This weekend we headed over to The Lake District (one of the UK's national parks) to take part in a charity mountain bike event. The JennRide is named after an editor of an MTB magazine who died from cancer a few years ago, a ride was organised to raise funds for the cancer hospice that cared for her and everyone liked it so much we pestered the organiser to do it again. Six years later and it's still going. The route changes each year but is usually around 160km (100 miles) but if you wish to take short cuts or do extra then it's up to you. Some people (I've done it myself) ride the whole lot is one go but most bivy out and take two days. Also Lakeland miles can best be described as "there's miles and there's Lakeland miles".
Just to be different this year I decided to take my hammock. Since the Saturday was our wedding anniversary any overnight site also had to be suitable for my wife to camp.
Some quick notes: UK national parks aren't like those in the USA - they were designated long after they'd been settled and farmed so you don't get the huge areas of wilderness, the designation is as much about the interplay of man and nature as the landscape itself. Wild camping is, with a few exceptions, illegal in England and Wales without the permission of the landowner. That doesn't stop a lot of it going on though! The usual guidelines of - arrive late, leave early and leave no trace - apply.
Three hundred had signed up but with all the various regulations in place rather than a mass group start we could set off when we wanted. From the off it was obvious that my wife wasn't in good shape, it turned out she had an ear infection, so we just went along steadily and we weren't too fastidious in following the exact route.
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My setup had all my bivy gear (hammock, tarp, top and under quilts) was mounted on the handlebars. Clothing, food and stove went in the saddle pack. Without food and fuel I'd about 5kg of bags and kit. I've still to sort out the best bag to use for hammock gear on the bike, this one is a bit narrow in girth for the harness.
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After a meal in a pub we headed off to find a bivy spot. I'd an idea of somewhere that might have been suitable but there wasn't any flat space for a ground dweller so it was on to plan B. This was a field just a couple of minutes further on. Flat area? check! Even better amongst the singleton trees there was just one pair of trees at the right distance. Used my whoopie slings for the first time.
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(Note: that dead limb is between the camera and my hammock so wasn't a threat)
The fine and clear weather (and the UK being a long way north) meant that it was still pretty light at 11pm so getting off to sleep took a while. A nature break in the middle of the night led to an attack of cramps (I'm prone to them) but a good sleep did follow. The diamond tarp pitch was nice and airy and I had no condensation issues. It will have been very light well before the 5am sunrise.
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Tried to lie-in but we needed to be on the move so got up about 6am. The midges hadn't heard that they don't like sunshine so we were in danger of becoming a midge smorgasbord that led to a quick breakfast of porridge then we were on our way by 0645.
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Need to make myself one of those little tables that Shug has
Got into the main town in the area at 0855, just in time for a second breakfast at a cafe where we were soon joined by quite a few other riders doing the event. Then it was a case of a couple (more) hills to get back to the start point.
Some scenic shots. I grew up in this area so very much where my heart is.
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Our bivy spot was on the ridge centre left just where there's a kink in the tree line.
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Oh, yeah. Cake
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