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

Derwent Edge

The one where it just gets better & better!

Ride Date: 27/07/2014

Distance: 15 miles

Route: Derwent Edge.

Weather: Temperature - 13°C, Wind - 14mph →, Humidity - 81%, Conditions - Sunny.

Riders : Jake & Matt

I will start off by saying, I've taken far too long to write this ride up, so some memories may just be a little hazy. This ride was originally planned to be based around Calver, but due to holidays, illness and just general jibbing we opted for something a bit more special and an early start.

We met on the rode just beyond the Yorkshire bridge Inn and rode along Ladybower taking a right at the lights and straight onto the rough stuff with a good long steady climb to the top of Whinstone Lee Tor, the views from here are stunning and are worth the climb alone, we stopped for a brief while for a couple of photos and and a drink then seeing as it was early took the "cheeky" path up past the Hurkling Stones and the start of the first descent which dropped us back down onto the bridleway.

The view from Whinstone Lee Tor

The Bridleway takes you on a twisting rocky trip all the way down almost to the banks of Ladybower, with only a few gates to help you get your breath back as despite being all down hill the ruggedness and technicality leave you no time to relax and you reach the bottom feeling exhausted but very happy. Slightly easier going is the old stone slab path and the fast blast down through the wood, bringing us out at Fairholmes.

Next up was a tough but steady fire road climb on the opposite side of Ladybower, followed by a long, fast, rocky & rooty descent back down to the road and then back to Fairholmes. This just left us to retrace our steps back up and over, and it feels completely different in the opposite direction, finishing with a fantastic rocky and tough descent back down to the road and a steady ride back to the cars.

Despite the low turn out, the weather was superb, slightly cooler than the previous few weeks, the trails were dry, dusty and fast & the scenery breathtaking! The only slight downside, due to the early start and the ride going so well, we were too early for the pub!

This is one of those rides that leaves you stunned and smiling ear to ear, much like Cut Gate Pass & Black Rocks. We will have to do this as a group ride in the future and it won't be one to be missed.

View the ride on Endomondo - https://www.endomondo.com/workouts/379886445/151189

Scott of Ambergate

The one with Carro's return, Ryan's return, Tony's mechanicals & Scott's first go at Ambergate!

It's a double blog entry this time, don't miss the Cut Gate story further down!!

Ride Date: 29/06/2014

Distance: 15 miles

Route: Shining Cliff> Black Rocks.

Weather: Temperature - 12°C, Wind - 7mph →, Humidity - 81%, Conditions - Sunny.

Riders : Jake, Deley, Tony, Ryan, Carro  & Scott

Not a lot controversial in this one, but we were missing Matt, Howard & Basil due to birthdays & Dan went to the zoo! 

We did only expect to complete Shining Cliff & Blackrocks today with it being Scott's first go, I was flagging a bit from Cut Gate, it was Ryan's first natural ride since October & Carro had to be back for just after dinner. With that in mind we set off on the now standard route that we set back in March, Shining Cliff was dry and running well and we made our way through it's twists & turns down to the fire road and climbed back up, even the last bit before the field crossing was almost all ride-able.

We continued onwards to Blackrocks, however once up the bit of track into the field, we found the farmer had strung some extra high barbedwire across the gate, so either he's got the hump with bikers using it as a shortcut, or he's got plans to keep giraffes, either way we'll probably have to start using the footpath in future.
Blackrocks, was again dry as a bone and trouble free except for Tony smashing off the plastic gear cable guide under his bottom bracket on a rock.

That just left the ride back along the canal, unfortunately it was quite busy & it seemed the good weather had bought out a high percentage of ignorant walkers, bless 'em.

View the ride on Endomondo - https://www.endomondo.com/workouts/364658363/151189

A Cut Above

The one with fantastic trails, superb scenery 40+ midge bites & a polka dot cafe!

Ride Date: 28/06/2014

Distance: 17 miles

Route: Howden Reservoir> Langsett.

Weather: Temperature - 9°C, Wind - 3mph →, Humidity - 100%, Conditions - Misty.

