Lake District - The Passes

[manxie49]

Just had a few days in the Lakes with a couple of mates and my wife.  Did three of the passes on one day, (see the map, blagged this of someone before I went in GPX format).  mixed bag of weather, and the first time I've done Hardknott and Wrynose two up.  Roads around the Lake District, in some areas, have totally gone to crap.  Massive pot holes and loose surfaces.  Kirkstone Pass is 30mph for its entirety, no one seems to know if this is permanent or not, and there's apparently talk among locals, that the council are wanting to close Hardknott and wrynose pass to all vehicles,  not sure how true this is.  That said, we all had a good few days away, bit of a pre TT trip which isn't that far away now.

[Steve_M]

The recent work on Kirkstone was to “improve safety”. Given the emphasis on speed (rather than education) as a root cause I would anticipate that the 30mph limit will become permanent.

 

Hardknott pass was deeply unpleasant to ride  last year due to the deformed surfaces. I’m guessing the cost to repair is a factor in any future decisions. 

[Throttled]

The Hardknot Pass is the worst road I have ever ridden. I was looking forward to it, but it was just horrible to ride and I got it on a quiet day.

 

[manxie49]

1 hour ago, Throttled said:

The Hardknot Pass is the worst road I have ever ridden. I was looking forward to it, but it was just horrible to ride and I got it on a quiet day.

It wasn't too bad when we were up there.  Wet and misty so I supposed that kept a few of them away.  The road is pretty rough in places, the cafe / bar at the other end made the journey worthwhile though.  One dick head up there in a camper van,  I think he obviously thought we could somehow miraculously levitate over the top of his vehicle .... He left us with nowhere to go and then sat in the driver seat cursing, demonstrating his inability to reverse back down to a passing spot that he should have stopped at in the first place. 

[manxie49]

4 hours ago, Steve_M said:

The recent work on Kirkstone was to “improve safety”. Given the emphasis on speed (rather than education) as a root cause I would anticipate that the 30mph limit will become permanent.

Consensus does seem that the 30 will become permanent.  We got stuck behind a line of traffic, all doing about 20-25mph, all the way over in 1st, occasionally 2nd gear.  I'll definitely be avoiding that road in the future if that's the new speed restriction.  I aint no speed fiend anymore but 30 is just taking the piss.

[Steve_M]

1 hour ago, manxie49 said:

Consensus does seem that the 30 will become permanent.  We got stuck behind a line of traffic, all doing about 20-25mph, all the way over in 1st, occasionally 2nd gear.  I'll definitely be avoiding that road in the future if that's the new speed restriction.  I aint no speed fiend anymore but 30 is just taking the piss.

Same here, which is a shame as it’s only an hour’s ride from here and the road past Ullswater and over Kirkstone is a nice convenient and, formerly, enjoyable route down to Langdale via Ambleside. 

[Ronnie]

Yes, they'll just ignore it and let it deteriorate. Just like the Corrieyairack Pass in Scotland.  I remember as a kid being driven over it in a Morris Minor.  But since they stopped maintenance the surface degraded so much that in the seventies it was hard work even with a trail bike.