Dog Bites & Broken Nails

Ride Date: 20/10/2013

Location: Ambergate Woods & Black Rocks

Riders : Jake, Deley, Matt, Howard, Alex & Tony

The plan was a variation on the usual Black Rocks & Hearthstone Lane ride, with the introduction of some riding in Ambergate Woods. We met as always in the Hurt Arms car park at 9:00am with the weather still mild, but with some intermittent drizzly showers.

We crossed the river and started the climb up through the woods following the bridleway as we went and it wasn't long before everyone's waterproof had come off due to the humidity. After some stiff climbing we reached the tarmac of "Jackass lane" and progressed along this much easier undulating road before turning right back into the woods. One final burst of energy up past the car park saw us at the start of the trail along the ridge.
Despite the heavy rain of the previous week we only had to dodge a few puddles as we rode along a good bit of single track with plenty of rock, roots, ups & downs. 
As Ambergate woods is fairly new to all of us, I'd done a few rides in there recently to try and find the best trails to ride, soon we came to a point where I hoped we could link up to a nice descent I had ridden a few weeks ago. it started of very promising with a very steep section with drops, rocks & hairpins thrown in, with most of us being beaten by the terrain, with Alex even breaking a nail! Matt decided he was going to make it down in one if it was the last thing he did. See the video below for the story.

 

Once Matt had nailed it we found the descent I had I previously ridden and followed it's twists, turns and surprises all the way down to the fire road. When linked together these two sections will make a really good tricky descent, there are various grades of obstacle on the way down including jumps & drops, all avoidable if needs be. We then made our way back to the top of the wood, albeit via the wrong route (my fault), although I'll remember next time.

Who knew that Meerkats lived in Ambergate Woods?

Once out of the woods we followed a steady path over the fields & through Kennel Wood to Alderwalsley, somewhere along the way I lost a screw from one of my cleats, so that needed a bit of tweaking, then we rode a bit of tarmac climbing to Wirksworth Moor and up the path to Black Rocks.
From here it was the usual Black Rocks fun, spiced up a little after the recent rain, which seemed to make us all a fair bit faster, we had a minor stoppage half way through for a quick tube swap on Tony's rear end. Before we knew it we were flying down the "Chute" and popping out on the canal. From here we decided to head back as time was not on our side with the exploring in the woods & a couple of mechanicals. So we decided to leave Hearthstone Lane & Crich Chase for another time & finished with a blast back along the canal, with weaving in and out of the Sunday walkers & Matt getting "nipped" by a very lively (or frisky) Collie, we were soon arriving at the pub for a pint (which Howard very generously paid for), plus it was still warm enough to sit outside!

All in Ambergate Woods is a superb addition to what is already a very good ride at Black Rocks, add in Hearthstone Lane and you've got 3 belting descents & there's still Crich Chase & Thacker's Wood to explore!

See the full route here http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/260148572/151189