On The Edge

The one where we rode 3 edges, I fell off, Matt's chainrings almost did, we negotiated some cows & had a top dinner.

Ride Date: 06/04/2014

Distance: 19 miles

Route: Froggatt > Eyam> Calver.

Weather: Temperature - 12°C, Wind - 37mph ↑, Humidity - 93%, Conditions - Cloudy.

Riders : Jake, Deley & Matt

Down to three again due to Birthdays, Paint balling & various other reasons, however we were not put off and Matt suggested starting from a different spot & trying some classic peak district trails before dropping back down to loop round Eyam & Calver. So we set off a couple of miles up the hill above Froggatt and parked up in a little lay by. Despite a forecast of heavy rain it was quite pleasant but slightly overcast as we started a steady climb up the road, turning off onto the first bridleway opposite the desolate Grouse pub. The bridleway continued to climb steadily up to the peak, where we turned and headed south along white edge for a good 3 miles of tough, rocky single track fun, which despite a few puddles & soft spots wasn't too bad given the heavy rain during the last week. It was along here that I had my "incident", still not sure what caused it, at the time I thought I'd clipped a rock, but the slo-mo seems inconclusive, either way I got some bruised ribs for my trouble.
At the end of the trail we crossed the road and headed West along Baslow edge, stopping for a refuel and drink at the Wellington Monument.

Deley admiring the Wellington Monument

We carried on along Baslow edge and after more rocky trail and negotiating some Highland Cattle we turned North again and rode along the 3rd and final edge, this one being Curbar, it's a cheeky trail at the moment, but due to be made into an official bridleway soon. Matt told us that his Thursday night crew like to race along these edges, and at night too. As we reached the end of Curbar edge, close to our cars we ran into a group of Satan's spawn (walkers) who looked to be heading down our next cheeky route, so we opted for the road down to Calver followed by a steep off road climb up to the top of the 2nd Eyam descent, this was it's usual fast action, I even shaved over a minute off my best time. A spot of refreshment at the bottom near the Roman Spring and we were off again up what is probably the 2nd steepest hill ever, after Starkholmes to Riber. This eventually took us to the top of Black Harry Lane, we usually climb this, but not this time, we rode it downhill for a change and round the sharp left at the bottom and onto Coombs Dale, again the reverse of our usual ride. This was a roller coaster 2 mile blast over undulating terrain giving almost constant opportunity for jumping, it also throws in a couple of loose, sketchy corners and a stream for added fun. This took us back into Calver, where we just had the road climb back up to the cars, which wasn't too bad (although it felt bad at the time!). The ride ended up being a nice 19 miles, it was hard going in some places though, due to the rough terrain and some very strong winds. It's a very good ride though, it would be nice to go back when the trails are dry and it flows a lot better.

Matt on Baslow Edge

We then headed to the Derwent Water Arms for a very well earned dinner & a pint, Matt & Deley going for the famous Pie, I opted for the char-grilled gammon, couldn't fault it again, service was brill, the food was superb! All washed down with a pint of Chatsworth Gold.

2D Elevation

3D View of the terrain

You may or may not know that this was our 10th weekend ride since we started back in September, we've done some great new stuff as well as some old favorites. So in order to celebrate this anniversary we have a small competition to win a semi-rare bottle of Status Quo's very own beer called Piledriver and made by the famous Wychwood brewery, it doesn't get anymore rock n' roll than that, does it?

To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is guess how many feet we have climbed in total over the 10 rides based on what my Endomondo says, I've hidden the workouts in question so you can't cheat, the nearest wins. You must either put your answer in the comments below or email it to me, you can only enter once, your first answer counts and it's only open to those that have been out riding with us at some point (even if it was a while back). Best of luck.

You could win a bottle of this!

View the ride on Endomondo - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/319094225/151189

The Three Musketeers

The one where, Basil had his new bike & Deley's front hub failed.

Ride Date: 23/03/2014

Route: Ambergate Woods > Black Rocks > Crich Chase.

Weather: Temperature - 4°C, Wind - 15mph →, Humidity - 86%, Conditions - Cloudy.

Riders : Jake, Deley & Basil

Only three this time on a cool morning in Ambergate. We met, as usual in the Hurt Arms car park, where Basil unveiled his new beast to us, and very nice it is too! With a fairly stiff wind we opted to climb up through Ambergate woods (I found out the road was slightly quicker on a recent ride). We set off at a good pace and were soon passing the cottages where we normally enter the woods, however this time we continued on up the road right up to the tip of the wood.
This is a new section, that starts off with some twisty single track with plenty of roots & rocks and then it opens out slightly into a full on blast with lots of options for a bit of air via various roots & stones. This brings you out on the fire road we would normally use with the short sharp climb up to the ridge.
The ridge was in pretty good shape, mostly dry, this time we passed the usual point where we start the descent and carried on to another new section, this one is better flowing and longer than the previous one and joins up with the same bottom section. It's known locally as "Millstone" presumably named after the millstone that Deley spotted part way down.

The view from the top of the Millstone Descent

Black Rocks provided it's usual standard of fun, with only one fallen tree blocking the trail, once down at the canal we discussed the options and decided to do some exploring in Crich Chase.
We started off with the same top section we had ridden last time, but kept left where the trail split, this turned out to be the full official "Bishop's Pointy Finger" Descent and it was pretty good, throwing up loads of options and good technical stuff ultimately joining up where our previous ride did with just the last few hundred metres left to the canal, it was in this clearing we met a random bearded bloke on a lapiere, who said that despite several years riding the area, he was still finding new trails & proceeded to point out several options from where we were stood.
I'm really starting to like Crich Chase, with just under a mile of descent and more trails than you can shake a stick at, I think it's got lot's more to offer us in the future and the climb up there is probably the easiest of the 4.

2D Gradient Profile

3D View of the terrain

Anyway, that's about it, the next ride will be our 10th weekend ride, so look out for a competition in the next blog entry.

View the ride on Endomondo - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/312344014/151189