Autumn Cut Gate special

Slightly Underestimated?

Ride Date: 03/10/2016

Distance: 32 Miles

Climbing: 4000ft

Route: Derwent Edge > Cutgate> Derwent Edge

Riders : Jake, Matt, Duncan, Paddy & Mick


It's been a while since we did a "mid week escape" so when Mick mentioned we should get one in before the bad weather arrived we were keen to sort a date, with folks busy everywhere we came up with an early autumn ride and chose Cut Gate as the venue, then ride plan had multiple options so long as we squeezed in a bit more than just Cut Gate itself. We opted for a starting at The Yorkshire Bridge and an up & over of Derwent Edge to warm up. Not much can be said, the ride up to Whinstone Lee Tor took us through the clouds and into lovely sunshine & blue skies, the trails were dry and the climb very pleasant.

The climb up to Whinstone Lee Tor was Breathtaking, not in a bad way

After admiring the view & taking some photos we climbed further and hit the dipper after the gate rota was sorted, the descent was excellent, although it's never not.
Next up was a the steady ride along the banks of the reservoirs to slippery stones and the push/ride/hike up to the cairn on the southern end of Cut Gate. Once over the lunarscape we let loose and kept off the brakes on this well renowned singletrack down to the trail split.
Time for a quick breather and off over North America, just a quick interlude for puncture repairs and we were rolling up at the Bank View Cafe for breakfast.

Mick tries out the latest offering from Yeti

Once fully replenished it was back on to the trails and the steady climb back to the top of Cut Gate. There was some flagging by now, but as we reached the cairn all was forgotten for the descent down the other side, I jibbed the steps as usual. Rolling back along the reservoirs was hard going, some of us were certainly feeling the burn, one of the original plans had been to ride up Lockerbrook, down Hagg Farm, up The Beast and down off Win Hill, but there wasn't much enthusiasm for it. Paddy swung off at fairholmes to see a man about a dog, the rest of us carried on discussing options, we decided on a final push and with the famous mountain bike rules of "if you're out, you're out" & "all rides must finish with a down" echoing around we started the climb back up to Derwent Edge. It was tough I won't deny, water had run out, it's steep and rocky even with plenty of energy left. It was a relief to reach the top again.

Whinstone Lee Tor in the morning

It was an excellent run from top to bottom, the trail seemed to run really well, although I may have got lucky with the lines, I think most was on auto pilot though! 
After another quick puncture stop the pub was calling for some much needed hydration. 
A hard tough ride, severely underestimated, but none the less superb, the glorious weather and good trails helped.
Same again next year anyone?

When September ends

The Last Of Summer?

Ride Date: 18/09/2016

Distance: 22 Miles

Climbing: 3000ft

Route: Cartledge > Curbar > Stoney > Eyam

Riders : Jake, Matt, Duncan, Luke, Deley & Basil


A slight change from last year's effort, this time starting at owler bar which would allow a good finish on the walled descent, easy for the pub too.
The day started with a bit of drama as Dunc rolled up with his bike almost hanging off the roof rack, only a slight scratch though so we were soon off up the road to Horsley Gate and the first descent of the day, nice and fast too although there was a feeling that DCC had been at work with their stealth resurfacing. Next up the bastard hill, which didn't seem so bad this time round, there was some talk of sending out a runner down Cartledge to check for Horses & walkers, but as we were making swift time we just went for it, it was bang on as usual. It was already looking like a very nice day and we were well ahead of plan as we hit the bottom of Johnny Gate, this is usually a slog of a climb, but again seemed steady. That just left a bit of tarmac and on to the short spin along Baslow edge to the Eagle Stone.
From here it became apparent just how good a day we had before us. Just like last year, a superb cloud inversion filled the valley. 

On Baslow Edge 

After admiring the view it was off along the usually superb Curbar & Froggatt Edges, with a slight deviation down a little used "cheeky" path to the road. From here we made the decision to ride the Stoney & Eyam descents, unfortunately this involved the climb of death up to the road above the Stoney trail, then up a nice steady lane Matt had found on a demo day, then a well earned breather in Eyam village. As we left the village we had a chance meeting with Dunc's better half, Kerry, who was on a 75 mile Audax ride. The Eyam descent was ace as usual, nice change to do it in the dry though, then back down the climb of death.
From here you could see the magnitude of the climb back up to the hunting lodge near the grouse, we didn't point it out to Luke though, not want to dampen his spirits! The climb though wasn't too bad, very surprising really. After a brief pause to answer a call from Carro, who was planning to meet us at the pub, it was down that nice little trail from the moor to the road & up to the top of the walled descent, a great one to finish on, a top ride, probably the template for next year.

More of the weather

 I think the good weather had brought the masses out, we had to queue for a beer, shocking in this day and age, true to his word, Carro did meet us at the pub, also bringing his sister & Mandy, who it was lovely to see after her op.
And that was it, apart from a brief incident with a huge umbrella & a gust of wind!