Andi Thompson

Total Distance: 15.13 miles
Total Time: 02:24
Elevation Gain: 1,792 ft
Avg Speed: 6.3 mph
Max Speed: 20.8 mph

I have never ridden in the lake district before, it’s always been something I’m going to do next time, put off because I thought it’d be overcrowded, or too wet, or too windy, or too much hassle to get to. I think after seeing so many photos and reading how great it is, I was scared of it being crap when I went, I was waiting for the perfect opportunity. Today I had a day off work though, and decided last week that today would be the day, no matter what. As it turns out, I don’t think I could have picked a more perfect day to do it..

Life is much better when the sun shines..

Many months ago, as part of my extensive preparation for the perfect day, I bought V-Publishing‘s Lake District Mountain Biking guide book. I love these books, I don’t like to go out not having something planned, and the routes in these books have been, on the whole, excellent. This ride didn’t disappoint. Starting from Staveley Mill Yard (home to Wheelbase and Wilf’s Cafe) car park, the route followed the valley along before starting to climb up the valley side on mainly smooth tarmac, then turned east on a loose gravel bridleway. The path cut across the open moorland of Staveley Head Fell, with a stunning view over Skeggles Water.

Moorland, with Skeggles Water peaking through

The drop down the other side into Long Sleddale valley was awesome, mega steep, mega fast brake cooking and rocky. I was relieved to reach the gate at Wad’s Howe in one piece, though the stench of hot brakes was rather nasty! The route then follows the valley up to Sadgill. The views in this area, were simply stunning, perfectly framed with a fantastic blue sky.

The next section was to climb through Sadgill woods, past Tom’s Howe and over to Stile End. I admit freely, that a large part of this was hike-a-bike. Large bits of sheer rock are not rideable by me just yet! Dropping down Stile End I saw the only other biker I saw riding all day, who must have heard me coming and kindly held open the gate so I could carry on down. Thank you, whoever you were!

I think this is Kentmere Pike.. Maybe..

Reading the route, and looking at the map beforehand, I expected the remainder of the ride to be just a cruise back down to the car, with a small hill to climb first. How wrong was I. This was probably the highlight of the riding, after climbing up through Hall Wood, the track reached Park Beck, and there started a long section of excellent flowing natural singletrack through the overhanging heather. Just the right amount of rocks and two stream crossings. In the late afternoon sun, it was heaven.

Total Distance: 8.81 miles
Total Time: 01:19
Elevation Gain: 838 ft
Avg Speed: 6.6 mph
Max Speed: 19.4 mph

Ladybower Reservoir was one of the first “proper” mountain biking I did, so it’s always nice to return and see the difference and how much you’ve progressed. It’s also home to some of the best mountain biking around IMO, and the descent down from Whinstone Lee Tor to the Ladybower Inn is up there with the best. Starting off sandy and flowing moorland track, the route gets steadily rockier until ending up with a sheer rockfest coming out on the Snake Pass at the Inn.

More of my favourite signs

The climb up is very nice too, if a little difficult!  Starting off flagged and gentle, the path soon gets very steep, before turning to cobbles just before reaching a gate and the awesome Grindle Barns. Previous attempts have seen me pretty much off and pushing as soon as it starts, but a bit of determination this time got me a fair way up. Just as I was about to give in, a walker coming the other way came round the corner and made a big effort to move out of the way. Very nice of him, but it put the pressure on to continue! Luckily I managed to get just a bit further around the corner before stopping. And falling off. Into a tree. With big thorns. Ow.

Remains of Derwent Village peaking through the water

I managed to take this photo from Whinstone Lee Tor, most of my photos are rubbish, so I’m quite chuffed with this one. Click for bigger, as usual.

Stunning views of Ladybower Reservoir

Total Distance: 11.53 miles
Total Time: 02:08
Elevation Gain: 1,596 ft
Avg Speed: 5.4 mph
Max Speed: 19.1 mph

Some people might think I’m mad for driving so far to ride 11.5 miles, but the trail at Penmachno is well worth the journey.  The amount of singletrack on the loop is fantastic, and the overgrown, not overly sanitised style makes it feel more like a natural trail than a manmade one. The narrow and rocky track offers a very consistent level of speed and technicality, unlike some trail centres which seem to be short technical sections linked up by more straightforward trail.

