Heading North - The Road to Dirty Reiver

This whole saga started from a casual 'what if' comment made by me while enjoying the sun in the mountains of Annecy last summer, that idea took hold over the following weeks—this lead to figuring out the financial logistics and realising that it could be feasible, getting home and sharing the plan with those closest to us, breaking the news to our respective employers months in advance, route planning, race booking, bike and van maintenance, training plans, and finally packing up our lives and leaving—we’re now on the road. First race stop: Dirty Reiver in Northumberland.

Seven months in the making sees us on the road, enjoying all that the north of England has to offer on a long adventure. We’re a week out from the event and have been exploring the Cotswolds, the Lake District, the North Pennines, and the North Yorkshire Moors. Throughout these escapades, we've been mixing up our riding styles to maintain everything we've worked towards over the past few months—and hopefully continue to build our fitness and strength as we head into race season.

First things first: we had to do a final lap of the New Forest and say our goodbyes to those in the area. We made the most of the sun, enjoying a Firepot meal in the woods before getting to work packing the van and explaining to Percy (our rabbit) that he was going to be our swanny for Dirty Reiver and The Gralloch. He wasn’t too keen on that idea, so we’ve settled on mascot.

Wanting to make the most of the gorgeous early April weather window, we were eager to get up to the Lake District ASAP. En route, we did a loop of the Cotswolds to spin out the legs a little and blow off some steam—because let’s face it, driving isn’t that much fun…

The Lakes never disappoint—assuming you like brutal inclines, one after another, after another. Even with all the prep and maintenance we put into the van before leaving, the windscreen wiper motor decided to give up the ghost. Not much of an issue you may think, but this is the north of England, it will rain and when it does, then we have a problem… This meant a scramble to get the van to a garage in preparation for the inevitable change in weather. This hiccup inadvertently gave us a brilliant starting point for our first taster ride of the lakes: a loop of Windermere, taking on the infamous climb “The Struggle” north of Ambleside.

The Struggle is Real

Not only was this a test for our legs, but probably a test for our relationship too! If I can plan loops and drag us up big hills and Louisa still likes me, we’re probably going to be okay doing this for the next five months.

This was confirmed the next day when I planned another loop, this time leaving from Coniston and heading southwest towards Broughton-in-Furness before turning north to Elksdale and tackling the double whammy of Hardknott and Wrynose Pass as the main event—also taking in Birker Fell and some pretty gnarly gravel sections along the way.

Hardknott is something else, as we all know! It was a good opportunity to test a few tweaks I’d made to the bike just before we left. I’d been noticing some discomfort in my lower back when settling into steady efforts on the road and was wishing for a bit more top-end speed from the 1x setup. So, a slightly longer stem and a larger (and elliptical) chainring found their way onto the Ritchey just before we set off. I’m happy to report: no more lower back pain, and I made it up both passes without putting a foot down.

At the top, we met a lovely guy called Tony who was training for the Fred Whitton Challenge, which takes place next month. I got chatting to him while Louisa tackled the final stretch of the pass in her own personal pain cave. When he saw that she still liked me after all that, he said, “She’s a keeper—you should marry that one.” Thank you, Tony. Your marital advice atop Hardknott made our day.

I would be remiss not to mention the amazing van park-up we found in the South Lakes with the most incredible view looking down the valley toward Lake Windermere. We spent a couple of nights there and moving on during the day. The first night, we had the place to ourselves; the second, we were joined by a lovely guy called Scott who had travelled up from London. At 1 a.m. that morning, he’d decided he needed to get out of the city, grabbed his “go bag,” and beelined it to the Lakes.

We had a brilliant evening chatting, taking Percy out for a walk, and soaking in the awesome views.

We needed to take it a bit easier for the next couple of days, as things had been pretty full-on for weeks leading up to this point. So we hung around Keswick, wandered the town, and went for a stomp up Catbells as a nice, easy hill walk before setting off toward the North Pennines.

(It's needing to be said but when Louisa is walking, she’s totally fine—but when she stops, she basically breaks. The next day she was very out of sorts. Stick to the bike, my dear.)

The North Pennines is not an area of the country I know a great deal about, other than the fact that Hannah Hauxwell lived here. She was a Dales farmer whose family had worked the land for generations. She was left to tend the farm by herself from the 1960s, after her mother and uncle had died.

Hannah lived in relative obscurity until, in 1972, a Yorkshire Television documentary aired, highlighting the tough life that farmers in the Dales endure during the winter months. Although she was only one of three or four people featured on the show, she became a very unlikely national celebrity. A follow-up show was broadcast over a decade later, showing her leaving her beloved farm, ‘Low Birk Hatt’.

I saw these documentaries years ago and have always wanted to visit the landscape where this remarkable woman lived without electricity or running water, all those years ago, to gain some kind of insight into her life.

As luck would have it, while running from rainstorms sweeping in, the only place not overly affected was the reservoir right next to Low Birk Hatt Farm! We used this as a base for a couple of days and enjoyed a ride across the Pennines. It was incredibly hilly, at times very bleak, but always beautiful. This has been the hidden gem of our trip so far—not known as a cycling destination particularly, but absolutely worth the trip if you want quiet roads and spectacular riding.

If you’re interested in these documentary’s check them out using the links below:

A Winter Too Long and A Winter Too Many

Although the title of this write-up of our adventures alludes to us heading north, we sort of diverted a little and went slightly south towards York for my birthday—to nerd out at the railway museum and to ease off the intensity of riding before we turn our attention to the Dirty Reiver.

That doesn’t mean we haven’t been exploring. As I write this, we’re in the North Yorkshire Moors, about to do a loop of the western side of the national park. The landscape here feels very much like a home-from-home. By that, I mean it feels almost New Foresty, with its big open heathlands and wide gravel tracks.

We’re less than a week out from the event. It’s going to be interesting to see how my old-school ‘train by feel’ mentality translates—but more importantly, I’m just enjoying riding my bike to interesting places, whether they’re rooted in some kind of history or built around an intriguing climb. The last thing I want is for this to feel like a chore or something I feel obligated to do, only to end up resenting it.

That probably means I won’t be super high up the rankings, but I want to see what an active lifestyle, eating well, enjoying the journey, and meeting good people along the way looks like after a race is over. After all, I’ve got to sustain this until September.

Vanlife Birthday Cakes

If you happen to find yourself in this neck of the woods and need some riding route inspiration, check out the 'routes' section on this site where they will all be uploaded and shared over the coming weeks.