[Closed] Best riding in the Peak District...

I enjoy the beast, but Jacobs ladder (south to north) not so.

It all gets better once you start getting over towards Kinder. I just find that the immediate area around Derwent/Ladybower feels like a badly designed trail centre rather than a good "out there" mountain bike ride. Some of it I love but whenever I do a ride there I finish feeling a little empty.

the best riding in the peak district isn't on bridleways - which are mostly cack.

the beast is particularly dull. it's about as rubbish a way to use up all that lovely height as i can imagine; too steep and rocky to ride brake-less, not steep or techy enough to be interesting, and 3 corners - so no points for swoopiness either.

woo.

similar grumbles can be directed at more or less every bridleway in the park. The footpaths however are just brilliant!

It's bridleways around a reservoir in the heart of the busiest National Park in the world... I'm not sure you are ever gonna get 'away from it' in the Derwent Valley!

But what's wrong with the Beast, or the Lockerbrook descents, or Blackley Clough, or Whinstonelee Tor to Cutthroat Bridge? They are all pretty good fun if you ask me! Then there's the Cut Gate descent into the valley... which certainly had me clenching at times!

Maybe go for longer rides that go somewhere?

I'm not sure you are ever gonna get 'away from it' in the Derwent Valley!

Not quite the same as what I said or at least meant. I know I'm not going to have the place to myself and I know where to ride if that is what I'm after. It is the feeling of never actually being very far from where you start that bothers me. It all feels a bit "safe". With the exception of maybe Cut Gate I can't imagine being out of a ride and feeling a "long way from home".

As for the descents, the Cut Gate one is great. I didn't have Cut Gate on my mind when writing this. I've done the Beast on a variety of bikes from 6" full sussers to 25 year old fully rigid steel jobbies. I've never got to the bottom thinking "Wow!" Same with Blackley Clough, which is little more than a "point and shoot".

I've never truly got to the bottom of what I've got against this area and hoped someone might have felt the same and articulated it better for me 😀

What about the stuff you've done in Hope Valley dan?

Hi Chris, I thought you might pop up 😀

I do much prefer Hope Valley to Derwent, definitely. Rushop Edge, Chapel Gate, Hollins Cross and over to Hayfield are all ace as well as the stuff on the White Peak side (when's the next pootle?). It is specifically the "up from the reservoir, down again, up again, down again" of Derwent that bugs me sometimes, although I do like the tomato soup at the Fairholmes cafe

Try Hayfield / Chinley / Kinder / Matley Moor for a change.

I'm pretty well versed in what else the Peak District has to offer, I just wondered if it was just me that had this possibly irrational dislike of a lot of Derwent. Mud, grit, axle deep puddles, loose rocks. What's not to like? I think I've spent too much time riding in the sun on dry and solid trails 😆

I think it depends how you ride stuff. The Beast is fun. Not especially difficult to "get down", but bloody hard work to ride properly quick, without making mistakes. Awhiles - you say

too steep and rocky to ride brake-less

There's enough legal variations in the area that you can do a selection of different rides. Add in the *koff* "less than legal" stuff and you've got a fantastic area to ride in. I agree it's hardly the last wilderness, but in someways that's part of it's attraction. It's also quite handy if your billy-no-mates and like riding on your own, as you're never too far from civilsation.

i love the area, i did the beast for the first time last time i went, and found it to be pretty cool, its definitely quite technical getting down there at any speed, which is surely a good thing in itself?? i find and do a pretty much different ride everytime i head over that way, lots of different routes to do even if only in the same sort of area! i think its a bit ungrateful in a way to be honest, as there are riders that live in cambs/lincs etc that only have flat land and would love to have such niceties on there doorstep 🙂 why not go for a ride down cambs, come back up to the ladybower area and see if it doesnt give you a thrill 😆 not having a pop, we all get bored, but its possible up there to find new stuff on every ride 🙂 even if its not entirely legal 😉

will admit is slightly poop now the weathers turned wet and ming 🙁 it was so lovely going up there in the dry periods

and there are lots of places to tag on too, you could be out for anything from an hour to 9 hours if your legs can take it....

yes. its my favourite area to ride 🙂

as you're never too far from civilsation.

I reckon this I think is exactly why it is not my favourite area to ride.

...

ride it brakeless

I think riding the Beast brakeless would need a spotter on each corner to make sure no horses/walkers/other bikers were in the way. Coming around one of those corners at speed and finding a horse coming the other way could be a recipe for disaster. Modern bikes are allowing "us" to go faster without necessarily requiring more skill. Having witnessed two riders hurtle down the Beast straight into our group of riders waiting by the gate at the bottom (not actually making contact might I add, but intimidating none-the-less) I can see accidents a-coming. That's another topic entirely...

when its raining the views can be a bit poor i'll give you that

Regarding the Beast. I see alot of folk trying to ride it faster but by going up the sides missing out the larger rocks.

