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