Summary
A FLAT START FROM STAVELEY IS FOLLOWED BY A HILLY SECTION TOWARDS WINDERMERE, THEN FLATTER TO BOWLAND BRIDGE BEFORE ANOTHER HILLY COUPLE OF MILES TOWARDS BLACKWELL ARTS & CRAFTS, THEN SHORTLY RETRACING THE OUTWARD ROUTE.
23 miles (37 km) 1970' climb (600 m)
grade – quite hilly, strenuous middle part
This can be a morning or afternoon ride, being fairly short. It can be started from Ings, making it 20 miles, but effectively still the same climb. After Bowland Bridge there are a couple of quite undulating miles. Staveley has all facilities (inc train station) and there are pubs in Ings, Winster, Bowland Bridge and Strawberry Bank, a shop at 10 miles and a cafe at 15 miles.
Start – Staveley crossroads GR 470 984 OS 97 (Kendal)
Map
To view elevation details please use this link and select "Elevation Graph" from the top left hand side corner of the map.
http://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=620890
Description
From Staveley head out towards Windermere, at the village end taking the shared path (Windermere bike sign) just before the bypass road.
A mile further on the route crosses the dual carriageway (central refuge) and then follows the “Windermere by Borwick Fold” bike sign away from the main road, climbing up a gated road.
At the top, go right (bike sign only) on another gated lane past Borwick Fold, bearing left soon afterward at a Y junction with a gate immediately beyond.
The lane eventually drops down to the main B5284 Windermere road, and the ride goes right here, past the golf club and down the hill, then in a couple of minutes going left (unsigned) onto Lindeth Lane at a crossroads.
Lindeth Lane eventually comes out, going left, on the A5074 road, by the Winster village sign. In a few minutes the route goes right by the Brown Horse (Bowland Bridge/ Winster Church sign).
A dogleg further on brings the ride to a main road, where it goes right to Bowland Bridge. There is a shop and pub here. This is 10 miles (16 km) from the start.
From here there is a steep but short ascent to the Strawberry Arms pub, where bear right on the Bowness road. The following 2 miles (3 km) is very much continuous up and down, before arriving at a scissor crossroads and crossing over on the Bowness/ Storrs road.
From here the route drops down to the main A592 road, goes right on it for a few minutes, then bears right off it (B6360 Lyth Valley/ Kendal sign).
A mile further on is Blackwell Arts & Crafts, which has a tearoom. This is 15 miles (24 km) into the ride.
Immediately after Blackwell the ride turns right on the A5074 towards Lyth Valley/ Lancaster. After a small rise the road drops to soon arrive back at the Lindeth Lane junction.
From here the route is essentially just returning along the outward path, going up Lindeth Lane (not taking the Green Lane) and down to the crossroads on the busy B5284 Windermere road.
The climb up towards the golf club can be eased slightly by crossing over the main road, then going right at the nearby junction (Crook, blue bike signs) to rejoin the main road for the unavoidable climb past the golf club.
As it flattens out, the ride retraces itself up the small lane (blue Ings bike sign) to climb up then down, past Borwick Fold to arrive back at the cattle grid, where blue bike signs point to the gated road down to Ings to then cross the dual carriageway and back along the shared path to Staveley.
The route can be altered from the cattle grid by continuing on the lane, before dropping down and then at the bottom taking left a narrow unsigned lane which climbs steeply before again dropping through a gate and past a farm to join, going left, the road at Ashes to Staveley.
