My 8 year old lad has got a road bike and we’ve been doing a few local rides, but i’d like to take him somewhere bit nicer.

He’s a good bike rider and can knock out a good few miles so the distance isn’t bothering me, the route I’m looking at is only 18Kish.

Starting off in Edale and going along to Barber Booth up past Mam Tor, down Winnats (or the broken road), Castleton, Hope and back to Edale, looks a nice route and theres only 1 real climb……But will it be a killer climb for an 8 year old kid? From OS maps it looks about 200m vertical to the summit, but what is the gradient like?

I’ve MTB’d round there but never ridden the roads?

Any thoughts from locals

That’s not a funny climb at all. Some pretty steep bits. Isn’t it in the 100 climbs book?

Oh, maybe not then!!

Might have to try it out myself first……

That’s a tough route for a young kid – Mam Nick is hard going for anybody, no matter how fast they are. You’re also leaving yourself a long drag back to Edale from Hope, the road is heavy going.
Fair play to the lad if he can get round that. What’s his lowest gear? Grinding works for a short time but Mam Nick will be at least ten minutes. The gradient isn’t constant which is the hardest part, it starts with a long ramp then eases off before going through a succession of steep/slightly less steep sections.

Depends on your lad a bit. Richpips off here has been taking his lad Tom (minipips) out MTBing and road riding round there since he was 5 but they’re both mental (in a good way!)

Mam Nick will be at least ten minutes

The hill climb record on it last week was only just under 7 minutes. I did in in 10 minutes the next day but wasn’t exactly racing. I’d be impressed if it took an 8-year old less than 15 minutes but I’d be prepared for nearly 30.

To be honest, the climb would be the least of my worries – I hate Winnats as a descent, it’s steep, narrow, very fast and can be extremely busy. Broken Road as a descent is OK, even on a road bike but you do need to watch the drops and big cracks in the road.

Hmm, yeah maybe getting a bit ahead of myself!! 🙄

Any one got any ideas for spectacular rides that don’t contain super steep climbs!! I’m in south Leeds so peaks is easy to get to.

Edit: Cheers crazy legs. I was assuming we’d have to walk the broken bits of broken road though!! We walked up there before.

I’ll try him on some more local hills and gauge him, or make sure we’ve got his mum on standby with the car in Castleton!!

Mam Tor from Barber Booth is a lovely climb – much nicer than Winnats and less steep – but it’s still long and gruelling. And I certainly wouldn’t advise descending Winnats unless you are absolutely sure of his bike handling skills. It’s very steep, narrow and can be busy – there is a real risk of being unable to control speed.

Depending on where you are coming from I’d say there are much quieter parts of the peak that are just as nice. For example you could do something that involves Monsal Head and Longstone edge (great climbs) but come back along the Monsal trail through Cheedale

The hill climb record on it last week was only just under 7 minutes. I did in in 10 minutes the next day but wasn’t exactly racing. I’d be impressed if it took an 8-year old less than 15 minutes but I’d be prepared for nearly 30.

Yes good point! Had a look at my times and only one is under 8 minutes, the rest 8-9 so an eight year old might struggle to be a minute slower.

I’ll have a look at that route Chris cheers.

Would your original route work better in the opposite direction?

You’d need to walk up the broken road, but that gives you chance to talk about the landslips, etc. And it wouldn’t then be such a long climb up to Mam Nick.

I think it sounds a nice route, with good cafes in Edale, Hope and Castleton!

Esme – yeah I was wondering that actually. Would get the long drag out of the way from Edale to Hope as well. And like you say, plenty of cake stops along the route!!

How about taking him into the White Peak? There are some lovely quiet lanes around Bakewell, Hartington etc that you can tailor to suit, climbs are shorter and less steep and the roads are generally quieter.

I use Plotaroute quite a bit for working out routes