The Solway Coast Big Onion Gravel

18/09/2026

Got sent this by some of the Kendal based participants on the Big Onion, looks great, 2 road routes, 2 gravel routes and £18 entry, 3rd Oct

🚴‍♂️ Join the Kendal CC Audax Weekend! 🚴‍♀️

Kendal Cycle Club is excited to host its first official Audax UK event on Saturday, 3rd October 2026, starting from Hawkshead Market Hall! We’d love riders from neighboring clubs and beyond to join us for a brilliant day out in the South Lakes.

Whether you're looking for smooth tarmac or rugged gravel, we’ve got four fully supported routes to choose from:

Road Routes

Toffee Pudding Sandwich (59 km | 900m climb): An accessible, scenic loop through Grizedale and Oxen Park, with a stop in Cartmel for sticky toffee pudding?. Perfect for Audax first-timers!

St**fy Toffee Pudding (110 km | 1,700m climb): A classic challenge featuring three stiff climbs and a coastal loop around the Furness Peninsula.

Gravel Routes

South Lakes Gravel (58 km | 970m climb): A fantastic intro to off-road Audaxing on the region's best gravel tracks. Proudly featured as an Audax UK 50:50@50 event promoting female participation!

South Lakes Grit (110 km | 2,100m climb): Epic ride featuring Grizedale Forest, Blea Tarn, Great Langdale and rugged Lake District terrain.

Event Highlights & Facilities:

Food Included: Pre-ride refreshments at start and a post-ride meal at the finish.

Facilities: Luggage storage at Hawkshead Market Hall; camping available nearby at Hawkshead Hall Campsite.

Format: GPX files, paper route cards, and E-Brevets permitted.

Entry Details:

Entry Fee: £15 (plus £3 ride insurance for non-Audax UK members).

How to Join: Entries are open now via the Audax UK website.

Spread the word in your club chat and secure your spot on the start line!

👉 Enter via

17/09/2026

Popped in here this afternoon to donate some old stock from my old bike repair business. What a great community facility, hopefully we can find ways to support the guys doing great work here. Don't throw away old unused bikes, or bikes you think maybe beyond saving, they're often nowhere near as bad as you think. Pop in to donate bikes, parts, tools or to buy yourself a good solid bicycle at a fair price.

For everyone asking about our opening hours, here they are:

Monday 6-9pm - Volunteer bike recycling - come and help refurbish donated bikes for distribution or sale or strip them for parts and scrap where they cannot be usefully salvaged.
Wednesday 10:30 - 4:30 - Open workshop and bike sales - get support fixing bikes or find or build a new one (during the morning, our focus is primarily supporting refugees with bikes and repairs, funded by the Depot, although the wider public are welcome; afternoon sessions are open to all).
Thursday 6-9pm - Members' Session - access to the workshop space and tools for working on bikes or other projects (this session is for members only, but you can join on the door).
Friday 11-4 - Open for bike sales and information, with basic workshop services provided where possible.
Saturday 10:30 -1 - Open workship and bike sales - get support fixing bikes or find or build a new one.

Plans are in the works for more sessions so watch this space!

We welcome donations of bikes, parts and tools - they can be dropped off at the workshop whenever we are open, or we can pick them up by arrangement.

17/09/2026

If you enjoyed the Big Onion Gravel, The Sonder Winter Gravel Series is where we stole the idea from. Low entry fee, self supported social ride with stunning (usually) scenery and a feed at the end.
Check it out
We usually try and get to the Keswick, Ambleside (the best), Gateshead and Edinburgh events as they're the closest to us, look out for us if you're there.
We're planning on a smaller version of the Big Onion for this winter but we're waiting for the Sonder dates to be released so we don't clash.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1LYawZYJuq/

Launch dates for Sonder 26/27 Winter Gravel series about to drop (starts Oct).
It costs a tenner, hosted at every store, gpx, croissants,coffee, hot soup & sticky buns at the end, lots of new friends & probs more mud than Grav !

Any suggestions to help make a mega ride out ??? 🚲🚲

14/09/2026

A few more pics from Big Onion 26. Get set for the next Big Onion instalment, we're pretty sure the weather won't be as pleasant......

10/09/2026

We get a lot of folk asking about the kit we wear to events and folk really like the positive vibe of the design so thought we'd share the link if anyone wants to get themselves the big onion look.
They also do winter jerseys, race caps etc, just look at their website for custom gear, and ask for what you want with the Big Onion design.
The sizing for the shorts is a bit low and I'd go a size up tbh, they're no where near Rapha/Castelli quality levels but they're a fraction of the Rapha/Castelli prices.
We've had ours well over a year now and still in reasonable condition. Don't worry about the 2025 in the title, design is still the same. And the wee Chinese guy lifted the spiel straight from our event page back when we were designing 😂
Hoping to also get something lined up for Big Onion Gravel t-shirts, hats and hoodies in the next couple of months.

PS, we don't make anything from your purchases, just sharing the love 😁

The Solway Coast Big Onion Gravel for 2025 Cycling Kits on the fantastic trails around the beautiful Solway Coast. 3 great route options this year to include a shorter trail option for those wanting to dip their toes into the world of self supported gravelling or just want to cut the ride a bit shor...

01/09/2026

Fresh sticker in Fife tonight. Where has everyone stuck their's ??

01/09/2026

Photo dump of some pics from the soon to disappear, Big Onion 2026 event page.

01/09/2026

Last rider just crossed to finish line, sorry pal, all the ice cream has melted 😄