Looking back toward Penmachno village early on loop 1

There is an excellent balance of climbing on short fireroad sections and singletrack, with a particularly nice section of switchbacks snaking up the side of a valley before opening out to give a sensational view. The design of some of the flatter sections is impressive, with short uphills following fast sections, meaning you need just a few pedal strokes to keep momentum and keep the speed up. The open and exposed curved section around halfway was a particular highlight, gaining a small amount of height with a steady but interesting singletrack climb and then using the height cleverly to race to the end with plenty of rocks and fast turns.

Glimpse of the valley through the trees.

I did manage to get completely lost on the way back, somehow managing to head the wrong way down the A525.  Did get to visit Denbigh castle though, very nice, even if it was shut.

Denbigh Castle gatehouse

Total Distance: 6.61 miles
Total Time: 01:00
Elevation Gain: 739 ft
Avg Speed: 6.6 mph
Max Speed: 23.7 mph*

Aiming to have a quick ride, and be back before the Community Shield was on, I set off for Langsett, and proceded to head the wrong way around the M60. Oops. Eventually getting to Langsett, I set off and managed to get onto the tail end of a group riding the full Cut Gate. I was kindly invited to join the group, but politely declined. Lucky I did really, because I nearly killed myself trying to keep up with them and got dropped on the first climb!

That turned out to be the continuing theme of the ride, with me feeling distinctly off colour for the entirety and having far more rest breaks than normally required. I felt incredibly sluggish and nearly turned back several times. I persisted on though, and managed to get to my target, the junction on Cut Gate path.

I really want a sign like this for my wall..

I decided this time to climb up the sanitised section and come back down to North America, instead of the other way around like both times I’ve ridden this previously. I have to say, it was just as enjoyable, but for different reasons. Ridden as a descent, the santised section feels like something from a trail centre. Very fast and swoopy. The trail down to North America on the other hand is perfectly natural. Very rutty, very rocky and at the minute, very overgrown.

I then cut back across to ride down the very end of Cut Gate into the woods. This is probably my favourite piece of trail anywhere. You can properly fly down the sanitised section swooping round the bends and skimming over the bumps, and then clatter through the rocks in the shade of the woods, hanging on for dear life. I didn’t even bother attempting the climb on the other side of the bridge though.

Purple heather, and sandy singletrack

..wasn’t really very misty.  Just quite wet.

Total Distance: 16.03 miles
Total Time: 02:28
Elevation Gain: 1,950 ft
Avg Speed: 6.5 mph
Max Speed: 21.5 mph

I was determined today to get out and ride and up the mileage from last week a little. So I turned my lovely new guide book (see last post for review, excellent book) to the EPICS (!!) section and picked out a suitable route. Not sure Epic is quite the right word, but it was longer and harder than last weeks ride, for sure. I’ve ridden in this area twice before, mostly on the same route, but that was a long time ago, and I remembered most of the rides fondly, so thought I’d give this slightly altered route a try.

I chose to start from Roman Lakes, rather than Strines station, not because of the full range of Pot Noodle available from the cafe (I kid you not..), but for the ease of parking. Following the river and the railway line along the valley to Strines is a decent warm up, before the climb up to Brook Bottom on the Goyt Valley Way. Starting steeply on some rather slippery cobbles, the climb only gets harder, steeper and muddier. A quick break at the Fox Inn at the top later, and the next part of the climb, on a wonderfully rocky and not too steep path to New Mills Golf Club is much more enjoyable. Strangely, I remember declaring the path unrideable, and considering writing to complain to the route guide author. This time, apart from a few dabs, and a rest or two I rode the lot, and enjoyed it.

The downhill section that followed the fairly long climb was, tbh, somewhat of a dissapointment. Two short rocky sections apart, much of the height was then lost on tarmac, which just seems a bit of a waste, especially when you know you’ll have to climb back out of this new valley again on the other side.

After passing the beautiful Aspenshaw Hall, a slightly more enjoyable climb on narrow overgrown singletrack followed, with a nice enough piece of farmtrack taking me to the start of the clear highlight of the ride. I’ve ridden the downhill track to Rowarth before, but remembered little of it, which is strange as it deserves its place in Dark Peak Trails top 10 dowhills. A real challenge with plenty of rocks of different sizes and difficulty requires totally concentration.

Unfortunately, for every downhill, there must be an uphill, and the next one really seemed to drag, especially as my energy levels were getting low by now, and the weather was getting worse. The farm tracks and short singletrack sections down from Cown Edge were nice, but not really enough reward for the effort of getting up there. The one major benefit was that I was now much further up the valley that I crossed earler, so didn’t need to drop down and climb back out of it. Another long road section followed to take me down to Mellor.