Riders : Jake & Matt

Touted as "A warm up for Ambergate", Matt asked me along for a run of the famous Cut gate pass, I couldn't resist testing out what is said to be possibly the finest bit of Peak District riding available .

We met at early at Fairhomes and drove the short journey to the tip of Howden Reservoir, this is where the ride began. 

The gist of Cut Gate is this: It's a linear ride starting at Howden , going up and over the hill down to Langsett Reservoir, looping round and then coming back on the same trail. Some people ride the opposite way, but it's still the same ride. The south side is steep and tricky with loose rocks, slabs, steps and singletrack, the north side is shallower , but much longer & faster, with many similar obstacles to the south side, the centre section is a bizarre terrain, with a mix of large white rocks on a dark peat background it is known as the lunar section and is a test of anyone's skill to find the best line and not have to dab a foot down.

We started by climbing (mostly pushing in my case) the south side, riding across the top where the views are incredible, even on a misty day, then down the other side to Langsett where we stopped off at the Bank View Cafe for a well earned cuppa. Langsett was being passed through on stage 2 of Le Tour De France, so the whole village was decorated ready, the cafe was extra special, painted in the colours of the "King of the mountain" polka dot jersey.

The Polka Dot Cafe

Once refreshed we were off again and although we got slightly lost, which involved crossing a small river, we were soon back on the trail & climbing back to the summit, this is a long and technical climb, but strangely satisfying as you pick your way up and around obstacles, once at the top it was over the lunar section, which seems completely different in reverse. That just left the steep south side descent back down to Howden, I chose a completely duff line at the beginning but was soon back on the proper line, although I couldn't keep pace with Matt!

Fantastic Views, Fantastic Trails

That just left the steady ride back to the cars, we will have to do this again as a group, it is a bit further than Calver & would probably be an earlier start, but it's more than worth it to ride this superb trail, plus there's always the lure of a full English breakfast at the mid point to spur you on!

The video below is quite short as as most it ended up unusable due to water droplets on the lens caused by the slightly damp weather, but I've salvaged as much as possible.

View the ride on Endomondo - https://www.endomondo.com/workouts/364181764/151189

Coefficient Of Friction = Zero

The one where there were two offs, a broken rear mech, mud with a zero coefficient of friction & the best chips in the world ever!

Ride Date: 01/06/2014

Distance: 9 miles

Route: Linacre> Old Brampton> Wigley.

Weather: Temperature - 18°C, Wind - 7mph →, Humidity - 85%, Conditions - Sunny.

Riders : Jake, Deley, Matt & Tony

Beer: Farmer's Blonde by Bradfield Brewery at The Gate Inn Cutthorpe. 

A brand new ride from the book, although Matt had warned me it might be a bit tame, but being local he had sussed out some extra fun stuff to add in. We met at 9am in the car park for Linacre Reservoirs, notable absentees were Howard (pre arranged plans), Basil (Biking with the wife) & Carro (pissed up).

First off we headed for the woods and the ride down to the reservoirs, it started off steady enough but soon we were into some of the slipperiest mud on earth, no doubt down to the previous week's rain. I was the first casualty, sliding into a rut and going over the bars, only minor injuries plus a good coating of grey mud. Once at the reservoirs it was generally dry on fast riding paths down to the road.

A short climb on tarmac lead us to a bridleway that Matt had been tipped off about and it did not disappoint, being a fast rocky, root blast, not too wet either, but as with all things would be even better when fully dry. Next up was a long, but not too steep climb back up to Wigley and to the start of the next descent

This ended up being more mud fun, making for difficult and testing riding as it wound it's way down the valley, but lots of fun slip, sliding down and around corners. Most of us stalled at some point and Matt lost it in some particularly nasty, axle deep sludge. A nice handy brook at the bottom provided a good way of cleaning down the bikes a bit. It was here that Matt noticed his rear derailleur hanging off, further investigation found  it had snapped off where it attaches to the hanger, also the bolt look sheared off too. 

