Part 1 - Kielder Deadwater Fell Mtb ride

 

With Kielder announcing they are back open I thought why not have a spin up to the land that time forgot. I was up and out early and landed just after 7am and was on the trails before 7.15am. I started with the Lakeside way which will be Part 3, then Lonesome Pine Red route Part 2 then straight onto Deadwater Fell Part 1.
The day started off very cloudy / overcast / foggy and the temperature hovering around 9 degrees but on the way down from Lonesome Pine I looked over to Deadwater Fell and you could finally see the top and the sun had come out.
You pick up the start from the car park above the bike shop area and straight onto the trail. There is a good mix of single track and fire road climbs on the way up. The last long loop is always a killer but better when you have some visibility and little wind, which is not very often! The descent off the top is getting very overgrown, washed out and rough down to the junction where you come up. The rest of the way back is mainly downhill to the car park / castle (which is closed with the cafe). It s not too rough so you can get some speed up in places. About the 2/3rds of the way down I met a young couple walking up the downhill section of the trail, they would not move and both had headphones in. I stopped and tried to explain they were walking up a fast section of the mtb trail but they said they were not bothered! oh well what can you say to that. All in only 8.6 miles but over 1700ft of climbing in 57 minutes and only one bar left on the battery display after this and Lonesome Pine.
Below are a few sunny snaps and a short video clip from the top of Deadwater Fell 1900ft above sea level.