stilltortoise - I'd be interested in a pootle around Macc in the future. I know the area around 3 shires well.
Its quite demanding fitness wise, so to do it at a steady pace would suit me.
Sorry geetee1972 that we're not around for a ride this Saturday, but you're welcome to pop round for a brew.
PS Cuckoo is right, the bridleway from Roach End is good, but it will be boggy in places climbing back out the other side and - without getting cheeky - it is hard to link it in with anything else (but the cheeky stuff IS good)
Bunnyhop, you're welcome. I have two little kiddies so big rides are rare, but being local to me it is easier to get clearance if you know what I mean. Likewise, let me know if you get out
Sorry Didzy but I am an old fashioned OS map and compass man.
I should point out that I am not a local to this area (it is just under an hours drive away) and there will be others on here that will have a much better knowledge than me (especially of cheeky routes).
It is worth noting that some of the routes around Gradbach that are marked as footpaths on the OS survey map appear (to me at least) to be bridleways or permissive bridleways on the ground.
You probably know this route already but if you go down past the youth hostel and cross Black Brook turning right and uphill at the crossroads near the brook, through Gradbach wood near Lud's Church up and over then down past Park House round the back of Swythamley Park and out to the road it is actually a bridleway but all marked as footpath on the OS map (my map at least).
Turning left at the road junction, past the former church and turning left onto the minor road through the farm provides a quiet climb to the end of the lane where a green lane (muddy) links up to just below Roach End. There is then an excellent singletrack descent on the bridleway (unfortunately now a gate has interupted the flow half way down) to run alongside Black brook before a muddy escape to join the road down from the Winking Man at a sharp turn.
A lot of road work is then involved to get over to Hollinsclough (I normally take the quiet lane through Dun's Cow Grove).
To get over to Gradbach from the 3-Shires area I normally go down Cumberland Brook then take the minor road climbing back to the A54. Turn right along an unfortunate section on the A54 then take the green lane on the left climbing and then descending towards Gradbach. I have always (frustratingly) gone down the road to the youth hostel but on the map there may be a better (cheeky alternative).
The other thing worth noting is when I have ridden this in the past I tend to ride it on dry or frosty days. The thought of doing this route on the upcoming weekend is not a pleasant one! Maybe the Jacobs/Hayfield route would be more suitable!
thanks for the input guys, appreciated 
im not familiar with gradbach in the slightest so unfortunately trying to follow those (albeit great detailed) instructions, i havent got a clue as to where any of that is 
i am genuinely intrugied as there sounds like there is a lot more exploring to be done and by the sounds some great cheeky bits in there!
if any one does have a .gpx (as i have a garmin dakota) of a similar route (linking gradbach to 3 shires or similar) or knows the route cuckoo etc is on about and doesnt mind plotting one for me on bikehike etc that would be truly appreciated and muchos kudos to that person, including what you would call the best bits (cheeky) regardless of weather (ill go even if its a bogfest )
if one of you legendary guys would do that ill go and havea go at it sunday!
so 3 shires out to gradbach and back to 3 shires in a loop somehow?
if i was any good with a map, id use cuckoos excellent instructions to plot it but it makes no sense to me as i dont know the area at all
If you're really no good with a map, you could do worse than to look at the Vertebrate Graphics White Peak guide. A lot of what is mentioned above is in there in either the Wildboarclough route or the Hollinsclough descents section. Sorry, but I'm an old-fashioned map person too.
Get some map-reading practice and go for it. Maps are designed for people who "don't know the area at all" 
Granted it won't tell you the best cheeky bits, but the vast majority of the legal rights of way on the map are worth riding in either direction (except Hollinsclough - see my above comment).
I was just about to recommend the VG white peak book which covers the excellent technical riding around hollinsclough and features some very attractive models (cough) me and bunnyhop (cough). The route they have for 3 shires head isn;t the best though
I did suggest the Return of the Macc(fest) but need to look at dates, weekends are filling up fast already!
