Tour of the Lake District - Cycling Simulator

The Lake District is one of 15 national parks in the UK. It contain’s England's deepest lakes and it's highest hills. The route starts just outside the national park in Kendal, from here it enters the Lake District to go to Windermere before travelling to the northern area of the lakes to get to the old market town of Keswick. From here the race does a loop through the villages of Braithwaite and Buttermere before returning to Braithwaite to finish at the Whinlatter Forrest Park.

After leaving Kendal the route heads to Windermere; Lake Windermere is the largest lake in England and the riders briefly cycle alongside the lake. This section of the race is very popular for the fans with many holiday makers and fans coming out to see the race whirl past.

Once out of Windermere the gradient starts to increase as the riders tackle the Kirkstone Pass. This isolated pass comes too early on in the race for any of the favourites to make a move but there is an inevitable breakaway group that forms around the bottom of the pass in Troutbeck. After reaching the top of the pass the riders have their first proper decent, it’s steep and straight but nearing the bottom there’s a few slight turns that could catch the unwary out.

Having finished this pass the race enters Glenridding. Glenridding is the common start point for those wishing to walk up Helvellyn, England’s 3rd highest hill. It’s also the second chance for the riders to enjoy a lakeside cycle, this time Ullswater. This opportunity is quickly lost though as the race quickly turns off for a short sharp ascent to Dockray. If the original breakaway is still going strong then a second group will use this short climb to try and get away from the peloton to ultimately catch the first breakaway.

The race now heads for Keswick, this former market town is now an adventurous tourists paradise, with easy access to the hills for walkers, plenty of opportunities to sail/canoe on Derwent Water and of course good opportunities to cycle for both road cyclists and mountain biking. After going through Keswick for the first time in the day the riders embark on a gruelling loop.

Out of Keswick the riders will go over the Whinlatter Pass, it is halfway along this pass that the race ultimately reaches it’s climax and on this first attempt the peloton will really up the rate. Once at the top of this pass the race has it’s first challenging downhill, we’re now at a pivotal part of the section and the riders are taking risks. Once down safe and sound the race goes by the third and forth lakes of the day: Crummock Water and Buttermere. This flat section would be a great place to recover before the hardest climb of the day but the riders aren’t given this luxury the breakaway is still out and it needs catching.

The catch generally take’s place on the Honister pass, this steep pass can be idyllic on a good day and draws a lot of the local cycling fanbase since it’s this climb and the treacherous downhill that follows where the race can be torn apart. On the decent small groups will try to fly off the front but if the conditions are bad or if hesitations are made this perilous decent could easily lead to crashes with the gradient hitting -20% at sections.

Once at the bottom the riders go through Borrowdale, the valley where many of the walkers for Scaffel Pike begin their journey up England’s highest hill. We then encounter lake number 5: Derwent Water before giving the fans in Keswick their second look at the race and heading back off for a second take at the Whinlatter Pass. This climb is at a glance deceptive with an average gradient of 7% but this hides the climbs true nature. Over half of this 2.9km climb is done at over 10% and has stages at 20%, it doesn’t let up at any section and since we’re now at the end of the race the riders are throwing everything at it. Once at the top the riders turn into the Whinlatter Forrest Park for a brief sprint to the finish.