Borrowdale Bash MTB | Rider's Guide

Welcome to the Lake District's famous Borrowdale Bash route! If you are a normal mountain biker in the UK, this epic route could be what you are looking for. For those wanting to rewatch the video, or skip to the sections they most want to view, I have created the following video chapters:

0:00 Borrowdale Bash MTB montage
0:25 Intro to my Lake District MTB ride
1:40 This first descent was a great warm up...
3:22 The scenery on the Borrowdale Bash is amazing!
4:59 The second main descent is INCREDIBLE!
5:59 The hardest section on the Borrowdale Bash
8:46 Is this descent perfection?
11:24 This climb on the Borrowdale Bash nearly broke me!
13:47 The final Descent is GNARLY!
16:28 My thoughts on the Borrowdale Bash route...

The Lake District is renowned for it's incredible MTB riding, however it comes with one big caveat... Access! England has fairly strict access rules so you have to be careful what you ride, and even more careful about what you share... The Borrowdale Bash is a route that uses bridleways which can be accessed legally by bikes.

In this adventure I take you on a guided Lake District MTB ride along the famous Borrowdale Bash mountain biking loop. For a normal mountain bike this route probably strikes a good balance of physical and technical difficulty.

So , if you are looking for some of the best UK mountain bike riding, I thoroughly recommend riding the Borrowdale Bash in the lakes. It really is an incredible loop for a normal rider - physically and technically demanding, but not so challenging that you will be taking big risks.

If you are new to my videos then expect to see high quality riding vlogs shot in the same style as McTrail Rider and BKXC. I try to travel to the best MTB locations in Scotland finding you the best mountain biking trails to ride, enjoy and explore.

The video was shot on a DJI Osmo Action 5 PRO mounted on the chin of an Endura MT500 helmet using a R3Pro mount.

#borrowdalebash #lakesmtb #lakedistrict

[streetpigeonmtb]

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Enjoy😁

[kevinstanley]

Much as I like going to a bikepark occasionally this video confirms my preference that trail riding is for me.

[JasonChambersPhoto]

It’s my local trail and I never get tired of this one! What a classic MTB route 😊

[sergioelcoyote]

Wonderful video dear friend. Great ride and stiunning landscapes. Have a great weekend. Greetings from Argentina 😃👏👏👏👏

[Bessunger]

Absolutely stunning!❤ Awesome landscape. Was there - without bike - 22 years ago and absolutely loved Lake District!

[bridgefootcottage]

Great video and footage, I remember dojng most of those trails in the late 1990’s on a Kona hardtail with 90mm travel pace forks. That was rough ! 😂

[DanFagelson]

As soon as I saw the pic, I knew where you were.... Love the lakes, we go every year, been over 30 years now... Magical place for mtb

[docspuddin]

Wow did this yesterday .. Its always been a fave :)

[Mugtree]

Absolutely love the Borrowdale bash, Glad you liked it too

[mtbmatestrailsbanter]

Borrowdale bash is one of my all time favourites, we usually do it at least twice a year

Higher tyre pressures are a must

Glad you enjoyed the bash, great video

[StewartSanderson]

Great to see you on our weekly trails, cant beat the bash for a seriously good day out.

[IOM-EMTB]

Great video and handy for me as I'm in the Isle of man and looking for locations to go snd ride In the UK this coning year and the Lakes is definitely an area I'm interested in with It being so close after getting off the ferry, drone footage looking mint aswell 👍 Out of interested have you ever Been over to the IOM to check out the riding options here ?

[ianharding]

That's brought back some great memories of completing this ride about 5 years ago. Love the arial videos too!

[marcusdavies]

Nice one, I love a good adventure spin and that looked like a fab day out 🙂. And those low down drone shots are fantastic 👌

[MindfulTrailBiker]

Absolutely stunning visual in this edit Jamie! It just looks amazing! Lindsey and I rode for the first time ever this weekend on the e-bikes. Fair effort on an analogue bike, brutal climbs! Very well
Ridden, the descents had me a bit unsure with grip etc, I was backing off a bit for sure but you looked to be flying buddy!

[rhettetherington]

Great video .Borrowdale bash is a brilliant ride. Even better on a( proper) hardtail bike 😂.

[TrailTrackerSwitzerland]

What a fab looking route Jamie. I did my first and only big route in the Lakes when I was on my way to visit you a couple years ago, and it was immediately clear that there are loads of possibilities for some epic rides like this. Thanks for taking us along 👍

[DistrictMountainBiker]

Good to see you tackling a lakes classic! The drone adds a nice perspective of those descents too, the pov never does them justice haha

[stevengrace]

Cracking loop, that rock chute you pre walked around 6:33 is no joke!! Freaked me out! The big decent 14:19 is epic, like you say good test of bike, tyres and rider! The flows decent at 17:07 was a dream. Loved it all.

[stuartholdsworth]

Love this route, been such a long time since I’ve done it though.