Grizedale is in the south of the Lake District and is reached via some fairly narrow and twisty lanes. The site has a very impressive looking visitor centre, including a cafe and bike shop and prominent signs show you how to reach the trails from the fairly pricey car park.
Two large trail maps mark the start of the mountain bike routes - one for the red graded North Face trail and another for the other trails that criss-cross the woodland. The red starts with a short fire road climb which, just as you think it's going to go on for ages, neatly turns into a rather excellent long section of singletrack. The twist here is that while the trail steadily gains height the rider is more or less oblivious as the rocky and rooty trail surface demands careful attention to select a good line.
Two large trail maps mark the start of the mountain bike routes - one for the red graded North Face trail and another for the other trails that criss-cross the woodland. The red starts with a short fire road climb which, just as you think it's going to go on for ages, neatly turns into a rather excellent long section of singletrack. The twist here is that while the trail steadily gains height the rider is more or less oblivious as the rocky and rooty trail surface demands careful attention to select a good line.
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| Great views to the north - shot from a well placed bench. |
Following this is a relatively long fire road climb, which does not outstay its welcome thanks to the great views to the south as you near its climax. The Met Office had forecast 80% chance of rain. It had rained hard the day before and despite the sun shining through the light cloud I was expecting to get soaked, but by this point I took off my waterproof jacket and stowed it in my back pack where it stayed for the rest of the ride.
There are some short purpose built sections of trail that allow you to get some speed up along the way, but there is an awful lot of fireroad in the North Face route. This fact was not helped by the closure of one such section, which was replaced by a fireroad descent. It was disappointing to loose so much height in this way but after being stung by not respecting trail closures in the past I played along this time and was left to wonder what I was missing out on.
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| Sunlight - oh yeah! |
The closure was due to ongoing work that would see boardwalk sections of trail being replace with boulders. I hesitate to call this woodwork "north shore" as it was barely a few inches above the ground but where it was present, and clad with a grippy, sandpaper-like substance, it was awesome to ride on! I'll never understand the drive to include 4 inch drops/steps every few tens of meters along the woodwork sections though; are they meant to be dropped or rolled? Hardly seems worth pulling up for them and I generally just steam through.
The boulders that have replaced the woodwork were a chore to ride. There were 4-5" gaps between the boulders and similar sized height differences between a couple of them so, while rideable, these new sections favour large-wheeled bikes and those running full suspension. I would definitely be in favour of keeping the woodwork.
It's fair to say that the trails were pretty free of braking bumps and mud but had not drained very well following the previous day's downpours; there were large puddles all over the place. Instead of a profile that would see water shed to the sides of the trail, much of the route has a profile akin to a walking trail, one which tended to retain water in the bottom, like a gulley. This was clear in what turned out to be the final downhill section - a wooded, natural-feeling and long section of trail which winds down the hill to the visitors' centre. It stuck me that this felt very natural indeed - to the point where it wouldn't surprise me if this was an old walking trail and not something specifically made for inclusion in the North Face route. In a couple of places, wooden gates either side of the trail prevent walkers from rushing into the path of an oncoming rider, which was welcome, but on this final downhill stretch the path crosses a farm track and the rider has to pass through two gates, both of which are latched. I understand the need, but breaking up the final section of trail was a bit of a let down.
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| Grrr.... |
There is a black section of trail at Grizedale, which was opened in 2012. This is not shown on the trail maps and it was not clear, as I was completing the loop, whether I could do the black then come back to finish the red, or if the black would lead me back to the car park. Unsure, and not wanting to only do half of the red, I didn't take the black option and regret it now as video footage of it online seems to show a very well made track which would have been fun to ride.
Overall the trail was pretty short, clocking in at 1hr 50m with plenty of stops to take photos and admire the view, and, apart from the first singletrack section, didn't have great flow. In my opinion it suffers from the newly installed boulder sections that have replaced some of the boardwalk, the generally uninspired singletrack and the fireroad descents. Go for the views, if you are in the area, and if you have the time check out the black option!