Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 148 total)
  • Peaks that good?
  • adsh
    Free Member

    As a soft southerner from the Chilterns I was looking forward to a few hours doing some ‘real’ MTB in the Peaks.

    Route of choice was the Hope Triple 8 mainly due to a good GPX trace and directions.

    Lovely weather, stunning scenary, the Soul in it’s backgarden – this is going to be good.

    A few miles in I wasn’t so sure – does littering a double track with countless large rocks and boulders make it as fun as rockless single track? I didn’t think so. The descents required a severe mental adjustment – getting it wrong would hurt – at best. It seemed enough were of the same opinion that significant parts had soft options along the side – enough that it couldnt just be soft southerners. I was dammed if I was going to wimp out so I juddered or pushed.

    I got better, I got used to rocks, I got in the swing of things and at the end I thought ‘I enjoyed that’. Without the scenary, however, I think I’d have hated it.

    dannybgoode
    Full Member

    The Peaks are God’s own back garden and perfect in every way.

    To suggest otherwise is blasphemy…

    Cheers

    Danny B

    mindmap3
    Free Member

    I felt a bit like that when I first moved to Sheffield. You soon get used to it though and I ended up really enjoying the techy descents and mucki about on rock drops that occurred naturally.

    The downside is that it does hurt when it goes wrong….but then again so did my stack at Cannock last night. The ground was like concrete despite there being no rocks.

    richpips
    Free Member

    The Peak is rubbish for mountain biking, you were lucky to escape with your life.

    iamsporticus
    Free Member

    titusrider
    Free Member

    Will get flamed for this but really the peaks justifies a fairly all mountain full sus and is not really that pleasant on hardtail or even 100mm full sus

    Oh and momentum (balls out brakes off) is absolutely essential to get any kind of flow
    (southern softy who LOVES riding the peaks and lakes)

    uwe-r
    Free Member

    The peak is massively overrated. You should have driven past and gone to Landelga with everyone else.

    willber
    Free Member

    have u got a link to the gpx for that route?

    munrobiker
    Free Member

    You just need to ride rougher trails more often then you’ll enjoy it. It is the best riding south of the Lakes and to the east of Snowdon. Not a patch on the Lakes or Highlands. Smooth trails is not what I go mountain biking for.

    andeh
    Full Member

    Will get flamed for this but really the peaks justifies a fairly all mountain full sus and is not really that pleasant on hardtail or even 100mm full sus

    ^see above picture^

    tomd
    Free Member

    First time I went to the Peaks, it was February. It was cold. It was wet. I crashed a lot and juddered down the rocky bits. It beat me.

    Since then I’ve been back a few times and as my biking (and bike) has improved I’ve enjoyed it more and more. What is great about it is combines rockyness with ride-able ascents. Staying in Scotland I don’t want for places to drag my bike up a mountain, and the lakes is closer than the Peaks but I still enjoy going there as the riding is great, nice villages and a good central place to meet southern friends.

    dannybgoode
    Full Member

    When I wa’ a lad we didn’t even have disc brakes never mind this new fangled suss-pension the youth of today keep ‘arpin on about.

    I rode the Peaks faster then on my fully rigid mountain bicycle and never diid me any ‘arm.

    Cheers

    Danny B

    mindmap3
    Free Member

    Despite the fact that I now ride a totally ridiculous bike, I was quite happy in the Peaks on my Chameleons with biggish forks. So we’re plenty of others.

    The big advantage was less stuff for the grit to wreck in the winter.

    jairaj
    Full Member

    I’m a soft southerner from the Chilterns and I like the Peaks and try to go a couple times a year. Its a different sort of riding compared to smooth flowly trails you get in the Chilterns. So I can imagine its not for everyone. Sometimes I do miss the corners though. Everything is mostly a point a shoot rather than twisting its way down a hill side. But then the longer descents usually make up for that.

    Garry_Lager
    Full Member

    They probably are that good but it’s a fair question, a lot of the popular bridleway stuff is bobbins, really (e.g. potato alley, Lockerbrook – type descents), or extracts quite a stiff price in terms of climbing up to it for non-amazing descents (Shatton moor, Bradwell edge).
    You defo have to get onto the footpaths to get the best out of it. Agree that it’s not in the same league as the Lakes but put that down to the scenery as much as anything else.

    It is hard riding, more in terms of the aerobic effort but the general rockiness adds to that. You can do plenty of sub 20 mile Peak rides that absolutely wallop you. I think part of it is that most of the popular climbs are very doable, you don’t get the rest from hike-a-bike that might get in the Highlands, say.

    deanfbm
    Free Member

    The peak district has it’s good and bad points.

    The hills are a good size and there are some nuggets of very excellent riding, shame the nuggets are so sparse that it involves a lot of road/eroded cart tracks.

    I just don’t enjoy essentially straight lining on gravel/rocks etc for extended amounts of time. A section of straight line rock smashing is fun, but gets really boring.

    The best trails are a mix of flow, rock, roots, turns, jumps and berms, a classic peak district trail just doesn’t have a mixture, it’s just straight line rocks.

    andeh
    Full Member

    Agree with the comments about variety, unless you’re in the know (which I’m not really) and ride cheeky, then it is all very similar and can lack swoopy flow. One bridleway strewn with baby head rocks looks very much like another.

    rogerthecat
    Free Member

    Peaks are crap – nothing to ride here – these are not the trails you are looking for – move along.