It'll probably be a short Ladybower loop for us on Sat... VC > Whinstone (maybe, though not if it's wet) > Roman Road > Beast > Hagg Side > Suicide back to VC
Definately routes from the Macc choices menu to avoid the worst of the Peak clagg and cack. The Macc Forest bridleway can be added to by turning left at Dimples (1st ruin when going clockwise from the Leather's Smithy). Drop down on to Hardingland then under Teggs nose and into Langley, take a right by village hall road climb past Wards Knob straght over X-roads at top. Then first right into track and climb to Windways. Right then left into Teggs Nose car park and drop out and down on bridleway (footpath on most maps) from car park. It almost brings you back to bottom of track from Hardingland. You can either reverse hacked way to Hardingland then take the road back up to the forest bridleway and continue clockwise to Forest Chapel. Or at end of cobbles on saddlers way turn left climb up to Buxton Road (Cat and Fiddle road) past Five Ashes. Right onto Cat and Fiddle then first right off. Follow this to forest bridleway and Charity Lane.
At end of Charity Lane go left past forest chapel onto Oven Lane and into Bottom of the Oven. Road it to Cat and Fiddle - the fearful may decide its safer to cut the corner from Peak View Cafe to the Cat and Fiddle on the footpath over the moor that follows the old route of the old Buxton road. Bonus points for spotting the milestone 3/4 way along it. Then bridleway over danebower hollow.
If you've had your fill then 1km along A54 and right onto Cumberland Brook track. Then down to Clough House right turn along wildboar clough. First left and up the cruel hill to join the forest bridleway and continue clockwise to where you started.
Room for more - from A54 into Threeshires from the north, add any variation on choices from other posts above.
How about a SW pootle overnighter - start around chapel / whalley / new mills ish head down to Gradbach. Stay at YHA and then ride back next day.
interested in this VG white peak book, where can i find this? google isnt throwing up anything? does the book include routes that are easy to follow/plot onto a gps device?
I was just about to recommend the VG white peak book which covers the excellent technical riding around hollinsclough and features some very attractive models (cough) me and bunnyhop (cough). The route they have for 3 shires head isn;t the best though
I was on the point of buying that book, but the photos put me off 
dont let the pics in the books put you off. The VGraphics books are excellent as a intro to an area and their routes are easy to follow etc.
I'm going to be rude next time I see you 
BWD - email me and i will send you the pdfs
You're orright. I was taking the mick out of international mountain biking supermodel, NBT. I have a copy of the book, though I keep it in a sealed casket surrounded by bulbs of garlic...
The chap who wrote it is devilishly handsome I hear
I was wondering whether those PDF links would get taken down!
I hate to hijack back a successfully hijacked thread, but based on your collective wisdom, we're going to ride the classic Kinder loop. It's years since I've done it (think the last time was probably about 4 years ago) and my mate has never done it, or anything else in the Peak either for that matter.
MartynS kindly suggested to do it clockwise, i.e. Edale - Rushop - Hayfield - Edale Cross - Edale.
What do others think?
Is the descent down Hollins Cross any good these days or is the one down from the road at Mam Tor gap still the better choice?
How good is the descent into Roych Clough from Rushop end compared to from the Mount Famine end?
What's the descent like down Mount Famine these days?
Sooo many questions.
I'll refer you to this thread
My choice is anti-clockwise. Mam Nick -> greenlands will be a better descent than going via Hollins Cross at the moment if yo do go clockwise
Rushup edge to Roych CLough is a far better descent then the other way, as yo get the sunken road then the slabby descent into the clough
NBT Your a gentleman. When are you around for Buster and to pop over and say hello to you and your lovely wife?
Actually just looking at your answer and it seems you mean to go clockwise, i.e. from Edale onto Rushop Edge, then into Roych, Mount Famine, Hayfield and then back via the ladder.
Correct?
Which is better, Chapel Gate descent or Mam Nick to Greenlands? We might push back up the road to do the latter at the end of the ride!
I think it's actually equally good either way round, just in slightly different ways. But I would disagree with Jules on principle, so whichever way he's suggesting, go the other way and you'll be fine
First left and up the cruel hill
Good name, its steeper than a steep thing
geetee1972 - yes nbt means the same as MartynS - clockwise. We'll be in around the 3.30 to 5.30 mark, after that we're taking Fin to his school bonfire.
d'oh! Yes, I mean clockwise. Wr're home tonight too
funny, was just planning on doing this ride tomorrow. really lazy atm, must get my arse in gear!
