Awesome.

Started at ladybower Inn, over the top of WLT, then along the res. The grassy bit after the zig zag climb at the start was even dry, just a few wet spots on the top and a bone dry run all the way down to Langsett. Climbing back up from North America on the return was even dry.

Not the driest I’ve seen it but definatly in great condition. Only saw about 6 other riders in total and not many Red Socks either.

Fantastic!!

Carl

Sweet deals. I shall have to try and get up there before we have more of the ‘R’ word

carlos have you got a route i can pinch for cut gate in gpx format pleease?? i really wish id have gone there this weekend, but my mate is free next week so im thinking of doing this with him, as its always better have some one with me on a route ive not done!

Didnt do cutgate but rode over the back of lady bower towards White Tor and Whinstone was really boggy up towards the top which was a shame but awsome none the less. I love the pearks but really need to work on my fitness had to push part of the climb up to white tor 🙁 you guys that get to ride it regularly are lucky buggers 😀

carlos have you got a route i can pinch for cut gate in gpx format pleease??

Sorry not got gpx route for anything.

Don’t know if this is any help – http://www.mountainbikerides.co.uk/routes/1-the-peak-district/18-doctors-gate-a-cut-gate-path.html

You only need points Seven, Eight and One. When you get to Point Seven its easy to find the road and the Cafe is just below the carpark

Personally I prefer doing it from Fairhomles end over to Langsett, but thats my opinion.

Carl

We tend to do it from Langsett, mainly ‘cos it’s easier for us to get to, then turn round at Slippery Stones ‘cos we’re lazy.

cheers carlos, so from that link you ride points 7,8 and 1 the opposite way you mean?

is it easy to navigate once on cut gate? is it literally just one long track?

Yeah thats it. 1 being Fairholmes visitor centre and 7 the bridge at the end of cutgate.

Yep, its just one long path, there is a marker post and a fork off to the Right but keep straight on to Llangset.

how many times have I sent you a cut gate gpx???

haha i know, ive lost all my gpx routes, i remember emailing you to tell you i lost them on works computer, you sent me another route for stanage way, i didnt ask for the cut gate one at the time and didnt dare again just now as i mithered you that much for a route of it before 🙁

I like it as an out-and-back, the climb form Langsetts is a bit long/soul destroying compared to the mediochrety of the decent to ladybower (the bit with the corers excepted). Whereas the decent to Langsett goes on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on at warp speed!

Makes a nice quick, hangover cure ride. Making it a loop either misses out the switchbacks or misses out the longer of the two decents.

I rode Cut Gate (for the first time ever) on Saturday. Fairholmes – Bridge End – Gores Farm – Cut Gate to Langsett (right hand descent) loop back over Cut Gate and then WLT to Ladybower Inn and back to cars. 30 cracking miles.

Cut Gate has the air of trail that is closing down for winter – there were some wheel-swallowers in the wide sunken section, but otherwise all good! It won’t take too much more rain to turn a lot of it to slop, though.

The descent back from Howden Egde to Slippery Stones is cracking – nice wide rocky ruts that you can slam into, narrow and sloppy ruts for a bit of baggy limbs and let it go, then some nice technical rock steps at the bottom. I think we went slightly wrong coming down, but we got the bigger steps into the bargain!

I’d fallen a bit victim to ‘more bang for your buck’ rides around Ladybower for a couple of years – 5 up 5 down etc. This year I’ve done some of that, but revisited the classic Jacobs Ladder / Mam Tor / Roych loop three times. Cut Gate was one of the traverses I hadn’t yet done. It doesn’t let you down.

gpx for cut gate?

you could do it without ever having looked at a map

where is howden edge to slippery stones?

its looking unlikely its gonna be decent for this weekend to attempt cut gate 🙁

Howden Edge to Slippery Stones is the southwards descent from Cut Gate to the north end of the Howden / Ladybower / Derwent reservoirs.

Navigationally speaking, the route is a doddle – you only really have to watch out for being lulled by the various small inlets around the reservoir – i.e. actually finding the start of Cut Gate (until you actually get there and realise it is really obvious, doh!)

If you don’t go this weekend, it will only get worse – because the top section is gentle gradients and a sunken trough, rainfall will accumulate week by week. Also, as the sun goes into hiding for five months, it won’t dry out as quickly.

The other tracks around Ladybower tend to be more uppy-downy, so they are dry-ish after a week or so without rain – with the exception of Whinstone Lee Tor, Gores Farm and the Beast – which are shallow gradients or in dense tree cover. However as most of these trails are wide, rocky efforts, the wet just makes them more challenging – grease the brakes and let it go!

My suggestion would be to wait for a few days of cold hard frosty weather and get up there.

Did it in last years cold snap and it had a light flurry of snow over it and it was ridiculously fast, to a point where you had to question how fast you were riding a frozen path!

Personally I think Cut gate is great when its dry (or frosty) but awful and not worth it at other times.

Better (draining) trails elsewhere in the Peaks then.

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=323784

start at castleton….ride has everything you could ever want…and those moaning about drainage and mud wouldn’t you be better off on a road bike? *lights blue touch paper and runs away!