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On a weekday in April this year I had a whole day to myself and since the weather was set fair, it was the perfect opportunity to get out and enjoy some riding with no one to please but myself.  The combination of a GoldWing and some decent biking roads is a huge blessing for which I am always grateful and never take for granted, even for a moment.

And since it was some time since I been anywhere near Wast Water, the hauntingly beautiful lake on the western side of the Lake District, that was the place that came to mind to head for.  By virtue of its relative inaccessibility, it’s steep-sided and dramatic appearance and its lack of development, Wasdale and indeed the Western Lakes as a whole, are a world apart from the Lake District which most of the tourists get to see.  So that was it then, off I would go to the Western Lakes.

The English Lake District is a beautiful area, arguably one of the most scenic in the UK and it’s also blessed with some very attractive biking roads, some of which are not without challenge, even to a fairly experienced rider.

Generally however the roads provide easy and pleasant riding – or they would do if it wasn’t for the tourist traffic.  In summer and especially at weekends, there is lots of tourist traffic, particularly in the parts of the Lake District which are easy to get to and have immediate attraction to visitors such as Windermere.  If you are planning a Ride Out to the Lakes, especially at weekends, you need to give some thought to traffic and its avoidance.

Since I am planning some circular rides for a new type of GoldWing rally we’re organising for August this year, based in Kirkby Lonsdale, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and make my day out a recce for a circular ride starting and finishing there to the Western Lakes, where traffic is lighter.

Kirky Lonsdale is a lovely little town which is also handily placed for the wonderful choice of scenic biking roads with which the North West of England is based, which explains why one of the North West’s most popular biker’s meeting places is just outside Kirkby Lonsdale at the quaintly named Devil’s Bridge which crosses the River Lune and dates from the 14th Century.  At weekends parking near “The Bridge”, as it’s known to bikers locally, is reserved exclusively for motorcycles and a hundred or more will usually be gathered there, with a constant flow of bikes arriving and leaving.  Needless to say there is a well-used (and well run) refreshment shack on site too.  At almost any time on any day of the week throughout the year there will be at least some bikes at the Devil’s Bridge.

Needless to say the Butty Shack which lives there next to the Bridge itself does a roaring trade; it’s almost worth going there to watch the staff in action at weekends, so efficiently do they serve vast numbers of people with food and drinks.  How five or six people can work in such a small space, because it’s only an old showman’s caravan, beats me.  Oh, and the tea, coffee and food is good too, if a little on the expensive side by biker’s standards – but then the last time this Shack changed hands it sold for £240,000, and that was just for an old caravan and the right to take over the Council’s licence to sell refreshments from the site.

On this particular day however I gave “the Bridge” as it’s known locally, no more than a cursory glance as I rode past.  I had ridden from my home in Central Lancashire on the M6 to get past Lancaster, which is always worth by-passing because of traffic, leaving at Junction 34 to take the A683  North Eastwards towards Kirkby Lonsdale.  This is a good road with some nice bends but you need to beware of on-coming traffic, including from bikers who might well be over-doing things.  It’s that sort of road.

From Kirkby Lonsdale I took the A65 to head back towards the M6 again and then, with a brief stop for a photo of another, much cheaper, Butty Van on the route,  the old A65 into Kendal.  Kendal isn’t straightforward to ride through because they have a one way street system to make you go around the shopping centre and it’s far simpler to continue on the dual carriageway A591 towards Windermere.  But Kendal’s not too bad to negotiate and there’s something about the place which I like; its pretty and pleasant. Nice shops too so be warned; stopping there with a pillion passenger can be costly.

Maybe it’s also that the A65 into Kendal provides the last opportunity to top up with fuel at civilised rates at the Asda Store, which you pass on the outskirts as you approach Kendal on the A65 .  Generally speaking buying fuel anywhere else in the Lake District involves premium prices.  Not that I’m a mean about these things but I am a Lancastrian and Lancashire Thrift, while not as conspicuous or exercised with such pride as the Yorkshire equivalent, is built into my genes.

