Anyone out there done MTL? I was thinking of starting from Hebden Bridge and breaking the ride just over half way, good excuse for a night in pub! Anyone know of suitable place to stay or have any other advice for an MTL 1st timer?

Its the stomping ground of a few on here including me. Half way round from Hebden (clockwise) brings you to Rossendale my neck of the woods.

good digs

Above is a good place to stay and a sparrow hop off the MTL with the Hargreaves arms 5 mins walk away.

Done it on a day ride in the summer, not very technical though some sections I would think are much harder going in the clag, reasonably well sign posted with some annoying 1 or 2 mile loops that dont really add much enjoyment to the ride just to avoid 500mtr of road.

YHA at Mankinholes cheap place to stay (need to alter yor start point for half way) with a nice pub nearby

Personally i would aim to stop either in Hebden or at Mankinholes as above, they are the nicest places around the route IMO.

how about:
stop over at monkeylikesbeer's suggestion
ride it in a day
& then do Lee quarry or Gisburn as an easy day on the other day.

That way you get the beer, & two rides for the price of one.

Its quite a long one day but two very short easy 1 days.

We set off from Broadley and did it clockwise in 1 day. It's a bit of a slog and omits a lot of the fun trails in the area tbh, but you know that before you set off of course.

Personally i would aim to stop either in Hebden or at Mankinholes as above, they are the nicest places around the route IMO.

Good plan. Especially if you start in Hebden. ie: don't ride anywhere on the mtl as its pish.

The mtl does a good job of keeping the good trails quiet :o)

Yeah but it has a certain "right of package"aspect, don't you think?

Bolty's Steps, great rock climb, timmy's treat, F*** Yeah, Bench Trail, Steps of Death, Umm Bop etc etc

they're proper Calderdale rites of passage, mtl is the local version of waterboarding

:o)

Finding those trails by spending time exploring is another one ;o)

Ok. So what good trail can you recommend that's a similar distance in the same area which takes in some of these Flibberty Jibberty, Umpa Lumpa, and Ride me Sideways trails. 😀

Yes, I've done the MTL.
No, it's not 40odd miles of nothing but the best riding in the area.
But I enjoyed it.

Did it in a day clockwise starting from near Whitworth, the idea being to get the slog up the RMR out of the way first. I'm not fast by any means but I do have good stamina (ex marathon runner (slow at that too!)) – it was a long day but I've had tougher.