The Lake District is somewhere I have ridden a few times but I have never spent more than a few days at a time there, so this year to spend a week in the Langdale valley was a great opportunity to really get a feel for the amount of riding the lakes has to offer.

We had a true week of winter weather from snow blizzards up on the tops in the Kentmere valley to sunshine around Loughrigg to being snowed into the valley for a day! The rocky nature of most of the Lakes trails means that they are perfect for a winter riding trip as they can still be ridden in all weathers. We barely had to clean any mud off our bikes, but we certainly tested the waterproof capabilities of our shoes and shorts over the week…

Riding natural terrain is also something that I have found myself doing less of over the years, mainly due to the increase in man-made trails and their adoption into the race scene. I recently realised that nearly all the XC races I did last year where on a majority of man-made trails and even a lot of the DH and enduro races in the UK are trail centre based. It reminded me that before we had trail centres this is all we used to ride, natural terrain with no berms, jumps and no arrows to follow!

Natural riding, I believe, is a much greater challenge for your skills as the conditions of the trail constantly change and especially as the climbs haven’t been made to gently get you up the hill with a nice series of switchbacks, it’s often just straight up the steepest most direct route.

The trails are not a nice 1m width of endless singletrack, they are wide, rock-strewn tracks where you need to pick good lines to keep your flow and avoid punctures on every descent. It really is true riding there, and  is a perfect spot for mountain biking in the winter. Three days of big rides in the Lakes left me feeling thoroughly beaten up, a feeling of a complete body work out.