A Tale of Two Gates

The one with two famous gates, 41 miles & a mid ride pub stop.

Ride Date: 30/09/2014

Distance: 41 miles

Route: Doctor's Gate & Cut Gate.

Weather: Temperature - 12°C, Wind - 7mph →, Humidity - 100%, Conditions - Cloudy.

Riders : Jake, Matt & Mick

Beer: Moonshine by Abbeydale Brewery

Another early start and with only a couple of days to recover from the BHF ride. We met at 08:00 on the banks of Ladybower with the sun just coming up over Derwent Edge. We started out on familiar territory, climbing up to Hagg farm and then down the excellent berms to the Snake Pass, from here on it was 5.5 miles of steady uphill tarmac to the beginning of Doctor's Gate, to be honest I expected a much harder climb, but although it was long, it wasn't too bad & we were soon at the top taking a quick refreshment break and then on to the fabled Doctor's Gate.

The start of Doctor's gate

The start of the trail was a slight climb, with some bike carrying over streams and up steps, as we reached the top and looked at the trail weaving off in to the distance rubbed our hands in anticipation of what looked and long, uninterrupted and epic descent, however this couldn't have been further from the truth, well strictly speaking it was a descent, but it was broken up fairly regularly by either steep steps up or down, both which generally needed to be done on foot. There was very little flow from top to bottom, although there was one section around the middle that lasted a few hundred yards, but that was over all too soon.

Mick shouldering his bike up one of the many breaks in the flow of Doctor's Gate

Once we got towards the bottom the rocks turned into a peat bog, again not really rideable but fairly easy to navigate on foot, culminating in a good size stream, with the only way across being a very dodgy looking bridge, it was a bit like something from Indiana Jones as we carefully shuffled across, that was not only creaking, but also bending as we crossed. Once safe on the other side we had a breather in the sun and then hit probably the best bit of the descent, with a very fast blast down a winding farm track towards Glossop.

The bridge of certain death, or at least injury

Once in Glossop we were on the hunt for the Trans Pennine Trail, which would be our route to langsett, although we did get slightly lost, we found it eventually and followed what was a steady 6 miles of trail to the Woodhead Tunnel where we left the relatively flat trail and crossed the road, climbing up onto a rockier trail leading up and above the road, before dropping back down and across the road again, this lead to a nice little descent followed by another short climb and out onto the Woodhead Pass, where the road graffiti from the Tour de France was still visible - Va Va Froome!. We followed the road for about a mile and then left to join the "snow Road", a long rutted affair, fast and tricky, as the ruts were very narrow and if you took your eyes of them for a second control was lost. However there was treasure at the end in the shape of The Dog & Partridge Inn, where we had a nice bit of lunch and a refreshing pint, all in preparation for the mighty Cut Gate.

A couple of quick bridleways saw us soon on the the climb to the summit of Cut Gate, at almost 4 miles of rocky, technical up it was going to be hard work this far into the ride, however we dug in and despite a couple of stops we were soon at the top cairn looking  forward to the superb descent awaiting us (and also pretty much no more climbing!).
A quick drink and some energy was taken on, to make sure we got the best from the trail & off we set, having ridden it once before this year, I was slightly better prepared for line choice and managed to make it almost to the bottom without so much of a dab. I think next time I'll stick with the switchbacks and avoid the super steep steps! The challenge for next time is to try and at least keep Matt in sight for the duration.

Matt sets of into the sun at the top of the Cut Gate descent

That just left a steady roll back along the banks of the reservoirs to the cars, with just a small stop at Fairholmes for an icecream. So all in we ended up with 41 miles and almost 6 hours in the saddle, Cut gate was it's usual stunning self, however Doctor's gate left us feeling cheated and a bit disappointed at it's lack of flow, especially as it's regarded as a must do trail and as such we'll probably not do it again. however look out for a Cut Gate ride next year that will probably rope in Lockerbrook & Derwent Edge too!

Thanks for reading & see you at the next one!

View the ride on Endomondo - http://app.endomondo.com/workouts/416460934/151189

BHF Peaks Challenge

The one the ended up being a bit longer than planned.

Ride Date: 27/09/2014

Distance: 31 miles

Route: All over the peaks.

Weather: Temperature - 9°C, Wind - 4mph →, Humidity - 91%, Conditions - Sunny.

Riders : Jake, Deley & Basil

An early start for this one and on a day where the first fingers of autumn were starting to creep in, it was close to zero & foggy upon arrival at and already bustling Hope Valley College, with every make of bike being unloaded from cars & vans. Within 10 mins Deley & Basil arrived and we set off for the start. With 500 riders taking part we were expecting it to be a bit cramped, but with staggered starts and natural differences in ability & fitness, the field soon thinned out. 

