Get on your bike and enjoy Cumbria

If you fancy a cycle in the open air and a ride on a railway then four events in Cumbria could just be for you.

The first of a series of special guided cycle and railway days, aimed at encouraging people to leave their cars behind and explore one of the most stunning areas of the Lake District National Park (LDNPA), takes place at the end of July, followed by three others in August.

The Eskdale Trail is a new mostly traffic-free cycle route, which when combined with the Ravenglass and Eskdale Steam Railway means viitors can explore Eskdale by bike and train and leave the car behind whenever they want.

The special guided rides take place on: 28 July; 11 August; 18 August; and 25 August, beginning at 11.30 am from Dalegarth Station at Boot.

Bike carrying trains

Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway have customised three of its carriages so that they now carry cycles from Ravenglass up to Dalegarth. New cycle parking has been provided at Ravenglass and Dalegarth stations, and Muncaster Castle entrance.

The trail surface has been improved for novice cyclists and hopefully going out on a guided bike ride will give people the confidence to use their bikes again or to take up biking on a more regular basis.

LDNPA Access and Recreation Developer Dave Robinson said: “People can use the train and the trail route at their own convenience, but for anyone who’s lacking a little confidence to venture out on their own, or is a little rusty on a bike, coming on one of our accompanied events makes perfect sense.”

The Eskdale Trail

From Dalegarth cyclists can follow existing bridleways and a permitted cycleway back to Ravenglass – a ride of about 8.5 miles.

The route of the bridleway follows the River Esk passing through various changes in landscape from the higher fells, through woodland to the coast at Ravenglass.

It passes Muncaster Castle and the Roman Bath House en route.

For the guided bike rides, the idea is that, people park at Ravenglass, and travel up to Dalegarth on the morning train and then have a leisurely bike ride back down the valley to Ravenglass.

They will be met at Dalegarth by Dave, who is also a qualified bike leader, and if contacted in advance he will even help sort out the bike hire for those who don’t have their own cycles.

For essential advanced booking details contact 0845 272 0004.