The A591 is the main route into the heart of the Lake District but traffic flows reasonably well along it even on Summer weekends,  at least for the first nine miles or so to the roundabout where it meets Windermere Road, coming out of Kendal, which is the route I took.  The rest of the A591 towards Windermere is mostly single carriageway and much of it is marked with double white lines; it’s a busy road, ill suited to enjoyment by a motorcyclist so it’s best avoided.

A much better and more scenic alternative for bikers to the rest of the A591 is the B5284, which cuts  across country directly to Bowness.  This road  starts at the roundabout where the A591 meets the road coming out of Kendal but is easy to miss because the signs encourage the tourist traffic to stay on the A591.  The B5284, it provides a better biking road and usually carries less traffic.

But it is easily missed.  If you have used the A591 from the motorway junction nine miles later you will find yourself riding downhill towards a large, funny-shaped roundabout.  If you have ridden through Kendal as I did you will approach this same roundabout from the South East along Winderemere Road.  Either way you need to look for the relatively inconspicuous Westwards turn on to the B5284, which is also signposted to the village of Crook. This is a pleasant road which can be fairly traffic-free even in the busy tourist season.  There are even a few attractive-looking watering holes along the way too.

As the B5284 drops downhill towards Bowness it meets A5074, which you can use to turn right directly into Bowness Town if you wish.  But it’s better to take a left-then-right jink, following the signs to Hawkeshead Ferry, to continue further downhill towards the Lake to reach the A592, coming up the lakeside from the South.  Turning right along this road takes you directly to Bowness’s pretty Waterfront area, where Lake Windermere’s fleet of passenger launches are based.

Turning left into Glebe Road just as you reach Bowness Waterfront leads to parking opportunities.  Parking on the roadway is permitted and you might find somewhere to squeeze a bike in, but it may also be necessary to use one of the car parks further round.  Car Parks in the lake District vary in their hospitability to motorcycles and some are free, but there are also dire warnings about parking only within marked bays so it will pay to read the signs carefully in each case.

Bowness Waterfront is a pretty spot to pause to soak in the view and buy an ice cream if you can find a space.  On a quiet weekday early in the season I cheekily drew onto the pavement to take a picture and no one bothered me, indeed one of the Boatmen, who was having a quiet time, cam over for a chat.  But I wouldn’t bank on getting away with that at weekends or for a group of bikes.

From Bowness I followed the minor local roads, staying as close as possible to the lakeside,  by-passing Windermereand there are a couple of pull-ins which provide photo opportunities along this shore.  Eventually you rejoin the A590 heading North for Ambleside and when you get to Waterhead, which is Ambleside’s lakeside bit, there is another small pull in and a fairly large car park.  The Watereside Inn is litterally on the lakeside on the left and has its own (gravel) car park and is a pleasant place to stop for lunch.

One of the options leaving Waterhead is to turn left toward Coniston but on this occasion I followed the signs for the A591 to Keswick.  On a Summer weekend the road between Ambleside and Keswick would not be much fun for a biker but on a weekday in April it was delightful and I had no difficulty overtaking such traffic as I encountered.

Keswick is another attractive place to stop for a break, as is Grassmere.  There is however a distinct shortage of space at the roadside to pull over and take a picture along this road.  I found the odd one or two which were big enough to stop on the bike for a picture but they all had No Waiting signs.  The Park Authorities like to keep this road clear and I suppose it would get completely clogged up if the tourists were allowed to stop for the pictures they would want to take.  There are some very photogenic views along this road.  The A591 between Ambleside and Keswick is stunningly attractive, especially the wonderfully named Pass of Dunmail Raise.

And there aren’t that many overtaking opportunities on the Lake District’s roads either because they are often narrow and twisty with only limited view of the road ahead. Even to advanced motorcyclists who have learned to take best advantage of views of the road ahead to spot up-coming overtaking opportunities, those opportunities can be hard to come by.  But the Western side of the Lake District is different and even at weekends the roads are less crowded and more open.  While the lanes leading to the more isolated Western Lakes are still narrow and twisty, the main roads are more open, with faster, sweeping bends and the combination provides some excellent riding.

