Hill no 38 – 82 Whinlatter Pass

A nice little climb and to be honest, a welcome break from the 8s, 9s and 10s of the harder slopes. You could ride those all day, but you would be questioning your ability as a rider if you did, whilst a climb like Whinnlater does reassure you that you’re not totally useless!

Starting off in a nice little village, the climb was fairly stiff to start with – and somewhat annoyingly the road had a little stream running down it – annoying because I ended up with a very wet derriere as the spray went off of my wheels onto my backside.

A soggy, squelchy bum isn't that bad - you just think that you're carrying unecessary extra water up the hill!

The steep initial slope levelled out a little though and this was a climb surrounded by trees which sheltered me a little from the wind and was nice and different from the other climbs I had done over the past couple of days.

Also, through the trees on your right, you could see glimpses of beautiful lake. Almost enough for me to want to pull over and get a photo, but not enough to tempt me away from the rest of the climb!

Right at the top it ramped up again and you also have to dodge your way through rogue MTBers – Whinnlater Pass seems to have some amazing facilities for those who like riding over bumpy muddy stuff. There was a big visitors centre and loads of people visiting and going out on their bikes - really nice to see - some nice stuff too:

A nice climb – and a welcome change.

Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZdWFfO83fQ&feature=related
Garmin here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90464238
Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/100hillsforgeorge/sets/72157626926329977/