#JENNRIDE BIKE PACKING EVENT – WHEELBASE, LAKE DISTRICT

Tomorrow – Saturday the 26th of June sees the return of the challenging #JENNRIDE two day Bike Packing event starting at Wheelbase in Staveley…

The #Jennride is a 100 mile off road bike packing charity event in memory of Jenn Hill organised by Wheelbase’s own local postie and well-known Lake District mountain biker Rich Munro! Thanks to all of his hard work behind the scenes we can again look forward to two days of bike packing adventures on a route that takes in all that’s good with the Lake District trails – long off-road climbs, picturesque stretches and super-fun downhill sections.

The start of the #JENNRIDE in 2019 saw great mix of intrepid bike packers…

In memory of Jenn Hill the event will again be raising money for St Gemma’s Hospice – St. Gemma’s Hospice provides specialist medical and nursing care for people with life threatening illnesses, predominantly cancer, along with support for their families, in the In-Patient Unit, by the community care nurses, in the Day Hospice, or as an Out-Patient.

The #JENNRIDE is a great opportunity to ride the Lakes with friends AND make new ones along the way… 

Based predominately in the South Lakes the route changes every year to showcase the trails we have available in the Lake District. Participants ride adapted mountain bikes of all shapes and sizes (including a tandem at the previous edition!) carrying everything they need to ride, stay fuelled-up on food and camp for the night. The nature of the route gives you riders opportunity to maybe miss a loop here and there if they’re struggling with the vibe of the event being very friendly and informal; it’s got a great cycling-community-vibe to it! The route is given out as a GPX so there are no marshals on course and no sag wagon.

Riders carry everything they need to take on the 100 mile, two day off-road adventure…

First thing Saturday morning riders will head out onto the designated route; the 100 mile route should not be underestimated as it traverses some of the finest scenery and most challenging terrain in the South Lakes.

We were blessed with great weather for the 2021 event, fingers crossed we get the same this year!…

#JENNRIDE event organiser Rich Munro with Mountain Biking legend Nick Craig who rode with his wife Sarah Craig in the 2019 event…

You’ll see all kinds of bike packing setups at the start of the #JENNRIDE…

We were particularly impressed with this ‘dream team’ setup in the 2019 #JENNRIDE…

 

About Jenn Hill…

Jenn Hill sadly passed away in October 2015 after a short battle with Cancer. She was well-loved by so many people within the UK mountain biking community and her death touched a lot of people. Her passion for racing and in particular, taking part in gruelling 24 mountain bike events was infectious; adventure was in her heart and she was renowned for being able to take on big challenges on the bike with a focus on racing solo for 24 hours being her speciality. One of Jenn’s greatest achievements within mountain biking was her completion of the Great Divide Race – a 2,500 mile race down the spine of the Rocky Mountains in the USA from the Canadian to the Mexican borders. Aside from racing Jenn had a background working in the bike trade before moving into mountain bike journalism within the small Singletrack Magazine team and eventually becoming the Deputy Editor. Living in Calderdale Jenn would often make the trip up to the Lakes to ride some of her favourite trails and with this in mind we think it’s really fitting that the #JENNRIDE continues to take place here, challenging adventurous bike packers to complete a 100 mile loop in memory of Jenn while raising money for St Gemma’s Hospice.

We’ll be reporting back on how the 2021 #JENNRIDE went and will be showcasing some of this year’s bike packing setups in an upcoming feature, good luck to all participants!

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

2019 #JENNRIDE photos by Dan Monaghan

 

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