I have to start with an apology to everyone going for a nice walk up the old coach road between Keswick and Dockray on the 23rd of August.

i apologise cos i was the idiot on the black 125cc KTM wizzing up and down all afternoon, my excuse would have to be that despite the dry weather warnings we have been having but in true cumbrian fashion its one of the first real good days for a while. If you dont know it the old coach road is a good one if your new to hiking, cycling and even swimming with the size of the puddles in some parts.

Starting at the end, i come from keswick side so past the burns farm just off the A66, its not hard to find really but if you are coming from that side then get ready for a bit of a hellish start. long climbs half way up Helvellyn, which towers above forcing you to look out over to ever stretching landscape filled with some of the best fells in the lake district, saddleback and Skiddaw at the start and eventually on the higher end of the path Great Mell Fell and many others.

but back to my choice of vehicle.

the plan was for myself and a few friends to head up there on that particular day, i was to borrow a bike as mine is currently out of action. so it was myself, torrin and vera. torrin and vera are two of the people im cycling out to see in morocco. torrin choosing his new triumph scrambler 400cc on nice road tires and his girlfriend vera on her Suzuki DR650cc, which is completely original and immaculate condition. two bikes that are more than suited but definitely too good for the OCR. me on the other hand, you know those bikes you see stupid teenagers riding that sound like a broken hair dryer? yeah thats me a ratty old 2 stroke but my god did i make her sing (or scream)

Back to the trail, as i said steep uphill and really chunky rock so brilliant fun for the 2 stroke, and once your over that its smooth sailing with rolling hills and the odd tight bend and dips to keep things exciting. Usually its a very quiet 5 mile trail, local legend suggests it dates back to the 1700s and used as its named but it has got to be way too steep so packhorses are more likely. quickly climbing up the first 110 meters above sea level before it levels out. in total its around 330 meters of climbing on good wide trail and like i said plenty of views to take your mind off the relentless climbs, along the way you will find many off roads towards helvellyn and other spots at the fells footing, but if you do continue right to the end finishing in the small beautiful village of Dockray,

After a few goes up and down we decided to stop off at the royal hotel, cold drinks really big beer garden which youll find multiple hammocks set up and quite interestingly a massive set of lawn chess which i imagine could be quite fun, i was too distracted with the food. small plates and ciabattas ranging between £8 and £10 but my choice was the £9 mini burger. one of the best burgers i have had in a while and more than enough to sort me right out. and this is where i said goodbye to my two riding companions for the day, alone i pushed back to keswick hitting the OCR hard for the last time for the day. to my surprise i was joined with a small pack of wild youths on 300cc KTM, not one over the age of 19. and doing an amazing job of showing me up and making me feel as old as i am.

Back to keswick leave the evenings to the youths, and thanks to my good friends for the brilliant day out, but for me i had other plans involving what turned out to be quite a grueling climb up the side of a mountain, but i think i will leave that for the next post i have kept your attention for long enough and i think i did well to stick to my 95% travel blog so go me.

thank you for sticking around GNG