After Mellor should have been a short ride down a rough road back down to Roman Lakes and the car. Unfortunately, someone had wedged a 40ft truck down the road I wanted to get down, and with no idea how long the road would be blocked, I had to find a way around. The rain that had been threatening all day was now falling, and to be honest, I had no clue where to go, and was armed with just the small OS map printed in the guide book. Eventually, I managed to find Marple Bridge, and follow the river back, arriving slightly pee’d off and quite damp.

There were many excellent sections on this ride, but unfortunately just too many road sections and dull climbs to link them up. Probably more enjoyable on a nice day though. Some of the views could also be quite special, this was about the best view towards home I got all day..

Manchester is in that gloom somewhere.

Maybe less taming, and more sneaking round and hoping it doesn’t notice…

Total Distance: 11.41 miles
Total Time: 02:00
Elevation Gain: 1,225 ft
Avg Speed: 5.7 mph
Max Speed: 20.9 mph

So, after exactly one month, I finally regained my enthusiasm and got out for a ride.  I don’t know whats been up with me, but for the last month, I’ve just found it too easy to make excuses instead of ride.  I solved this by taking on something I’ve been eyeing up for a while.  The Beast, a short descent down from Hope Cross to the River Ashop at the start of Ladybower reservoir.  My initial plans were to start from Heatherdene car park, cross Ladybower Dam, then begin the climb up to Hope Brink and on to Hope Cross before starting The Beast descent.  I then planned on heading up to Hagg Farm, down Lockerbrook to Fairholmes, before finishing with a climb up to, and a descent from, Whinstone Lee Tor.  The second part is a loop I’ve done a few times before, and is some of my favourite riding.

Things however, were not to be.  The first half of the ride was excellent.  Starting with a good, challenging, but totally rideable ascent up to Hope Brink I was treated to excellent views over the Hope Valley.  The descent of The Beast was every bit as good as I’d hoped.  I of course minced my way down, rather than hammering over the rocks like I wish I could, but I was pleased with the amount I did manage to ride, and my line choices.  I am again amazed by my bike.  I honestly do love it more each time I ride it.  It handled the descent as well as it handled the climb.  It’s capable of so much more than me, I hope one day I can do it justice, and ride it as well as I know it can be ridden.

Bad times were soon to come though, on the climb up towards the A57, I heard a rather horrible bang from around the cranks and straight away my heart sunk.  I had a good look, and couldn’t immediately see any problem, and the bike seemed to keep on going unhindered, so I put the noise down to a rock strike, and ploughed on.  After a while though, climbing in the granny ring, something clearly didn’t feel quite right.  Upon reaching the Snake Pass, I decided to play it safe and cut the ride short, I still didn’t know what was wrong and didn’t fancy finding out the hard way further along.  With that I turned back and headed along the path that follows the southern shoreline of the reservoir.

Whilst its not a particularly challenging path, being a wide well surfaced fireroad, the path did have its charms, and was a pleasant ride with some outstanding views.  It did have a few short climbs, and one of these, I happened to look down, and notice something very wrong with my granny ring.  The chain was visibly moving slightly with every turn of the cranks.  I straight away flipped the bike over and took a closer look.

Rather alarmingly, I immediately noticed some things were missing, namely two of the four bolts that hold the granny ring in place.  These had gone completely, whether that was on this ride, another ride, or whilst on the back of my car, I do not know.  I know they were there and tight when I fitted the bash, and that they’re not there now, but otherwise, I’m stumped.  The noise I heard was in fact a third bolt working loose.  As the head came out of its hole, the ring must have suddenly moved and banged.  It was still in place, and going round held in by the two remaining bolts, but it also seems the ring has been stretched out of shape, as the bolt holes no longer line up.

A brief search through my bag revealed that my multitool was, usefully, in the garage at home, which ruled out any trailside bodging with the two remaining bolts, so I set off to finish the 3 or 4 remaining miles in the middle ring.  Which served as a nice reminder as to how unfit I still am.  How people cope running single speed, I don’t know.  Still, the scenery was nice, the dam amazing and the feeling of being out there as good as I remembered.

And the beast, of course, was as incredible as I hoped.

Total Distance: 6.98 miles
Total Time: 01:04
Elevation Gain: 69 ft
Avg Speed: 6.5 mph
Max Speed: 25.7 mph