I'll refer you to this thread
I guided the nice jamesb round it last week in surprisingly reasonable weather, obviously I rode it the way that BWD suggests (and my favourite direction too) anticlockwise and jamesb agreed with me that it was superb that way round and he wouldn't have liked it the other way. Clockwise does have it's good points (the descent off Rushup and down to Roych) but that's it, the rest of the route is crap that way and doesn't give you anywhere like the trail options that going anti-clockwise does.
So there.
crazy-legs - I think you'll find that your new friend jamesb, is a stranger to the glorious Peak district and therefore wouldn't know if it were better the other way.
So there.
If you do the route anti-clockwise three times in succession (on the same day obviously), it has the added bonus of warding off evil. This is something that's rarely mentioned in guidebooks for some reason, but again weighs heavily against the folly of riding the route - any route in fact - in a clockwise direction.
So my mate and I ended up riding the Kinder Loop clockwise, starting at Edale, then up onto Rushop Edge (brilliant descent, but put a hole in my High Rollers which I was running tubeless and the hole was too big for the gloop to plug so I had to put a DH tube in), then down into Roych Clough and oh my word what a descent that is; huge great slabs, drops and plenty of places to really launch the bike either over gap steps or of the nicely built up drainage gaps.
The climb out of Roych wasn't too bad making me think that it wouldn't make as good a descent as the other way around although it's good to see that the smooth groomed grading they put down back in 2004 is now starting to break up a little. The drop down Mt Famine was excellent once you get off the open trail and onto the enclosed double track with big catch bermed turns so you can absolutely pin them. Again, lots of water bars with nicely built up ramps so you can jump then quite cleanly.
The little gem on the ride is the drop into Hayfield down Coldwell Clough. That was always a favourite but I'd really forgotten how sweet it is.
The climb back up to Edale Cross had too much on it that would have been a bit pedestrian although the second section in the now fenced off field is certainly more interesting than it used to be.
The rocky section up to Edale Cross would be great in reverse but there were sections where you might find yourself loosing some speed because the gradient isn't so steep.
The drop down from Edale Cross was just brilliant. Back in the day we rode this on our £300 fully rigid CroMo specials and it was never that much fun because it was a trail just crying out for full suspension. I'm so glad we have bikes like this now; Jacobs Ladder may have been tamed but it's still pretty challenging to ride it fast, i.e. OFF THE BRAKES all the way down!
I think it's a great route either way, but if you want each descent to be the best it can be, then I think clockwise is the way to do it.
Twas an awesome ride. Too busy riding them to take any photos of the descents, but this gives a good flavour.
More here.....
Peaks Biking
The climb (or descent depending how you arrive at 3 shires!) has had some maintenesnce recently. The mx'rs had really chewed it up and it was getting really difficult to climb. They've put down some rocks to fill in the big stuffand got rid of the step half way up. Its climbable again!!
M6TTF - MemberThe climb (or descent depending how you arrive at 3 shires!) has had some maintenesnce recently. The mx'rs had really chewed it up and it was getting really difficult to climb. They've put down some rocks to fill in the big stuffand got rid of the step half way up. Its climbable aga
There's at least 4 ways down to 3 shires head, which one do you mean? Map link please!
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=400948&Y=368533&A=Y&Z=120
Will do when I'm not on the mobile. It's what I would call the main access route. Not the one where you go through the 2 farm gates and not fom the gradbach side, or down the rocky stepped one to the gate.
heihei: http://milkingbarn.smugmug.com/Sports/Peaks-Biking/14553549_VNQvN#1081436903_x73LD
This is where I fell off last week with the gayest bunny hop building up speed. I still can't ride
did all 4 climbs descents in 3 shires yesterday, were tonnes of mx'ers out too early doors, already ripping the new maintenance apart
great climbs and great descents! only dabbled once on all the climbs so was pretty chuffed!
geetee- never done the route the anti clockwise way, always done it the way you did it, which is a cracking ride most certainly! tempted to do it the other way one time, just the though of pushing up all of jacobs doesnt appeal
When you lot where comfortably ragging around the honey pot spots of the Peaks nbt and I were scaring ourselves on our mtb tandem, nailing some pretty gnarly, rocky descents around the Mellor, Rowarth end of the Peaks.
Well I was scared as stoker.
Bumped into an STWer too.
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