The Lake District is a National Park and by British standards it’s quite a big one.  It consists of a group of large hills (or small mountains) among which are lots and lots of lakes in the valleys and there are also lots of tarns, which is the name given to the smaller lakes which form at higher altitudes among the mountains.  And mountains they are in the Lake District, even though by international standards they are of modest size and even in Summer they can provide a formidable challenge to walkers as well as climbers, so the local Mountain Rescue organisation is not there for fun.  Likewise there are several high passes on the roads between the mountains which are not straightforward to ride, so as well as being very easy on the eye, the Lake District can provide challenging riding too.

To get to the Western Lakes you have a choice of riding around the mountains or going over a combination of two mountain passes which run East/West and more or less goes across the middle.  The Wrynose and Hardknot Passes are very scenic and they are also do-able on a GoldWing but they are not for the feint-hearted and they are not without risk.  I have ridden this route many times and it is always something of a buttock-clencher, even when you know what to expect, especially the Hardknott.

And last time I did it, during 2009, the road surface had deteriorated so badly that it made the challenging combinations of very steep turns and nasty cambers of this route too dangerous for my taste.  The Wrynose Pass is less severe and there is an alternative to the Hardknott via a jink South through Ulpha, but unless you really are into challenging yourself, the Wrynose and Hardknott are best left to the masochists of the biking community.  It’s not somewhere I would recommend for a GoldWing club ride out.

So on my ride to the Western Lakes, since it was early in the year and midweek,  I opted for the main road through the centre of the Lake District, the A591 between Windermere and Keswick, although I did make a diversion through Borrowdale to take in the Honister Pass, which is also scenic and steep but not particularly challenging or hazardous.  There is also a nice Cafe and car park at the summit of Honister Pass at a Slate Quarry, which is an unusual, useful and interesting refreshment stop.

I have distant recollections of being taken through Borrowdale and over Honister Pass in the early nineteen fifties as a young child in my Dad’s 1931 Standard Big Nine.  It was a box-shaped car with yellowed windows and already over twenty years old and its top speed was probably something like 45 mph, so an excursion of this sort was a major undertaking.

When we got the the climb up Honister Pass my mother, sister and I were all required to get out a walk while Dad reversed the car up the hill because reverse gear had a lower ratio than first and this was considered to be the only way to get the low powered car up it.  How times have changed; with 125 horse power at its disposal my GoldWing climbed the hill effortlessly in third gear, only sometimes needing to drop to second.

Keswick is another very nice place to spend an hour or two if you have the time and it’s not a bad idea to stop briefly anyway to check your map because finding the road out of Keswick towards Borrowdale is not that easy – but it is well worth the effort.  Borrowdale is an open, flat pastureland valley which is quite simply  beautiful.  Riding through it more or less on my own, with only the occasional encounter with other traffic was a real privilege.

It’s not a place to be riding through at pace, as I often enjoy in other parts of the Lake District when the roads are quiet, to exercise motorcycling skills; it’s a quiet and peaceful valley where you can mosy along taking in view after view in a most relaxing way.  If you are in any way up tight with life and its pressures I can recommend Borrowdale as a place to go to in order to unwind.  You pass Buttermere and Crummock Water on your way to Honister Pass and it’s only an extra 10 miles compared with the direct route from Keswick to Cockermouth along the A66, so well worth the diversion.  As you turn in to Borrowdale you are leaving the busier, tourist areas of the Lake District and it really should start to feel like a different world.

And no more beautiful places in the world, at least in my eyes, can there be than Ennerdale Water and Wast Water.  You can ride your bike to within a couple of hundred yards of the lakeside at Ennerdale and then you have to walk.  And there’s no pub or cafe, just a bench or two and a lovely, completely quiet and beautiful place. So this is where I sat to eat my sandwich, drink from my flask and soak in the peacefulness of it all for half an hour or so.