We set off initially along the road were Deley almost had an altercation with a confused and impatient looking driver. A bit more road took us around to the outside of the Hope cement works, then onto bridleway and up toward the broken road and the climb to the summit of Mam Tor. By this time the sun was well and truly out and it was coats off.

Stunning Views From The Broken Road On The Climb Up Mam Tor

A quick breather at the top and it was a good blast down the other side and the first checkpoint at Edale. Next up was Jagger's Clough which involved the steepest climb of the day, followed by just reward with the long, fun descent of Blackley Clough, also known as Potato Alley. A stiff climb again followed taking us up and across the Snake Pass where unknown to us was the decision point for the 24 miler or the 4 mile extension (we think some clever soul was sat in front of the signs). Anyway despite stopping here to take on water kindly supplied by the army, we still never twigged it, so we ended up doing the extension by default, which is no bad thing seeing it is the superb Lockerbrook descent.

The top of the climb from Jagger's Clough

On the road back along the side of the reservoirs we had the only "incident" of the day with Basil misjudging a grass verge slightly. At this point in the ride, any climb was a tough climb, and the ride back up to Hagg farm was no different, however as was becoming the theme, the descent the other side made up for it. Next up was relatively steady with a good 5 miles of non too taxing bridleway that ran along the edge of Ladybower and into Thornhill. At this point we thought we were well on our way back to base, but a dreaded sign pointed us back up hill and away from the tannoy back at the college. We were flagging at this point, The smooth tarmac helped a bit, but once we hit the bridleway up Win Hill we were down to a crawl. A mixture of fatigue and us seemingly getting further away from the college had us wondering if we had taken a wrong turn, however other riders gave us comfort in that if we were wrong, it wasn't just us. However minds were put at rest with a strategic sign post at the top of Hope Brink & we began a very long and fast blast back down into Hope.

And that's it, we were done, we rode into the car park and were greeted by our medal givers and a goody bag and free Haribos. Screaming hunger did lead me into having a burger from the van, which I could only liken to warm cat food, but needs must...  So what should have been a 24 miler plus 4 mile extension came in at 31 miles, we don't mind though, we rode rode some classic must do dark peak trails, met some friendly folk and had a great day.

We'll no doubt do it again next year & see if we can get a few more up for it, will we stick with the 24 miler + extension or step up the the 35 miler?  Only time will tell.

View the ride on Endomondo - http://app.endomondo.com/workouts/414849371/151189

Linacre Part Deux

Always better the second time around!

Ride Date: 07/09/2014

Distance: 21 miles

Route: Linacre > Shillito > Cartledge.

Weather: Temperature - 10°C, Wind - 14mph →, Humidity - 91%, Conditions - Sunny.

Riders : Jake, Matt, Deley, Scott, Howard, Basil, Paddy, Neil & Jake2

Beer: Castle Rock - Harvest Pale

As with the previous entry it's taken too long to find the time to write this one up, so if memories are hazy or muddled please forgive me.

This ride saw a return to Linacre, after the mud & mechanicals of the previous attempt we were hoping a prolonged spell of dry weather and the luck of the bike gods would smile upon us. Things started well with Howard & Basil's first group rides since Ticknall way back in May & we were also joined, for the first time, by Yorkshire 4X legend Paddy along with Neil & Jake2. 
We set off on the same route as before and the lack of mud was very noticeable with dry woodland trails and only one soft spot to deal with on the Wigley descent. From here on we were on new territory with some good fast lanes & Bridleways mixed with the slightly soggier, but doable, trail alongside shillito woods, followed by a solid, but satisfying climb up to the main road near Owler Bar.

Howard & Deley at the top of the climb from Shillito Woods

A welcome rest was had at the top to regain some energy and take in the views, then we set off again with a mix of road and bridleways to the bit most were looking forward to, the Cartledge descent. Standard white peak fun with rocks, roots & sweeping bends, this one comes in just short of 2 miles long with the only interruption being a soggy hippo bath in the middle. It's safe to say there were some big grins at the end.

Even after all this we still had some more fast bridleways to fly along, before the last couple of miles back on the road to Linacre, which were quickly done with the lure of lunch & a beer at the Gate Inn.

A good summer ride all in, and probably one we'll do again next year (weather dependant!). A big thanks to Matt for doing all the ground work & leading it, Special thumbs up to Scott for it being by far his longest & toughest ride and also to Jake2 who did it all on a 1X9 bike which definitely wasn't suited to the XC nature of the ride.

Castle Rock - Harvest Pale, perfect!

Thanks for reading, see you next time!

View the ride on Endomondo - http://app.endomondo.com/workouts/404210807/151189