    @Danny B – that is about the best impression of me I have seen in ages.

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    i live in a lovely part of sheffield, the peak district starts at the end of my road.

    there are loads of lovely trails, but you won’t find any of them in a guide book.

    sorry.

    🙂

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    I cut my MTB teeth riding in the Peaks.
    I now live in Hampshire

    I’ve ridden in many, many places around the UK. THe Peaks, The Dales, the Lakes, South Downs, North Downs, Purbecks, Thetford, Sherwood, Malverns, Cotswolds, Chilterns, and a few others.
    I don’t think anywhere is ‘better’ than anywhere else, and you’ve got to be a bit blinkered and/or inexperienced to suggest so IMO.
    The main difference I’ve found is that in the South there are corners in the trails.
    My personal favourite natural trails are the Quantocks.
    And i think Calderdale is very, very overrated.
    But that’s just me. 🙂

    daveh
    Free Member

    Did a great ride a few weeks back without even leaving the city (Sheffield), loads of good stuff tucked in amongst the urban. And you get used to the rocks after a bit, like after a few months!

    rob-jackson
    Free Member

    The off guide book stuff is immense

    nickc
    Full Member

    I like going to the peaks, but I’m glad I don’t ride there all the time.

    1. biking in a tourist/day tripper hot spot must get pretty old pretty quickly.
    2. Sooo much trail use angst (would do my head in)

    It’s ace to have a lot of varied stuff to have a go on though, Like PP, trying to say one place is better than another is daft

    jezketley
    Free Member

    I live in the Chilterns and love riding there. But went on a day trip to the peak district last week and loved it. Cut gate was brill as was another loop over some tor. But agree, it does take some adjusting, and as usual in rocky I had an off which did hurt. But I will go back.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    I love it, but it does take a different mentality than the Chilterns. I’m not that convinced by people saying it’s straight lines and rocks though, yes on a macro scale it is, but riding the Beast (which I’m sure used to be worse and never had chicken lines) at anything above walking pace takes way more concentration than stringing smooth corners together at Swinley.

    It’s worse the other way arround, after 4 years in Sheffield the Chilterns are feally f***ing dull!

    FOG
    Full Member

    As I live 10 mins ride from my 1st PD trail I do ride there a lot and yes you do get used to it. However they aren’t all straight rubble chutes as some have said. like any other area there is a variety though I must admit there are a lot of chutes.
    Last week me and Mad Mick rode Dalby, this week the classic Jacobs Ladder,middle moor,Lantern Pike, Roych, Chapel gate loop. Both were good it’s all Mountain Biking but I prefer PD natural

    bland
    Full Member

    Ha ha! You should see the stuff we hide from southerners!

    You would cry!

    mindmap3
    Free Member

    I used to a lovely part of Sheffield too…Stanage was a short blast up the road, crossing the road from where I lived I had loads of cheeky trails which were mega fun but pretty technical. The descent directly across the road from me was ace although part of it has been sanitised now which is a shame because it was ace fun. Weather could be a bit poo though!

    I really took the access to such great riding for granted…it was on my doorstep. Having moved away I realise how lucky I was. Even Bolehills was only a short road blast away which made a good change.

    Even more worryingly, I keep thinking about how nice it would be to take the road bike with me next time I go to see my family who still live there!

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    cheers_drive
    Full Member

    I’m off to the peaks this weekend for the first time. Was thinking of doing this route http://www.theedgecycleworks.com/mtbroutes/ladybower-loop/ unless anyone has any better suggestions?

    h4muf
    Free Member

    Peaks are crap.


    WP_001355 by h4muf, on Flickr

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    Yep, cannot see the attraction myself.

    100B3741 by matt_outandabout, on Flickr

    mindmap3
    Free Member

    Matt that’s a horrid descent, looks rubbish! 😆

    I’ve spent so long up there riding down that and pushing back up. There’s some good stuff at the bottom on the left in the trees…rocks to ride off and quite a good fun nadgery little run that spits you out through the dry stone wall.

    The views a great from the top too especially on a sunny, cold crips winter or spring morning. Weather can be evil up there though.

    bigrich
    Full Member

    Flow is a word that annoys me, I’m starting to think the literal translation is ‘the trails do the steering for you’

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    I miss the Peak. 🙁
    But I like the Highlands. 🙂

    Garry_Lager
    Full Member

    I’m off to the peaks this weekend for the first time. Was thinking of doing this route http://www.theedgecycleworks.com/mtbroutes/ladybower-loop/ unless anyone has any better suggestions?

    Great route. A lot of up and down so expect to be pretty tired by the end. The western most loop is no longer interesting (8 and 9) as chapel gate is now a farm track, so you could swerve this by going direct to hollins cross at man nick. To make up for this you could add a climb up pindale from hope cement factory (brutal) and along the road to the limestone way. You then have a celebrated descent down cavedale back to hope ( v difficult)

    handybendyhendo
    Free Member

    Mattoutandabout….where is that slabby looking descent plse?

    mindmap3
    Free Member

    Oh yeah, that climb from the cement factory is horrible! It broke me when I did it a few years ago and was really unfit.

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    Top of Stanage plantation. Another view of same spot.

    100_3580 by matt_outandabout, on Flickr

    mindmap3
    Free Member

    Handy, that picture is taken at the top of a descent from Stanage Edge.

    It gets pretty busy so you need to do it quite early on weekends. Popular spot with climbers.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 148 total)

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