will need to collect your bike reservation coupons at a FastTicket machine at the station, by keying in your FastTicket reference number and the number of the bank card you used to make the booking. Then give yourself a minimum of 10 minutes to contact a member of the Virgin platform staff who will help you load your bicycle. Once aboard, inform the Train Manager that you have a bicycle and he or she will help you disembark at your destination station. Sounds complicated, but it seems to work even though local staff may not be entirely familiar with the process.
A direct service operated by TransPennine Express runs from Manchester to Windermere stopping at Kendal and Staveley along the way. Most of their trains have a dedicated area for carrying two bicycles and space can be booked in advance by calling Tel 0345 600 1674. Otherwise space is allocated on a first come first serve basis. See www.tpexpress.co.uk. There is also a route operated by Northern Rail that follows the Cumbrian coastline around the south and west of the region. These trains also carry a maximum of two bikes per train at the discretion of the conductor if the train is busy. See www.northernrail.org.
RAVENGLASS AND ESKDALE STEAM RAILWAY
One of the 15in gauge locomotives on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Steam Railway (Routes 10 and 11)
If you are an enthusiast of steam trains, you might enjoy breaking your ride for an excursion out to the coast on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Steam Railway. There is space for four to six bikes on each train but boarding is only possible at Ravenglass and Dalegarth stations and wheelchair users receive priority. Tickets can be purchased online but must be presented at Ravenglass or Dalegarth ticket offices on arrival where they are exchanged for travel tickets. You also need to call Tel 01229 717171 to book cycles on to the train before boarding. See http://ravenglass-railway.co.uk.
By bus
National Express, Britain’s only scheduled coach network, say they may carry dismantled and folding bicycles if space is available provided they are suitably packed. They also state that carrying a bike on a service does not mean that they will carry it on any subsequent service. As this gives cyclists no reassurance that their bike will actually be carried yet alone any advice what to do with the transit box when they want to start cycling, they may as well say, ‘No’.
Things do get better once you are in the Lake District. Stagecoach operates a number of summer services that are specifically equipped to carry bikes. The Lakeland Experience (Bowness–Ambleside–Grasmere) and Cross Lakes Experience (Bowness–Hawkshead–Coniston–Grizedale) services in the central region can both carry two bikes, while the Bike Bus, which runs along the eastern shore of Windermere, can carry 12 bikes. See www.golakes.co.uk for details. Other bus services operated by Stagecoach only carry packed folding bicycles, but their long distance coaches carry non-folding bicycles in the luggage boot. See www.stagecoachbus.com for details.
WOODROW WILSON ON WHEELS
US President Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) who made five visits to the Lake District in the ‘golden age’ of cycling before World War I
There are a few connections between US presidents and Cumbria. The first, George Washington, was a direct descendant of the Strickland family that took its name from Great Strickland; the 12-year-old John Kennedy holidayed with his seven-year-old brother Robert at Killington in the late 1930s when their father was US ambassador to Great Britain; and Hillary Rodham rejected the first proposal of marriage from future husband Bill Clinton in Ennerdale in 1973.
But none was more enduring than that of keen cyclist Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) who was the 28th President of the United States from 1913 to 1921. His mother, Janet, had been born in Carlisle, where her Scots born father, Dr Rev Thomas Woodrow, was a congregational minister from 1819 to 1835, when the family left for North America. Wilson is reputed to have been the first person to own and ride a bicycle in North Carolina.
He first visited Carlisle and the Lake District in 1896 but returned five times over the next 22 years. On his first trip, he disembarked at Glasgow and cycled to Carlisle, then took the train to Keswick and cycled to Grasmere. On his second tour in 1899, he cycled down from Glasgow to Dumfries, took the train to Penrith and then cycled down Ullswater, across to Keswick and on to Grasmere.
He visited the Lake District again in 1903 with his wife and again in 1906 with his daughters. Then in July 1909, he returned alone. After cycling from Lockerbie to Carlisle, he cycled through Penrith to Keswick and Grasmere, and then over to Coniston. He made his way by rail to Drigg, via Broughton in Furness, where he set off on a two-day ride around the Western Lakes, visiting Wasdale and Ennerdale. He stayed at Grasmere throughout the summer before going back to Glasgow on 2 September for the return journey.
By the time he made a last brief visit to Carlisle in 1918, he was the feted President of the United States and arrived on the royal train rather than a bicycle. The city celebrated its illustrious American cousin, but it is doubtful if Wilson enjoyed the experience. He made plans to return to the Lake District in 1921, travelling incognito with his second wife and her brother. However, his deteriorating health meant it never happened.
Weather and when to ride
The majority of tourists visiting the Lake District come by car so the roads can become very busy. Take the following into consideration to achieve an easier journey and a more enjoyable ride:
Avoid national holidays and school holidays particularly those in July and August.
Ride on weekdays rather than weekends when visitor numbers are swelled by day trippers.
Ride early in the day before everyone else has risen or later when they are retiring indoors to eat.
Heading off down Newlands Hause (Stage 3A)
Unless you have an entry to ride, you should also avoid the second Sunday in May when 2000 people test themselves riding 179km (112 miles) over the six big passes in the annual Fred Whitton Challenge.
The best time to go touring in the Lake District is between April and October, when the days are longer and the weather is at its best. But even then, you will undoubtedly get wet and experience blustery days. So be prepared for them. As a general rule always plan your route so that you are riding south to north with the prevailing south westerly winds. However, a circular tour or day ride will inevitably mean riding into the wind at some point and this is taken into account in this guide where the majority of the higher passes are ridden south to north and west to east wherever possible. However, check the weather forecast before you set out each day and be prepared to amend your plans to take account of the weather.
Where to stay
While many hardened cycle tourists prefer to camp, days of repeatedly ascending 1000m or more are unlikely to be pleasurable with a heavy load. This guide makes maximum use of the plethora of hostels and bunkhouses scattered across the region, but if you prefer additional comforts you will find a variety of accommodation to suit most pockets on www.GoLakes.co.uk, Visit England’s official website for the Lake District.
