- 1 night
- Wild camp at Wet Sleddale Reservoir
Phil decided to celebrate his birthday in style - with a boggy run around the Shap hills. James wanted to join him for the start, and given the 6:30am start, we decided to make the most of it and drive up the night before.
When we arrived up at Wet Sleddale, it was just starting to go dark and get chilly. We cooked our meal and got to bed.
It was great to see Phil, Claire and Jess in the morning and we had a little birthday cake before they set off on their run and I started my ride. Setting off at 7:30am, it was very cold, and my hands were freezing even under my winter cycling gloves. My route started out over the the disused concrete road, a road used only by United Utilities and locals for access. It’s bumpy, with occasional cracks in the surface, but it it pretty quiet and has great views. I then dropped down through Frith wood, and emerged on the Haweswater road. I’d wanted to ride this for a while, but it’s always super busy with tourists. Cycling it at 8am on a Friday morning meant I had it all to myself. I headed back the same way, detouring to visit the rather impressive Shap Abbey .
I got back to the van a little before James, and we headed into Shap for a chippy lunch and an obligatory trip to New Balance Outlet shop.