Hello

Never been to the peaks and thought I’d tap into local knowledge.
Im trying to find somewhere for a group of us to pop our peak cherry.
All advice is welcome as is warnings to stay away.

Please help as the alternative is either llandegla or cannock.

Thanks in advance

I can only tell you that it’s been raining here

A lot

peaks is like most area’s in the winter, muddy, grinding paste.
i like to ride cutgate in the winter, most of the worst muddy bits have been trail sanitised, in a good way, making it a bit more rideable.
it is a longish climb/push and a steep techy descent. and a cafe/tea stop halfway round the route i do.

this is the classic all weather loop
Although see Rushup edge resurfacing thread- may not be officially open currently

Yeah that all weather route is mostly rock so it doesn’t matter how wet it is.

Careful, it’s GNARLY.

ton – Member
peaks is like most area’s in the winter, muddy, grinding paste.
i like to ride cutgate in the winter, most of the worst muddy bits have been trail sanitised, in a good way, making it a bit more rideable.
it is a longish climb/push and a steep techy descent. and a cafe/tea stop halfway round the route i do.

Cut Gate? Seriously, have you not read the Gnarly Gnarly thread?

Apparently it’s a bit of a faux pas to ride Cut Gate when it’s wet cos it’s sooo senstive to erosion (on the top of a moor where nobody can see it or really gives a sh1t)

anywhere is prone to erosion in winter…….life is such.

Tell that to the fun police and the trail nazis!

(I totally agree btw, just in case it’s not clear)

“Goes off to google cutgate”

let me know what you decide transporter……i might make one in if it is ok?

Ton Im sure you’re far too fit and fast for me but the more the merrier :D1

Ton Im sure you’re far too fit and fast for me but the more the merrier :D1

you must have been on the sherry mate………. 😆

Out of interest ton. Whats the route you take. Ive had a look at the mbr route and that looks ok. Obviously i have no prior knowledge of the area so happy to be steered the right/best way

you must have been on the sherry mate

You ride far more than i do 😉

Apparently it’s a bit of a faux pas to ride Cut Gate when it’s wet cos it’s sooo senstive to erosion (on the top of a moor where nobody can see it or really gives a sh1t)

I see it when I ride it in the dry and what used to be a great trail has turned into a multiple rut mess. People aren’t advising against riding it in the wet because of concerns about erosion or how it looks, they’re doing so because riding it in the wet screws up the trail. There are loads of excellent routes in the Peaks that aren’t a boggy mess in the wet and can take riders all year round, so why not avoid the few that get destroyed in wet weather? I really don’t understand the attitude of “screw you, I’ll ride Cut Gate when I want” because there are routes nearby that will be more fun in the wet and that won’t get messed up. I guess dicks just have to be dicks.

Yeah it’s just crap on top when it’s we, cut gate. If a wet cut gate was my first ever peaks ride I wouldn’t rush back! For conditions there’s a twitter feed in the peak @kofthep

A brilliant trail when deep frozen and/or under hard-packed snow when it has echoes of the arctic about it. Properly atmospheric in the same conditions at night. If you’re doing it as part of a bigger loop via the Roych or Jacob’s for example, you can avoid riding on the Woodhead or – heading uphill – the super-rutted Snow Road, by cutting over to the Trans Pennine Trail near the Flouch, following it to Dunford Bridge then heading left up the road to pick up the Longdendale Trail where it hits the Woodhead.

As far as Cut Gate in the wet goes, it’s not much fun for most people and nasty in strong winds. It’s one of those trails that’s blindingly good when it’s bone dry and/or frozen solid, but a special sort of ‘fun’ otherwise. Personally I’d wait for it to freeze, but ymmv etc.

Oh, and the Jacob’s / Roych loop is – as people keep posting – a good all-weather bet, though eventually it’ll become the only route people ever ride round here and degenerate into a 16km rut… 😉

“Googles jacobs/roych”

Cheers for the info so far guys. Feel free to point us elsewhere. Anywhere within 2hr drive of the midlands is doable. Was actually considering wharncliffe but having only ever been a while ago and in the dry to do pure dh, were not sure whether its worthwhile at the moment.

Jon, even you in your cynical mind must accept that the benefit of the winter loop is that it can take the traffic? (And thus minimise the rutting [;)] elsewhere? )

Rutting!
(sniggers)

I see it when I ride it in the dry and what used to be a great trail has turned into a multiple rut mess. People aren’t advising against riding it in the wet because of concerns about erosion or how it looks, they’re doing so because riding it in the wet screws up the trail. There are loads of excellent routes in the Peaks that aren’t a boggy mess in the wet and can take riders all year round, so why not avoid the few that get destroyed in wet weather? I really don’t understand the attitude of “screw you, I’ll ride Cut Gate when I want” because there are routes nearby that will be more fun in the wet and that won’t get messed up. I guess dicks just have to be dicks.

To be fair I never said “screw you etc”, a little knee jerk perhaps?

Imagine a situation where people only ever rode ‘the line’ on trails like Cut Gate that are only actually properly dry for maybe 3 months of the year (excluding when it’s frozen), ‘the line’ would soon be axle deep and unridable. Consequently people will start a new ‘line’ to carry on riding it. Less capable riders perhaps won’t wait until the first one is axle deep before the start a new one. And so on.

What you are advocating is:
Only ride it 3 months of the year and stick to ‘the line’, don’t ride it when ‘the line’ could ever be made deeper and don’t allow less capable riders to ride it all.

The problem then is: “How do you (or perhaps more pertinently, someone from outside the area) know when it’s dry? Someone has to ride it to find out.

Maybe some secret society style markings at either end of the trail? The old style tramps had things like twigs broken in a particular way to indicate whether farm owners were friendly or not. Perhaps the modern equivalent might be two discarded gel wrappers in the form of a cross 😆

Maybe some secret society

It’s not that secret. Just follow keeperofthepeak on Twitter.

Cheers onzadog. Just ventured into the 21st century and signed up to this twitter thing.

Anyone else care to share up to date knowledge of the peaks area?

Yes is just that sort of service here >>

Tweets by KoftheP