‘A wild-swims-cycle-route photoshoot’ sounds more glamorous than it is. No film crew, make-up tents, Michelin-star cuisine, or five-star hotels for me and photographer Joe. Just him on his Condor gravel bike toting a camera bag, and me on my tourer carting trunks and wetsuit. We stayed in pub rooms, ate fish and chips, and I tried to remember to comb my hair now and then.
But it was two days of tremendous fun, illustrating an article I’m writing for Cycling Plus. The idea is a route that takes in a variety of wild and outdoor swims: waterfalls intimate and grand, rivers small and big, lake, lido and sea. A route that’s a cracking bike ride in itself, but one that also offers a range of dipping opportunities for anyone from toe-in-water novice to wetsuited veteran.
I’ll put up exact details of the route here when the article is published later this year. But in short, it goes from Kirkby Stephen to Morecambe, through the Yorkshire Dales and Lune Valley: good train connections at either end mean you can forget the car, and enjoy the swims right on the route itself, without having to lock up the bike.
Meanwhile, here are some pictures from the last couple of days…
The night before the shoot, in Kirkby Stephen, was enlivened by Travellers up for the Appleby Horse Fair. Most shops and pubs had shut, evidently fearing trouble, though the welcoming Pennine Hotel remained open. There was no trouble of course. We were very well behaved.Photographer Joe at the top of the stiff climb out of Kirkby Stephen, looking more unruffled than I wasWain Wath Force, first dip on the route. I was hot and sweaty after the climb from Kirkby Stephen. I wasn’t hot and sweaty after this.Between Swaledale and Wensleydale on the fantastic Not Buttertubs PassAt Lake Semerwater sporting my wonderful Zone3 wetsuit, gloves, socks and hat. Much appreciated by me, because it kept me snug and warm even in the chilly lake. And much appreciated by everyone else there, because they couldn’t see what was underneath.Lake Semerwater has inspired some leading composers to write classical guitar piecesCotter Force, outside Hawes, was a favourite of Turner. To paint, not to wild-swim in.Crook o’Lune is another wild swimming magnet. A fridge magnet, I suppose.At Morecambe, the tide was out when we arrived, which meant the sea was about a hundred miles away. The nearest I got to a sea swim was here in Bare Pool. No, that’s not the recommended state to use it in. It’s named after the adjacent area of Bare.I found Lancaster hard to leave. Though that was mainly because my train out of it was cancelled.
