The two-day PlanetFear Lake Epic mountain biking event is just one of a series of sporting events based around the Keswick Mountain Festival this year and we're entered for a slightly different perspective on big Cumbrian peaks - plenty of other stuff to do as well, from triathlons, to Derwentwater swims through to speakers of the likes of Sir Chris Bonington.
A quick last minute reminder that the 2011 Keswick Mountain Festival kicks off tomorrow, Wednesday 18 May and runs through until Sunday 22 May with a big mix of speakers, events, bands and more.
Check the links to our previous articles for some more detailed highlights, but we thought we'd better mention Alastair Lee's appearance on Wednesday night, just so he'd stop mailing us about it...
Watch Stuff...
We keep promising to go and watch the award-winning – 20 gongs for the Asgard Project alone now – film-maker in action, but never quite manage it, but you can. He's very entertaining in person and is on from 20.30 to 22.00 at the Theatre By The Lake.
There are plenty of other speakers too, Mark Beaumont, the round the world cyclist and self-powered TV star will be part of the Montane Bike Night on Thursday evening and talking about his two major trips, round the world and down the length of the Americas as well as forthcoming plans,
And on top iof that, there's Neil Gresham, Tim Emmett, Ray Mear and the legendary Chris Bonington, the latter occupying the headline 19.30-21.00 slot on the Saturday night.
Do Stuff...
It's not all just watching things yer know. This year's festival has a participation-based Adventure Base festival village at Crow Park, where you'll be able to take in sports demos, have a go at stuff yourself, try local Cumbrian delicacies and listen to live music.
It's also the base for a range of sporting events including a schools triathlon, Latrigg fell race, a swim in Derwentwater to Derwent Island, Borrowdale Trail Run and a couple of triathlons.
And We're Doing Stuff...
Finally, it's also the start point for the planetFear Lakes Epic mountain bike two-dayer across some of the biggest mountain terrain in the area, think two 60km day and I'm doing it along with a friend...
Why? Spectacular mountain scenery, great trails and the word 'epic'. Joking aside, while I love walking, there's also something quite addictive in the ability to cover big distances relatively quickly on a bike.
It's different, you arguably have to be more focussed on what you're doing and the pace is more frenetic than walking, but strangely, once you get below the surface, big mountain riding and big mountain walking have a lot in common.
I'll be reporting back next week, but if you're around the Adventure Base early on Saturday morning, I'll be on a silvery coloured bike looking apprehensive and excited in equal parts.
Just The Start...
More about this shortly, but it's also the first and arguably most sensible part of a trio of slightly daft events I'm committed to doing this year. The second is a 24-hour mountain bike solo race at Bontrager 24/12 in July while the third, and how one earth did that happen, is the Kielder Marathon in October... Gulp.
Anyway, more about that over the next few months. You can find full details of the Keswick Mountain Festival at www.keswickmountainfestival.co.uk. Maybe see you there?
