BOWLAND KNOTTS

KEASDEN, LANCASTER

This awesome route across the barren moor stutters a bit to get going but once in its stride is a brilliant course. I’m calling the start at the bridge over the River Wenning. It’s gentle at first and you roll up and down for a while before heading into a long demanding stretch. It eases slightly past some buildings and then climbs again towards the summit on the ridge. As the top came into view on my ride I began to think, is that it? I was hoping for more. Thankfully, just over this brow, more is what I got – a lot more. Here you’re faced with the true nature of the beast; the road snakes onwards and upwards in front of you, across the featureless landscape. It’s never too steep, but it’s slow progress to the top. Crossing the tiny Cowsen Gill Bridge, you’re led to another brow, but it’s still not the top. The road goes on and on, eventually finishing across a cattle grid surrounded by a huge gritstone outcrop: Bowland Knotts.