Legal highs
By TMX Archives on 6th Jun 03
lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o'er vales and hills,When all at once I saw a crowd,A host, of bloody motorcycles."So wrote Lakeland poet William Wordsworth back in 1804, or at least he would have if "I WANDERED lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o'er vales and hills,When all at once I saw a crowd,A host, of bloody motorcycles."So wrote Lakeland poet William Wordsworth back in 1804, or at least he would have if motorcycles had been invented back then...and if he'd been a member of the Ramblers Association.Judging by the volume of traffic on the M6 on any given Bank Holiday, the Lake District has got to be the UK's #1 tourist attraction. Mountain bikers, horse riders, water sports fans and ramblers all enjoy the beautiful scenery and, in increasing numbers, so do trail riders.So 199 years after Willie penned his masterpiece - and with the June issue deadline safely negotiated - we hook up with Clews Leisure for a spot of much needed R&R and head to Windermere for one of their Super Trail days. The company, run by Austin Clews, organises a variety of trail riding packages in the Lake District with a fleet of WR250 and 450cc leccy-start four-strokes laid on.Road licences are called for and everything is legal and above board - and it bloody well has to be. While we've every right to be there, there are certain elements who share the trails on the Lakeland fells who object to the presence of nasty motorcycles. This is crystal clear when we encounter the first of many groups of ramblers we pass during the day.Fortunately, Austin's already warned us about this in his pre-ride briefing so we amble past at walking pace barking out cheery 'thank yous' but, even so, we're on the receiving end of some serious hard stares. If looks could kill...Saying that, we do come across a few groups of walkers who obviously don't believe the countryside belongs exclusively to them and are rewarded for our thoughtfulness with smiles and waves. It's what the US troops in Iraq would term 'winning hearts and minds' (without the bit where they fire on unarmed civilians)...Austin - son of CCM founder Alan - knows the trails like the back of his hand and this, combined with a past life as a ***t-hot MXer, means that on the stretches where there's no evidence of ramblers and good visibility we're fairly blatting along. It's on one of these occasions that Sutty, foolish young man that he is, decides to soak me with a full-throttle pass through a flooded rut. Let's just say don't miss next month's mag when he does a Dougie Lampkin trials school in a skin-tight lycra one-piece...Post pub lunch and we tackle the most challenging bit of riding we come across all day. A steep, stony pass over the fells, it's the kind of going where a trials bike would be a much better weapon than an enduro machine and by the time we get to the top I'm a sweating, wheezing mess. So nowt new there. But if I thought I was in a state, one look at Austin's big brother Alan makes me feel a whole lot better. After a night on the beer and next to no bike-hours under his belt in the last decade, Big Al's crisscrossing the pain barrier. "You lot go on, leave me here," he sighs... Sutty wants to take the humane approach and finish him off with a big blunt rock but he's out-voted.Fortunately, it's literally all downhill from here and my blood pressure - and Alan's - is back to normal after a fast charge down a rocky gully to the Tarmac and a 'leisurely' cruise to the Hawkshead ferry.So, the big question is, would we do it again? Damn right. We clocked up around 80kms in six hours (including our lunch stop), did loads of skids and wheelies, shook our fists at sheep and got to enjoy the beautiful Lakes from the saddle of top-of-the-range, full-bore enduro bikes.Prices start from 169 plus VAT and kit hire, overnight accommodation and block bookings can be arranged. For more details call 01254 700120, check-out the website at www.clewsleisure.com or send an email to sales@clewsleisure.comClews Leisure also operate supermoto days using the same machines in SM trim - and we've got an invite to one of those in the very near future. Watch this space...Sean Lawless