Whats the best way to get around the lovely Lowther Castle Estate? By Bike, you say! Well yes, but how about hiring an E Bike…….
Arragons Cycles are a bicycle shop and hire company that are based in Penrith and also rent bikes at Lowther Castle in Cumbria’s beautiful Eden Valley. Amazingly a few weeks ago Wil and I actually won half a days E Bike Hire in a raffle , so at the weekend off we went for our first ever cycling adventure together. 😀 Let’s just say we are not very well matched when it comes to bike riding. But get me on an E Bike and it’s a bit of a game changer!
There are several cycling trails around the Lowther Estate. We were handed a map by the helpful lady at the Cycle Hire and she gave us a quick tutorial. They also provide bike helmets though Wil brought his own and I borrowed his spare. The bikes we hired were Royal Dutch Gazelles which are all terrain E Bikes, unfortunately despite having my saddle lowered, my bike felt too big for me. Getting on it took me forever and as for dismounting, well basically I couldn’t stop without falling off. So all the photos I took for this post were taken after I had fallen off my bike, sometimes on purpose, and sometimes not. 😝
Apart from my stopping and starting challenges the actual cycling was alot of fun and it did truly feel wonderful whizzing up hills with ease. After practicing on the trails around the Castle and River Lowther, we headed through the nearby village of Askham and up Askham Fell.
There are a criss cross of walking and cycling trails around Askham Fell. One option is to head up and over to the lakeside village of Pooley Bridge. Maybe next time! We wheeled it to Whale via Helton instead, where I hoped the Lowther Estates Long Horn Cattle would be hanging out.
The fell was abuzz with the sound of Skylarks, it’s simply wonderful up there on a sunny day. 🙂
We had a short refreshment stop on the Green in the village of Helton. A nice soft grass landing anyway! If you do fancy finding somewhere for a brew, there are cafes and pubs in both Pooley Bridge and Askham , Lowther Castle of course and Lowther itself has a walled Garden Tea Room at the Bird of Prey Centre.
Before the hamlet of Whale we followed the trail signposts back to Lowther Castle, passing, to my delight, a very placid herd of Long Horn Cattle. Some had gorgeous calves too.
Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos as we cycled through woodland, stunning bluebells & wild garlic galore. Spring might just be the prettiest time to hire a bicycle at Lowther Castle.
I’m not used to riding a bike so I wasn’t sure whether I would become accustomed to all the different Speeds etc, but I did, it was fun and I would definitely consider hiring an E Bike again. Even Wil ( who is a bit of a middle aged man in lycra, he has a couple of road bikes ) enjoyed the advantages of power assisted cycling!
E Bike Hire at Lowther Castle costs £35 for 3 hours cycling, including helmet hire and a small tutorial.
My Tips ~ Take a rucksack with plenty of water.
~ Wear padded cycling shorts!
~ Cycle in the morning when the trails aren’t as busy.
Have you ever ridden an E Bike?
sunshine and celandines 
How nice..and that castle is lovely.
Oh yes, here in Germany we cycle in all seasons.
Within 10m radius I still prefer to sweat out and use the normal bike.
Your very good. I don’t actually own a bike but I do walk everywhere.
It sounds like you had a great time and the area looks lovely. I’m afraid that bike saddle would be far too low for me, I may only be small but I prefer a higher saddle than that 🙂
I like to be able to touch the ground, that’s why I couldn’t get off. 😅
Can just imagine you riding round in ever decreasing circles.
It was a bit like that.
John swears by his E-bikes! I’ll leave him to it. Even with power assistance I would still be left in the dust.
Haha, yes I was still left in the dust but I think with a bit more practice I would be fine. One of my friends is getting one, well jealous!
Can’t decide whether I should hire one to ride round Cumbrae…..
I think Cumbrae is fine on a normal bike – although, you never know, if it’s windy an E-bike would be a good help!
My friends bought themselves e-bikes and they swear by them. I was recently quite tempted to hire an ordinary red ‘Santander’ bike in London, but I haven’t actually cycled in 25 years! There wasn’t a petrol car in sight – very encouraging for cyclists and urban trekkers, less air pollution, less engine noise and much more pleasant environment overall.
That’s good that more people are cycling in London. I would be hesitant too on actual roads, I’m definitely out of practice! The E Bikes were really good, you will have to have a go on your friends!
Never tried one, although my other half thinks that I should do so. My knee would still have to go round and round (and that is the issue!) looks like you had a lovely day (not withstanding the unusual dismounting method!)
The dismounting method was the only downside, lol. 🙂
Yes you still have to pedal, so I’m not sure about whether they are any better than an ordinary bike when it comes to a bad knee..
Sounds like fun and the countryside looks gorgeous. Never ridden an E-bike and would actually need an E-trike if you can get them as I
suffer from vertigo & have no balance once my 2 feet are off the ground. I rode a lot as a t eenager with back pedal breaks and of course no gears in the good old days, but one I had my license and a car I’d not ridden till a few years back & that was when I reallised that my vertigo problem just doesn’t like it anymore. I’d love to feel tha tfreedom once more. Thanks for sharing, take care and hugs.
Susan an E Trike sounds fab, I wonder if they do them?
Like you I had a bike with pedal back brakes as a kid and no gears! It meant I was never allowed to take my cycling prefiency as my bike wasn’t road worthy. X
That looks a lot of fun. I’ve never been on an E-bike, but they seem to be getting very popular now. X
They do seem to have grown in popularity. X
You covered a fair few miles, a great area for exploring on a bike. I have cycled a normal bike on most of those tracks over the years but never been on an e-bike.
Although I have family near there I hadn’t explored some of those trails before so it was lovely. Beautiful countryside. X
I’ve never ridden an e-bike, even my standard bike is just dust gathering in the garage these days. I should really get back out there. I cycled a lot when we lived in Germany and Holland. When we first went over I was in awe of some of the pensioners, whizzing past me. Took me a while to work out they mostly had e bikes while I was totally pedal powered!
You should hire one sometime and have a go, they are pretty amazing!! X
I can’t ride an ordinary bike, hon, so I don’t think one would be much use to me, but it looked like you had a lot of fun whizzing around.
I hadn’t ridden for a few years and a few years before that, so not bike confident, but I got the hang of it. X
😊💗
I’m loving all that green scenery, lovely✨
It’s a beautiful area for walking too. 🙂
Now, you’ve given me an idea!
Give it a go. Wil loved it and he does normal cycling. 🙂
I used too do a lot of cycling but that was more than 15 years ago! I still ahve a bike that I don’t really use – he idea of an ebike does appeal and I would certainly like to give it a go!
I’ve never tried e-biking, but I love the thought of effortlessly gliding up hills. I had to laugh when you talked about falling off your bike so often – surely that’s not true?
For now, I have my polka-dot bike to cycle to & from work, complete with basket in the front to transport my handbag and snacks.
Your bike sounds so cute. Very vintage. 🙂
The E Bikes were a lot of fun. I think I needed a step through bike and one that was slightly smaller, that’s why I couldn’t stop, because I couldn’t touch the ground at all. Anyway apart from the bruises I did enjoy it. 😅