And then of course, as a motorcyclist who has a wonderful bike parked only a few yards away, the urge to do so more riding came on.  It is possible to ride from Ennerdale towards Wast Water using the minor roads, at least as far as Calderbridge, but I chose to head for the A5086 near Cleator and then to join the A595 to Gosforth, to make better time.  The A595 is a very good motorcycling road with plenty of opportunity to ride at pace and to overtake as necessary if you are so inclined; this openness also made it suitable for coping with the Help for Heroes Ride too, as it headed Northwards towards Cockermouth.  But on a weekday in April I had it almost to myself and the ride to Gosforth where I turned East towards Wast Water was thoroughly enjoyable.

The narrow lanes between Gosforth and the more open countryside close to the lake are not for hurrying and neither is the winding road along the lakeside, so there’s no point in visiting Wast Water if you’re in a hurry.  But if you ride all the way to Wasdale Head and it’s a clear day you will be rewarded with some truly magnificent views and the opportunity to eat, drink or stay overnight at the Wasdale Head Inn, which offers rooms and self-catering accommodation and there is also a National Turst Campsite at Wasdale Head which accommodates motorhomes as well as tents.

The Wasdale Head Inn claims to be the birthplace of British climbing and nearby is St Olaf’s, the smallest church in England, where the graves of climbers killed on the nearby mountains testify to their difficulty.  For me it’s enough to admire the mountains from afar and then to enjoy riding on to somewhere else but Wasdale is a place where at the very least you have to pause for a while to take in the awe-inspiring spectacle of this dramatic place.  Wast Water’s steeply plunging southern side, seem from Wasdale Head is a sight to behold.

As with Ennerdale it is necessary to retrace your steps (or rather your motorcycle tracks) initially although you do then get the option to head Southwards towards Eskdale via Santon Bridge and if you have time this is a worthwhile diversion.  Eskdale is on the route down the West side of Hardknott Pass and you can ride up the road to see what you’ve spared yourself if you wish. The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is also worth a stop; there is a car park and a cafe and even if you don’t have time to take a trip down to Ravenglass and back (which is very worthwhile) it’s an interesting spectable just watching the steam engine arrive, turn itself around and head back down the valley.

This is a narrow gauge railway which was originally built to carry iron ore down to the coast for shipping but after varying fortunes eventually came into the possession of a Preservation Society and now successfully serves the tourist industry and runs a daily timetable.  If you are in any way into steam trains this is a worthwhile place to visit and even if you’re not its a scenic journey to take or a the very least a nice lace to stop the bike for a cup of tea. Whenever I’ve ridden the Hardknott Pass I’ve nearly always stopped here, if only to calm my nerves before proceeding.

From Eskdale it’s back through the country lanes to to A595 to resume what I always find a thoroughly enjoyable and usually a fairly brisk ride back to Broughton in Furness and then the A5092 and then the A509 back towards Kendal.  By the time I’m on this section of the route I’m nearly always running out of time and in need of making progress towards home in Lancashire without further diversions, because there is still 80 miles or so to go and this takes the best part of two hours.   This part of the Lake District is worth spending much more time in and it needs an overnight stop somewhere to pay a proper visit to Western Cumbria because there is so much more to do if you have the time.

The finest display of rhododendrons I’ve ever seen was at Muncaster Castle in late May/early June , near Ravenglass, and one of the best cafeterias I have ever ended up in on an organised bike ride was a few years ago when the Hercules Run terminated at the Sellafield Visitor Centre, which produced excellent food for a large group of bikers which was also very good value.   Their hours of opening are variable and they may not be open at all at weekends, so if you are thinking of taking a sizeable group there it would be best to ring them (019467 27027) to make prior arrangements.

But even if you can only spare one day for it, as I could when I rode there during April this year (so I had to be very selective about where I stopped for a photo or a break) a ride to the Western Lakes provides a wonderful day’s riding and some gorgeous scenery.