something on an app like Komoot.👌🏻
Hi Danny. The route is pretty easy in general and it is on my Strava account (search for Stopadoodledoo) but basically, park at Patterdale Cricket Club (cheaper than anywhere else), ride to Glenridding and go up towards the YHA. Follow the main bridleway towards Keppel Cove and up the zigzags. At the top, turn left and head for the summit.
From the summit, head South down the wide trail and when it levels out, bear left and climb towards Dollywaggon Pike, following the trail down the roughest descent ever to Grisedale Tarn.
When you reach the tarn, follow the bridleway that heads eastwards down Patterdale, all the way back to the cricket club.
The only bit that you need to be careful of is making sure you are on the bridleway to Dollywaggon (there will be lots of people to ask, trust me 😉) as if you take the wrong one, you may end up dropping down Birk Side to Thirlmere - another great descent but obviously takes you away from where you need to be.
I am sure you will both love it. It’s a big climb but a fair chunk of it is rideable. The Dollywaggon descent is brutal, not overly technical but exhausting (arm pump like you wouldn’t believe) although the descent from the tarn down Patterdale is sublime.
@@Stopadoodledoo Thanks mate that’s awesome. I’ll get training in the new year.We want to do it for charity.We’ll both be on hard tails to add a bit of spice.👌🏻
@@DANNY842002 if you do Dollywaggon on hardtails, I will definitely sponsor you 👍😃
@@Stopadoodledoo 😂😂cheers.I’ve added you on Strava. I’ll let you know when it’s all in place 👌🏻
Looks like it’s like riding through a minefield let me know when you’re doing it again I might come and join you if I can afford the petrol money
It is a bit mate, massive rocks everywhere and in places (on Dollywaggon), pretty steep too. Not sure when I'll be doing this loop again but Christian has challenged me to a race, him on his eBike and me on my Orange, see if I can claw him back on the descent from the big advantage he will have on the climb 😃
Ps what was the spare part you took with you, a full mech or just part of one, be good to check this out as I’m planning lakes soon cheers
It's a mech hanger. Basically, it's there to fail before your frame or mech does, and did it's job on this ride. You can't see it in the footage but there are gouges on the mech where it caught the rock. if the hanger bolts hadn't gone, I'd be looking at a big push and an expensive day.
@@Stopadoodledoo I’ll look into taking a spare in future I think, looks like it could make a lot of sense cheers :)
@@carlsmtb3171 Definitely worth having mate as even if they don't go, they can bend and make your shifting awful. I have been known to batter one straight before with rocks (on my old Strange Alpine Five, on a night ride) - a pain to say the least but meant I could carry on 😃
This is where the 29er comes in,
Maybe, yeah. I remember Dollywaggon being a lot rougher on my old 26" Patriot but it was just as good down Patterdale Common (it was a bit of a special Patriot - a prototype with a slack head angle)
That looks epic jason! Knackering but epic all the same, well done great video👌
@@peterhaworth6859 Thanks mate and yeah, it's knackering but totally worth it 👍
Theres a lot of Miaow Miaow
Thanks, I think 😂
Don't think we did Helvellyn when you came up, did we mate? Maybe you need to make a return trip at some point, legacy Stopadoodledoo Crew weekend 👍
@@Stopadoodledoo on my 26inch hard tail….I’d be broken by the end of that!!
@@domlongman185 To be fair, your old Rocky Mountain would probably have been a bit wobbly by the end too 😃
What a place, looks great fun to ride or in my case walk most of it🤣🤣. I don’t understand the mentality of some people, why would you ride a place like that with no helmet on, what a muppet.
It is great up there John, and so many options for which way to descend (this being one of the roughest). As for the plonker with no helmet on, given how rough and rocky Patterdale is, it beggars belief. They were both on Specialized Levos but looked like they didn't know what they were doing at all - the fact that they asked Christian where Helvellyn was as that is where they were heading says it all really. I wonder if they made it over and back, as I assume they had come from the Grasmere side if they were thinking of heading up to the summit. Would have been pushing it on battery life if they did (although they were taking it so easy on the smooth section at the end, I managed to pass them with ease)