Fanylion Mountain Bike Team
Official site of the Fanylion Mountain Bike Team. Includes mountain bike ride guides, gear reviews, bike maintenance, team reports and rider profiles of the Fanylion Racing Team.
In this section
Grizedale Forest
Start in the visitor centre car park. Get on bikes, ride across the little footbridge that take you towards the bike shop entrance. Ride past shop and continue down past it (looks like to dead end). Follow path onto main road and turn right. You are now on the way marked routes.
A few yards up the road you will see a farm track going off to left. You will also see the way marked arrows for the coloured routes, go through gate and follow the PURPLE arrow. Cont on fire road to junction, bend back on your self following PURPLE (orange goes straight on here).
The fire road begins its climb at this point. You need to keep a look out for single-track path that goes off to the left. There are two paths going up off the fire road. Take the second. It's very rocky, like Walnar Scar road. You will see them, but they are not way marked. Cont on this bitch of a path, it seems to go on forever. Very rocky with steep rock slabs. The challenge is to ride it all. Towards the top, the path undulates a little, and another little path joins from the left, ignore it and keep going until you hit the big fireroad at the top.
On the map you have just joined the fire road (marked as an green dotted line just above number 63) turn left onto fireroad and ride flat ish bit along for few hundred yards with forest on either side. You will have passed a fireroad coming up to you from the right.
You need to keep eye out for the path going off to your right. Its a path (singletrack). It starts off on a well made path between a row of rocks. This bit is frigging amazing!! So fasten your seat belts, wave goodbye to Sheldon and start pedalling. Stay on this path and just follow it all the way to the gate. There may be a wee junction somewhere down that path, keep right and follow the main path down into the gulley until you come to a gate.
Cont on this path, yes there is more to come and keep speed up. You drop down into the gulley and to a farm house. Go through farm yard and through gates, turn immediate left and climb up steep bank to wall which is only a few yards away. Ride along wall up and over hill onto main fire track.
Another fast bit here, like a rollercoaster again, big up's and big dips. Go big you freak!!! Stay on the main fireroad and cont to the forest, where there is a gate. Right team briefing and regroup here. STAY ON THIS FIREROAD ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE ROAD. It goes on for ages, the important bit they need to know is the trail you will be riding crosses 3 fireroads. You must keep going over all 3 of them. This bit if ufcking amazing. Again it starts off wet with big puddles to ride around but gets better and better. The top section is ok, the bottom after the 3rd fire road crossing is out of this world. So ride it like you have nver ridden before. RskPT!
Re-group at fire road and turn right onto road. Cont for 0.5km. Just before the river there is a right turn, there's a building there too if I remember. *make sure you have the correct turn, as when we did it we went up the wrong one first, you can tell as you turn right off the road right next to the river which you can see on your left over the fields. If you are not close to the river it is wrong. Small sprint up hill and then its down again... wicked short bit of technical riding over some rocky slabs again. Belt it down to the road.
Turn left and follow road uphill; through quaint village, over bridge over river, and up on the bend in the road turn right and follow fireroad back into the forest park. After a while you will see the fireroad going off to your left; this is waymarked the ORANGE route: follow it. Keep following it to the top of the hill *it's a fair ascent so again wave good bye to Sheldon and get your ass moving. There was loads of bloomin' flies and midgets here last time. Once you get to top you will see a path (fireroad) coming from right, ignore it and keep going on the fireroad you are on. Keep going until fireroad splits, go left and look for singletrack turn on your right. Fast singltrack that cuts corner. Tell group to stay on this (it crosses the fireroad) and drops down into the woods. Again, really good bit here: go fast you big puff.
At road turn left and climb up hill on road. Keep eye out for path going up back into forest on your left. Go up here. Its goes through a few 'Jurrasic Park' style gates. keep spinning and get to fireroad. Follow fireroad downhill to your right for 50 yards, then bob right off fireroad onto singletrack into woods. This singletrack brings you out at the stone fox.
We rode back from here (approx 10-15 minutes to car) or you could do the fox downhill (fire road to right of fox steepens and gets better and better towards bottom) and come back up the path from the road we have just come up. Up to you. From the fox then, follow the fireroad downhill, where it splits, go down the middle and ignore the two fireroad either side of the split. This is not marked but is worth it. Follow through trees looking for white posts. The path is noN existent to start but belive me gets good. This is Ewok woods.
The trees stop and you spill out onto a gorgeous bit of fast singletrack. Belt down it, watching for walkers and dogs. At path junction go left up steep bank to fireroad. Turn right, go downhill on fireroad. Keep eye out for short cut onto singletrack and bobs onto singerltrack, this bit is fooking amazing. As the fireroad bends to left, singeltrack veers off to right and turns sharp right hand corner into a gulley. Back on fireroad. keep going all way down to road turn right on road. Ride to vistor centre (5 mins)
Drink tea and eat cake.
RsPKT.
Fany fact
One man's headwind is another man's tailwind, as one man's descent is another man's climb.