The snapped off rear mech

Despite attempts to change to a single speed system, it wouldn't allow for the rear end movement so, even though we had the best and majority of riding still to come we had to concede and head back to base. Luckily we weren't too far away and most was downhill on tarmac.

Dave goes over the wall

It didn't take us long to get back to the car park, giving us just enough time to clean up, pack up and get the the pub 5 minutes before opening time. After the revelation of the Derwent Water Arms at Calver, Matt has gone even further this time by taking us to The gate Inn at Cutthorpe. Whatever you thought you knew before, these ARE the best chips in the world. We left 4 spotless plates, all washed down with a very nice local ale in the glorious sunshine.

Local Buffalo Burger, Homemade Chips & Local Ale. Perfect!

Will we ride this one again? I reckon so, hopefully on drier trails, at least to see the the biggest part of the ride that we missed out on & to eat at The Gate Inn again! Even though we had to cut this one short, everyone agreed these things can't be helped and it was still great to be out in fantastic weather on some new trails in a very nice area.

See you on the next ride, Ambergate next time, hopefully all four descents for the first time ever!

View the ride on Endomondo - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/333545240/151189

3D view of the terrain

Carro's Video Update

A very short update containing a couple of videos that Carro captured on recent rides with his Garmin Virb.  I've also added 3D terrain images for all the rides to the beginning of the year, I'll add the rest going back in the near future

The first one is set on Ward's Lane near King's Newton on the Ticknall ride & involves Howard falling foul to a nasty rut.

The second clip is on the new section just after the bike park, we had ridden it once and were heading back for a second go, which Carro was going to film us all going over the jump (Video to come soon), the incident happened as Ryan & Tony were trying to find the correct spot for filming to take place.

!!Warning - Contains some strong language after impact!!

Springtime In Ticknall

The one where there was some weapons grade faffing, some new faces, some old faces & Howard went over the bars.

Ride Date: 04/05/2014

Distance: 15 miles

Route: Ticknall> King's Newton> Ingleby.

Weather: Temperature - 12°C, Wind - 10mph ↑, Humidity - 70%, Conditions - Sunny.

Riders : Jake, Deley, Dan, Basil, Howard, Carro, Scott & Matt S

Beer: Timothy Taylor Landlord

We had a 09:30 meet at Ticknall village hall for what was to be a change in direction from our recent rides, with this one being a more rolling cross country type affair. the group consisted of the usual regulars, with a return of Deley's lad Scott for his first proper ride with us & a debut from Basil's lad, Matt. We set off almost bang on the half hour and made good pace across the first fields towards Robin's Wood at was at this point my phone started ringing, after wrestling with my bag and answering it I was greeted with "Ay up Serry, I thought you were setting off at 9:30", "We did, and it's now 9:37" I replied. After a few more exchanges and some heckling from the group, myself & Dan set off back to the car park to meet legend & chief faffer, Carro! (Which highlights why you need to let either myself or the ride leader know you are coming on a ride! We could have been a lot further away, or even changed venue) What with with him setting up and a further small delay for Basil to come back and wind his driver's side window up, we were finally underway proper about 20 mins late.
First port of call was Robin's Wood for a bit of technical downhill, Dan was our first casualty, falling foul of the jumps at the bottom, but not put off, he tried them again with greater success. Matt captured the second go on video, so I'll add it on here when it's on Youtube.

Next up were the fast and dry bridleways over towards King's Newton, then back on the green lane, it was here we had our 2nd incident, after some back wheel tunnel vision most of us ended up in a deep rut, some managed to wriggle out of it, however Howard went over the bars, no injuries luckily, and we believe Carro has it on video, again it'll be added here if & when he uploads it.

After passing back past the north end of Robin's wood we were taken on a new section passing close to the Trent along some very sketchy singletrack, with some parts requiring bike carrying and culminating at Anchor Church Caves near Ingleby, time for a quick refuel and a history lesson from Matt.

Howard celebrating after "Draining the Lizard" and on a historical  site too, shame on him!

