Birthday Bikepacking in the Lake District

How do you celebrate another year closer to arthritis? By heading out bikepacking in the Lake District! In a summer that has seen me graduate from university, ride my bike across the Alps & add my name to the Everesting hall of fame. There is one adventure that stands out from the rest – a midweek birthday adventure, bikepacking in the Lake District. My first overnight backpacking experience. The first of many more nights out under the stars, accessed by bike.

‘You’re alive, but are you really living?’ is a question everyone should ask themselves once in a while. There isn’t a more pertinent time to ask, than the day you become another year older.

Not happy with what you’re doing in the week, the path you’re on in life? Then change it. Working too much, don’t feel like you have time for yourself? Then stop working so much. A colleague recently said to me he doesn’t want to remember his twenties for being in the office too much. I felt for him, then remembered it’s completely his choice – he took the promotion and put himself in that position. He chose that life.

I get it, we all need cash to live. The more cash you get, the more expensive you find life becomes. Growth. Life phases. Excuses. We’re all guilty of it. Heck, I’m not one to turn down a bit of overtime here and there.

That said, with the endless summer nights, you simply have to make the most of them. Nothing shouts regret like the changing of seasons and looking back on all the summer plans that didn’t happen.

Sure, some things didn’t happen for me too. I made excuses too. But a lot did! I have fond memories dashing out of the office each evening, on the pursuit of adventure.

This summer I completed my bachelor’s of engineering degree, shortly before turning 24. With uni behind me, I felt free of a self-inflicted plague that had held me back for 4 years. How did I celebrate? I starting living a bit more.

Wednesday evening, sun shining, tearing up to the Lake District, heading out bike packing for the night.

You’re crazy. Why don’t you just wait till the weekend? Why don’t you just take a day off? I’m asked, as I return to the office the following morning, grinning from ear to ear. I can’t answer. I don’t even try. If you don’t get it, you still won’t no matter how well I portray it.

I guess I can’t really describe why. I mean there is a soft bed and all the comforts of home waiting for me after work. Why instead would I choose to ride my bike around the Lakeland fells, lugging my camping gear, eating dehydrated foods and sleeping on the floor in a tent – on my birthday, of all days!

Starting to feel that adventure tingle…?

The Coniston fells are home to some pretty awesome adventure. From mountains, to water sports, you can find it all in this southern corner of the Lake District. One such route, an old disused track links Coniston with the Duddon Valley. One of few properly remote valleys in the Lake District, home to some of the finest whitewater and vistas up to arguably the toughest road climb in the UK – Hardknott pass.

It’s a magnificent valley, but exposed to the elements. This valley catches its weather straight off the Atlantic, it’s the first place to know when it starts raining in the Lake District.

Walna Scar isn’t technical mountain bike terrain, it’s just steep, wide and fast. Either which way you descend, you’ll have to push your bike up the other side. I figured I would descend off the side back into Coniston, where I would park, allowing me to wake up from my campspot, ride downhill and drive back to work.

This meant the start of my route would head south. I would ride the ‘rideable’ section through Appletree Worth woods and over Broadslack, before descending into the Duddon valley. This really is Lakeland riding at its finest. From woodland, to open moorland. Becks rushing by. Farms and wildlife thriving. Vibrant summer skies. This is living. This was a birthday celebration befitting of the life I’ve chosen.

I continued late into the night. It got to 9pm before even realising what time it was. Such was the blissful nature of my surroundings. I was present, not living by deadlines or life worries. I had escaped. On a Wednesday evening. I couldn’t have felt further from the daily grind. Yet it was only a matter of hours ago I was dealing with engineering problems – and it would only be another few hours till I was at it again. This is the effect of the microadventure.

From the basin of the Duddon Valley, I began the dreaded push up Walna Scar. The ambient temperature remained mild & the air still, despite the fading light. Rain. We Brits know this humid feeling all too well. Rain would likely land overnight. I stripped my mountain bike layers off, the last thing I wanted was wet sweaty kit.

By 9.30 I had made it 85% of the way up. I was hungry. I found a flat spot. I found a water source. I called it my home for the evening. The beauty of bikepacking in the Lake District is you can get away with camping in most places – providing you follow a simple set of rules; leaving no trace, camp out of sight & do not make a nuisance of yourself. Move without question, if asked.

With my home set up & my sweaty body washed off, I set about my birthday meal. I like Italian and Mediterranean foods – particularly in the warmer months. Pasta bolognaise wouldn’t have been top of the list in a restaurant of my choosing, I would’ve likely gone with fish of some variety accompanied with roasted Mediterranean veg. Firepot don’t sell this as a dehydrated meal… yet. So I settled for pasta bolognaise. It was Italian and it was everything I needed that night. Simple and tasty. But it wasn’t followed by cake and candles.

Belly full of food and soul full of adventure, I crawled into bed smiling. I felt like I was breaking the rules. Sleeping out under the stars on a Wednesday evening isn’t allowed, is it? Of course it is, I told myself. The ‘live to work’ regime needs breaking. Here I was, doing just that. Breaking the nonsensical ‘norms’ of society.

Sure enough, the gentle patter of rain arrived in the early hours of the morning. Meh, I rolled right back over to sleep. My snoring no doubt keeping the nearby sheep & half of the Lake District awake.

5am. The dreaded iPhone alarm disturbed the valley. With dreary eyes, I sat up. My back a little stiff. Perhaps from being a year closer to arthritis, or perhaps from previously breaking it. Coffee. I needed coffee. Where did I put that kettle!

With the stove boiling and smell of fresh coffee filling the air, I came to my senses. It was 5.15am, I’d spent the night in the great outdoors and I was about to whizz back down a mountain pass on my bike. What a way to start the day, I certainly didn’t feel a year older!

With my kit decamped, my bike ready to roll & my mind coffee-sharpened, I headed up to the crest of the pass. The damp morning air filling my lungs. I savoured every second, for I knew I would soon be hammering back down the motorway to the bustle of daily worklife.

The descent was wicked fast. I was back before I knew it. Yet I felt content, ready to go back to work – I had no stress on my mind, no worries, no feeling of pressure. I could’ve carried on riding all day, but unfortunately that doesn’t pay the finance agreements for just about everything I own.

Life is a balance. I enjoy my job. I enjoy being busy. I enjoy the challenge and solving problems with my team, working with engineers across the globe. But equally I love to escape. It helps me appreciate the different aspects of life.

Another year older, another adventure under my belt & another smile on my face, I headed back to work. Leaving only footsteps (well, bike tyre tracks) & taking only memories, the birthday bikepacking adventure in the Lake District was over.

I guess what made this bikepacking adventure in the Lake District so special wasn’t the fact it was my birthday (I’m getting to the point where birthdays just mean I’m getting older!) it was the fact I was doing something totally new. Something I’d had my mind on for a while. I was linking up cycling with the added sense of freedom, only an overnight adventure can bring. In bikepacking I’ve really found my calling, it combines everything I enjoy & takes me to places otherwise inaccessible on day rides. I’m seeing and experiences things others can’t.

I live my life one adventure at a time, it’s a pretty awesome way to live.