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Hi all,
next weekend myself and my riding buddies plan to make a trip to the Peak District. Never ridden there before and heard great things. Looks set to break from the normal FOD life. Quick question can someone recommend some routes to us? Ideally ones that are easy to navigate around. Any tips or clues to get an enjoyable day, where to avoid, park and eat etc.
cheers
russ
Vertebrate Publishing guidebook is a good investment and has pretty much everything you need to know. Oh, and given current wetness, bring spare brake pads and preferable sintered ones...
I'd go Dark Peak - Hope, Ladybower, Edale, Hayfield etc - rather than White, which tends towards mud in current conditions. Dark stuff tends more towards gritty slurry 🙂
I’d second getting the VB guide, also some good ones here: http://flattyres-mtb.co.uk/route-guides/peak-district-mtb-routes/
THe VB weatherproof route would be doable regardless of conditions, has a couple of big climbs though: https://www.v-publishing.co.uk/blog/v-publishing-blog/2014-01-20---free-download-kinder-all-weather-circuit.html
Second the above comments. It seems to h suffering the wettest conditions I can remember for a long time to the point where I'm #saveitforsummer on most of the routes. You'll certainly not see the area at its best, but Hope/Ladybower will probably give you the best combination of resilient trails and easy to navigate.
Just remember, everyone else will also know this, so expect it to be busy.
Worth following kofthep on Twitter for updates on conditions.
Check my Strava from June last year. Three rides that aimed to pack as much of the dark peak good stuff as possible into a weekend's worth of riding. The obvious classic in the area missed out is Cut Gate which is conditions dependant, the rest stands up better in any weather, though Cave dale is erm interesting if it's wet (limestone).
Also, you can park just before Fairholmes for free if you’re doing a ladybower route, if you’re going out of Hope/Hayfield there are car parks that are not too expensive (also spots where you can park for free but harder to explain those!). Plenty of places to eat in Hope, most of which are bike friendly, and the Penny Pot and Ladybower Inn are good if you’re in Edale or Ladybower, respectively.
The obvious classic in the area missed out is Cut Gate which is conditions dependant, the rest stands up better in any weather, though Cave dale is erm interesting if it’s wet (limestone).
Yeah, Cut Gate can be pretty unpleasant when it's wet and it will be, though ace when either arid or frozen. Cavedale in the wet is terrifying, like riding on wet soap, seeing as it's polished limestone, particular at the bottom. Pindale is more pleasant, rubbly, wet-weather experience.
And as a bunch of people have said above, the Edale-Hayfield loop via the Roych and Jacob's Ladder is a decent all-weather option. I wouldn't cut across above Kinder Reservoir though, that'll be a bog-fest at the moment, just stay on the main track. You can extend that loop on the Hayfield side over Middle Moor (Shooting Cabin) and back via the Pennine Bridleway and Chinley Churn, but a fair bit of that gets quite sludgey in the wet.
Isn’t next weekend the BHF Peaks event? Might be even busier than normal. TBH, as above if you want to see the area at its best it would be worth putting it off at least a month or so, it’s been very wet.
Also, some are reporting deep snow on some routes making them basically fat bike only territory - pretty sure the top of Jacobs was mentioned yesterday as still essentially unrideable.
Keeper of the Peaks (mentioned above) is a useful resource, maybe lookup Ride Sheffield, Peak District MTB or Coggers on that FB?