Lake district, 12th-14th July

If you are going away somewhere and don't mind meeting up with other Bongo owners or if you've been somewhere & want to tell us about it & stick up your photos, put the details here.

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Muzorewa
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Re: Lake district, 12th-14th July

Post by Muzorewa » Mon Jul 15, 2013 12:32 pm

Well what a scorcher of a weekend! Nice to meet up with Brian & Christine (briwy) and having a good chat while a variety of things were barbecued.

The campsite is very good, many thanks to bongo frenzee for the recommendation. We’d certainly stay there again.

Remembering that the whole point of this expedition was to assist Muz Jr cycling over the Hardknott and Wrynose Passes, we took a support vehicle as well as the Bongo, that was so we could leave the Bongo on the campsite, plugged into an electricity supply so there would be plenty of cold beer, and have a car to zip about the hills taking photos, and the obligatory water spraying :lol:

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Got to get that health food. Pom-Bear Zoo Friends :?

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Checks & adjustments....

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....while we await the arrival of the rest of the Team

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Fisherground Farm campsite – very nice too....

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....with its own station on the Ravenglass & Eskdale railway

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Douglas Ferreira running on the longest narrow-gauge railway in the Lakes

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More pre-flight adjustments prior to a gentle run on Friday

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Meanwhile, Muzette on the zip-wire....

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....having a fine time :D

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Camp set up....

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....and we’ve some proper health food to eat :?

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Time to fire up the barbie then :D

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Panorama from Birker Fell heading towards Ulpha

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Birker Fell

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The ubiquitous Team Muz barbecued sausages :D

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Jr just back in perfect time :(

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Morning campers! Do not feed the animals :lol:

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Another scorcher in prospect, this isn’t really the ideal weather for today’s events....

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....but a hearty breakfast is definitely a good idea :wink:

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Turned out nice again :?

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New front brake blocks might be a good idea at this point :idea:

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The hour approaches....

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....still not sure this is a good idea :?

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....definitely not sure :?

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:?

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So far so good :D

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Getting steeper :(

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Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!

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Only partway up the first Pass....

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....in need of water

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Tour de France-style water spraying :lol:

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Stopping here, there’s no way to restart without dropping back down....

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Come on!!

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Fail :lol:

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Another water stop....

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....aided by Muzette....

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....perfect!

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Onto the Wrynose Pass now, which isn’t as bad, and there’s other nutters having a go!

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Looking down to Little Langdale Tarn

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Pooped :wink:

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Back in the support bus at Ambleside 8)

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A variety of views on the return over the same two Passes 8)

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Time to recuperate :lol:

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Briwy’s new bus and very nice too. But wait, there’s something wrong, the sliding door is on the wrong side and there’s no rust on the wheelarches :?

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Muzette discovers water :?

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Get that barbie going again! :D

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Sirloin steaks

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Donner kebab-meat burgers :?

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Ribs :D

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Barbecued pineapple with Angostura bitters & brown sugar....

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....a perfect finish! :D

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Sunday, and that’ll be right. A sun day 8)

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Sleep needed due to the exertion of the previous day!
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briwy
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Re: Lake district, 12th-14th July

Post by briwy » Mon Jul 15, 2013 4:05 pm

A cracking weekend in the Muzzes company and well done Chris, must be mad, he even wanted to do it AGAIN. =D>
I think we are going to follow them around more as they always seem to get good weather. :) First time in years we've been to the Lakes and not got drenched.
Muz is threatening to get "wheel arch rust" and Mazda badge decals for the VW to make it more "realistic". :D
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Northern Bongolow
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Re: Lake district, 12th-14th July

Post by Northern Bongolow » Mon Jul 15, 2013 6:30 pm

great effort chris, well done mate, and muzzette the support crew doing the essential water job.

far far braver than I. :shock: . :lol: :lol:
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MarcT77
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Re: Lake district, 12th-14th July

Post by MarcT77 » Mon Jul 15, 2013 6:39 pm

Credit to Muz Jr for that effort,I've ridden the 2 passes many,many times on 2 wheels....
aided by a motor though... and my best time from the bottom of Wrynose to the end by the Birker fell turn is
a little over 9 minutes...It was very early in the morning and the road
was pretty quiet,well it was till my open piped 644 supermoto went up there.. :lol:

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Re: Lake district, 12th-14th July

Post by Muzorewa » Tue Jul 16, 2013 6:18 am

Nice looking bike, you can attack the roads on something like that :wink:

In the Bongo I wasn't going for any kind of speed but I did have a camera gaffa-taped to the dashboard. From Little Langdale to the phonebox at the far end of Hardknott (both where the warning signs are as in my pics above) it took 23 minutes heading west and 25 minutes heading east. On a previous mission it took almost 8 minutes for the Hardknott alone from the phonebox to the junction at Cockley Beck and then 8:25 from there over the Wrynose to Little Langdale.
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Re: Lake district, 12th-14th July

Post by MarcT77 » Tue Jul 16, 2013 5:12 pm

I haven't tried taking the freda over there yet,did you have any issues with any of the off
camber hairpins,I have been over in a Transit (75bhp) and it struggled badly with the climbs ?
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Muzorewa
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Re: Lake district, 12th-14th July

Post by Muzorewa » Tue Jul 16, 2013 6:12 pm

I've done both passes at least 8 times in a 4WD Bongo, no problems at all even in the wet. The back wheels scrabble a bit but that's the LSD working. Last weekend the Giulietta struggled more purely on ground clearance, especially trying to get out of the way of twonks who don't know how wide their car is.

I can imagine the fun you'd have on a bike like that, I've ridden all manner of trail bikes, trials bikes & crossers so I know the huge grin you'd have when you got to the Birker Fell turn :wink:
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PixieAndTheMoon
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Re: Lake district, 12th-14th July

Post by PixieAndTheMoon » Tue Jul 16, 2013 6:23 pm

Well done Chris!

The elders talk about driving their Bongos though the lakes, you did it on a bike friend :D

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Muzorewa
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Re: Lake district, 12th-14th July

Post by Muzorewa » Tue Jul 16, 2013 7:00 pm

Aye, going from Eskdale to Ambleside the direct route on a bicycle isn't an easy undertaking. But he still has the Honister, Whinlatter & Kirkstone to do :twisted:
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Re: Lake district, 12th-14th July

Post by PixieAndTheMoon » Tue Jul 16, 2013 8:55 pm

Hey that is seriously mean! :lol:

Good luck with that Chris

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MarcT77
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Re: Lake district, 12th-14th July

Post by MarcT77 » Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:20 pm

Muzorewa wrote:Aye, going from Eskdale to Ambleside the direct route on a bicycle isn't an easy undertaking. But he still has the Honister, Whinlatter & Kirkstone to do :twisted:

Ooh...done those as well... :mrgreen:
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