This post was originally written for at published Will Nell-Barker’s website WillCycle.com. Go check it out! It’s republished here with a few extra photos.

The #Jennride has been a fixture on the calendar since 2016, the year following the death of Jenn Hill, Singletrack magazine’s deputy editor, and acts as a fundraiser for St. Gemma’s Hospice and other causes, including Rider Resilience. It also acts as a great excuse to get together with like-minded souls for a weekend of riding through some of the finest scenery in the land. It usually takes place in the summer, but as of last year there’s a winter edition too.

The 160km/100 mile loop starts and finishes in Staveley in the southern Lake District, and other than having a group camping plot booked in Great Langdale, the route of the ride remains a bit of a mystery until a couple of weeks before the event when Rich Munro, the ride’s organiser, sends out a GPX file. Any route around the Lakes is going to involve a hill pass or two, and these often define the ride. This year we’ve three noteworthy passes: Kirkstone, Boredale Hause, and Side Gates (better known as Blea Tarn).

The evening before the ride, there was chance to meet up with other riders near the starting point at The Eagle & Child Inn, and it was good to catch up with people I know from other bikepacking events and to meet others I knew by name but not in person. As ever, there was talk of what bike you were riding, what kit you were carrying, and any plans for how you were going to tackle it. The fact that the #Jennride isn’t a race removes nearly any competitive element or notion of ‘smashing it’: Everyone was just along for the ride.

Riders can sign-on and leave any time between 7 and 9 am, but as the café opened at 8, it made sense to grab something (more) for breakfast and a coffee before I left. Small groups and solo riders rode off while others milled around waiting for buddies to arrive or just delaying heading out into what was a cold morning. Coffee and croissant devoured, I put the time next to my name on the sign-out sheet and headed out. Early on I passed a father and son team—Alex and 10(!) year old Zach—who’d stopped for an early ‘fizzy fish’ pick-me up.

The first leg of the ride took us on roads and tracks to Ambleside, where event supporters Alpkit had laid on coffee and cake outside their shop. This was only 20 km in, so just a quick pit stop and then on to the first proper challenge of the ride, Kirkstone via The Struggle. The route took a sneaky track that runs parallel to the road and then pops out just before the iconic switchbacks and 25% ramps to the summit. I dropped down the gears, sat and spun my legs, and before I knew it had reached the top. I passed a couple of riders resting at the top but was feeling good, so I pressed on, dropping quickly down the pass and turning towards the next and perhaps toughest challenge of the route, Boredale Hause.

I could see a guy already hike-a-biking on the track up ahead of me as I rode upwards towards the pass. With any climb, there’s a challenge to set yourself as to how far up you can ride. I was pleased to ride up and past the guy walking but inevitably had to stop and start pushing near immediately after. We exchanged a few words, and I pushed on, riding again as the climb levels off, then caught up with four riders who had laid their bikes down and gone to look at the descent. I reassured them that it was the correct route but understood their uncertainty: the washed-out gully is pretty unridable, certainly on a bike set up for bikepacking, so we all cautiously eased our way on foot down through the boulders until the track eased into a fast grassy descent.

A guy on a full-suspension bike shot by as I rode steadily towards the eastern side of Ullswater and Askham Fell. He wasn’t carrying any kit, so I assumed he was just out for a day ride. I’d intended to stop at Pooley Bridge for lunch, but as I left the fell side having taken in The Cockpit stone circle, event organiser Rich was there in his van with a spread of snacks needing to be eaten: It would have been rude not to take advantage.

This was about as far north as the route went, and it now swung round west, climbing steadily upwards again. As I pedalled, the guy who’d come past me on the ‘full-susser’ rode up alongside me. It turned out he was doing the ride but looking to do it ‘in a oner’ rather than camping out, which was why he was carrying no kit. He’d stopped for lunch but was pretty spent, having in his own words, gone out way too fast and was paying for it now. He was still quicker than me, though, so I urged him to push on.

Three riders came past me on the Old Coach Road. I was riding a fully rigid bike, and the rocky track was far slower on this than it was for them with their suspension setups. I caught them again as we rejoined the road. It transpired that one of them had been riding rigid too, and their pannier rack hadn’t coped with the terrain too well. They were strapping it back together with some zip ties. It pays to take it steady sometimes!

Rich was waiting again at Thirlmere. I’d barely eaten any of the snacks I was carrying and again grabbed something from him and rode alongside the reservoir before the speedy road descent to Grasmere. We took a zig-zagging track to avoid the steep road climb up Redbank and then dropped into Langdale at Chapel Stile, where it was a flat ride along the valley to the campsite.

Last year I pitched my tent in the dark. And in the rain. This year it was still light and was dry and I wasn’t complaining. I got set up, had a quick wash, and then headed over to Old Dungeon Ghyll pub to grab something to eat and catch up with others. A few were already there, and others arrived during the evening. Where the #Jennride is so refreshing is that while there’s a predefined route, it’s very much just a suggestion. In chatting to riders, many had decided to omit bits of the route to avoid a climb they didn’t fancy or to take detours via multiple pubs en route. There’s no bravado nor concern about not completing the full thing. Everyone had had a top day out, regardless of how they’d got here.

After not too chilly a night’s sleep, I packed up and grabbed a bacon butty from the campsite shop. This really isn’t a roughing it/wild camping kind of event! The second day’s route is far shorter than day one, but I’d warned a few who didn’t know the area about the rude start to the day. There was barely a few hundred meters of road before a 25% sign and the climb up to Blea Tarn. With little warm-up, this is tough, but a little less than 15 minutes of spinning as best I could while weaving about the road, and I was at the top.

It was a stunning morning, with sunlight dappling the fells through breaks in the clouds as we rode through Tilberthwaite on to Hawkshead via Tarn Hows and Grizedale Forest. A few of us got stuck behind a car early on. Just because you can drive your car on a green lane doesn’t mean you should. We urged him to turn back and after our warnings, agreed it was likely for the best. Much as on the first day, I was caught up by and also overtook other riders. The ebb and flow of riders while on a ride such as this makes for a great way of turning what can be a solitary experience more social.

I had a quick second breakfast at Hawkshead and then pushed on to Ambleside and down to Bowness. The route has been changed late on, as the Windermere ferry was out of action, so we took the road dropping down to near-lake level with three other riders and then climbed up and out of the town.

From here, and quite coincidentally, the route followed trails I’d ridden just a few days prior, albeit in the other direction. As I was nearly done and feeling strong, I put my head down and gave it a bit of a sprint to the end, passing a few riders on the way before rolling back into Staveley and the finish. I hung around for a little while chatting to others who were arriving back before heading off, having had such a good weekend on and off the bike.

Just as Will provides curated routes, the #Jennride offers some reassurance if you fancy an off-road overnight adventure but are unsure of going it alone. The routes are fully recced and relatively speaking never gets that far away from civilisation should you decide to bail. It’s perhaps worth pointing out, given WillCycle’s core content, that the #Jennride is first and foremost a mountain bike event. Although the winter event has more road sections than the summer edition, there is still some rough and technical terrain to navigate.

The #Jennride doesn’t currently have a website, but a search on ‘the socials’ ought to find details of the next event. ‘Rider Resilience, The Film’ is available to watch on YouTube now.

---

Originally posted at WillCycle.com