We then headed towards Foremarke School and through the ground taking the long but not unpleasant climb up through Heath wood, lovely Bluebells I might add, and a field of cows that some of the "townies" were scared of! Once at the road we made a group decision to make it beer time and headed back down the tarmac to the Staff of Life. Once at the pub Basil showed great generosity by buying everyone's drink for them.

In the beer garden having a well earned pint

A good ride out all in, although we ended up cutting it short due to the various hiccups and delays. Also a big thumbs up to Scott, who completed his longest ever ride, rode everything that was thrown at him & kept pace with us all the way round, a solid debut from Matt &  it's great to see Carro back out on a proper ride with us again, it's been a long time coming.

Finally a well done to Howard, who won the bottle of beer, the actual amount of climbing over the first 10 rides was 19326 feet, his answer was 17850. 

See you on the next ride, where ever it may be, no excuse now the dry trails & warm weather are here!

2D Gradien Profile

3D view of the terrain

View the ride on Endomondo - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/333545240/151189

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

A Change Of Plan

The one where, It was windy, muddy, Tony lost a shoe & Ballcross took several victims

Ride Date: 23/02/2014

Route: Bakewell>Haddon>Youlgrave>Birchover>Daley Dale>Chatsworth

Weather: Temperature - 9°C, Wind - 16mph ↑, Humidity - 78%, Conditions - Cloudy.

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

After a trip "down south" to Cannock a few weeks back & a first meeting with the legendary Bear, we were back in the peak district again. the original plan was to ride north from Bakewell towards Calver, but some on the fly decision making saw us ride most of the Rowsley Loop from the White Peak book.

Things started off steady enough with a warm up along the Monsall trail and then around the back of Haddon to the A6. Matt was on his new winter hard tail and was making a few tweaks along the way, we were also stung with a few punctures along this first section. It was during a puncture repair session our plans changed and we opted to head out towards Youlgrave.
It wasn't too bad a climb up the old bridleway, but once on the muddy fields at the top it became very hard going with heavy mud and a strong headwind. Once we made our way through it was time for the first tricky descent of the day, with a series of tricky, rocky switchbacks down to the River Lathkill, this gave Howard a chance to try out his new dropper seatpost. Not sure of many incidents, my descent went ok apart from drifting into a fence right at the end.

The River Lathkill, a scenic spot for some much needed refuelling

After a short rest we set off again, climbing up into Youlgrave village and down over the River Bradford and up and over the fields, which despite the recent rain was a lot less muddy than in August 2012. A bit of road work took us to Birchover, past the Druid's Inn and on to a long fast track all the way to Darley Dale. A slight error on my part took us the wrong direction and needing to either ride back up the hill we'd just ridden down, or take a cheeky footpath shortcut back to the road. "You'll be fine, there's only a couple of streams to cross" said some random bloke with a dog. It all started well with some nice twisty singletrack in and out of the trees, however it didn't last with several offs, bikes stuck in axle deep mud & at one point Tony losing a shoe to the bog monster (he managed to wrestle it back though). We needed Haribo & Worms after that to recover. 

In the muddy woods near Darley Dale

A short a ride took us back up to the A6, followed by a blast to Rowsley (I think the wind might have at last been with us at this point). It was here we decided on our next plan of action, which were either back to Bakewell by road or Chatsworth via road or offroad, culminating in the famous Ballcross descent. We opted for the middle route and followed the road to Chatsworth, then left through Edensor and up the rough track towards Bakewell, this proved, for many to be the killer climb at the end of a very tough ride, but we all made it up in one piece.
That just left the final descent through the woods, this did not disappoint, with all the usual roots, gulleys & rocks made all the more sketchy with a healthy dose of mud. There were plenty of incidents on the way down for most, with Tony's over the bars being the most spectacular.

"Have A Banana"  Tony takes on some energy

That was it, just over 20 miles of hard winter fun, which we finished off with a walk down into Bakewell for a well earned pint in the Queens Arms, unfortunately basil couldn't join us, but was very generous in contributing towards the beer fund!

3D View of the terrain

View the ride on Endomondo - http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/300009640/151189