Peak Playing

As I mentioned there were three rides from the Peak District to report back to you. The second was for Sunday morning. After a hearty B&B breakfast packed up and headed out into the hills again. I was torn about where to ride with so much choice. In retrospect I possibly should have headed out of Hope a different way and explored the classic that sits around Ladybower Reservoir that I’ve never ridden, but I had been too tempted by the hills from Saturday to resist hitting some of the climbs the other way.

I rolled out of Castleton into a less blazing hot morning and virtually straight into a steep climb back up to Hollins Cross. Instantly losing the bridleway I found myself pushing up a footpath that would be tough enough without a bike to drag along. Still, the views were worth the effort:

At the top and back on legal trails and on the bike I went back on my ride from the day before, climbing back up and round Mam Tor, sweeping round the shoulder on the sweet track that puts you back to the road crossing. Then it was on up Rushup again, with a realisation that the gradient was far more than it felt coming down the other way. The first big reason for doing it soon approached in the form of the rocky descent back to the road. Saddle slammed and suspension on full “descend” this was awesome fun as the bike let me get away with lines I have never considered before on a hardtail and simply made it a pleasure to ride. Grinning all over my stupid face I reached the road and settled in for a cruise to the next bit.

I deliberately kept this ride short and basically built around two downhills that I wanted to ride. So a bit of road and then a climbing trail that took me over the top of the moor and direct, with no messing around, to the top of Cave Dale. This drop is technical in the extreme, but I feel like the flowing approach to the main event is overlooked as it swoops down to the top of the rocky section, with natural lips and berms to keep you blasting.

Then it gets steep and wet. Last time I rode here I struggled with much of it and I feared the same would be true on the initial section, where wet stone and boulders make riding a real challenge. I negotiated this with a bit of help from some firmly planted foot dabs and lined up for the next sections with more confidence and trust in the bike. And it paid off. I rode pretty much all of the rest, with breaks for walkers coming up, but cleanly and solidly down over the technical terrain.

With another smile and feeling of satisfaction I rolled back into town and back to the car with plenty of miles left in my legs for the afternoon’s fun.

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