Try riding the really hard bits in the middle of the track, and take your time to do it clean.

In answer to my OP, maybe it IS just me 😕

Horses on the Beast?? Are we talking about the same trail?

In all my years riding in that area (which is a lot) I've never seen horses on there. Plus there isn't a gate at the bottom of what I call the Beast.

Where do you mean stilltortoise?

I thought the Beast was very difficult, I must be shite!
(in my defence I did do right down the middle of the path)

[i]I thought the Beast was very difficult, I must be shite![/i]

It's difficult to ride WELL. Subtle difference! 😉
Most people can get down it with maybe a foot down here or there or an emergency handful of brake along the way but to ride it fast and smooth takes some doing.

i got down the beast, a mate went straight over the bars, no damage done fortunately, went down a few steepish drop offs on it too, not going lightening fast, but its pretty hard to go fast down that sort of terrain, if you can go down that at a mega speed then you are a pretty good rider imo.......i just enjoyed it as i found it quite technical rather than just plough on down through some rocks, there is a bit of thought and skill to get down it rather that some of the point and hope for the best type ones around there...i didnt dabble once mind, i got to the bottom at my own pace without coming off, not sure id be able to do it once it gets wet down there though, as i bet its slippy as hell on some of those rocks

horses/walkers/other bikers. It all amounts to the same potential hazard.

The Beast, at the end of the rockiest section, has a gate that takes you straight ahead onto an easy trail on the side of the reservoir, or doubles back on itself on much easier trail to the Snake road. If you're headed for the Snake road you won't actually pass thru' the gate.

pretty much in the middle of [url= http://www.multimap.com/maps/#map=53.38985,-1.75691|16|4&dp=os&bd=useful_information&loc=GB:53.34833:-1.68945:14|bamford|Bamford, Hope Valley, Derbyshire, England, S33 0]here[/url], just to the south of Haggwater Bridge

Ker-chung!

The penny has dropped, I know the gate you mean. We are talking about the same place. 🙂

if you all hate it and think its over rated go ride somewhere else

next pootle is Oct 9th I believe but i can't go!

mmm, might struggle with that too 🙁

if you all hate it and think its over rated go ride somewhere else

Just 'cos it is not my favourite riding does not mean I hate it. Maybe I just need to save it for long, dry summer days, *sigh*

Next pootle is indeed October 9th but is staying around the Marple, New Mills, Rowarth area. I think that the trails here are among the best in the Peak even if you don't get the grandeur of the views.

Jon's comments about the Beast are spot on (but then he can ride). The faster you ride something the more challenging it becomes. Last time down I remember offering to race a guy on an Enduro motor cross bike. I won!

There was a video posted on here a short while ago of someone taking in the most amazing, but not legal, drop down towards Fairholmes. It looked ****ing amazing.

Can anyone point out the video, or, dare I say, the path?

i think you've already said too much...

(not being arsey - but that's a very 'sensitive' trail...)

I hear you ahwiles and no arseyness inferred.

geetee1972! maybe interested in this, do you have a potential route i can view please? not done anything that i know of around that area so would be cool to check out potential stuff see if rings a bell!

shush.

Geetee - *that* trail - I've now done it twice. First time bone dry. ****ing tough, but doable. I then tried it again when just slightly moist - really, really hairy, and not in a nice way. I really wouldn't bother again in anything but a heatwave.

Didzy - you mean you're interested in the peaks pootle on October 9th? NBT is going to plan the route but it will start around Roman Lakes and head over towards Rowarth Mill. Not sure what else he has planned but it will all be good stuff.

I then tried it again when just slightly moist - really, really hairy, and not in a nice way. I really wouldn't bother again in anything but a heatwave.

Could you compare it to say something like Egypt at Gawton in the wet or say Mynydd Du or the steep techy stuff to the left of The Plenny run (do you know the area I mean?) They would be about the hardest things I've ridden in the wet.

GeeTee - have mailed you.

Not quite the same as what I said or at least meant. I know I'm not going to have the place to myself and I know where to ride if that is what I'm after. It is the feeling of never actually being very far from where you start that bothers me. It all feels a bit "safe". With the exception of maybe Cut Gate I can't imagine being out of a ride and feeling a "long way from home".

Ace, I like the Peak because it pretty much is home. If you want to feel more exposed, go ride Cut Gate. At night. On your own. In the snow. Without your mobile phone. And then come back and tell us how near to everything you are. If you want to feel a long way from home, go ride in some wild corner of the Scottish highlands or mid-Wales or Alaska. Sounds like you're the one with the problem, not the Peak District...Been spending too much time with Bear Grylls eh?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you seem to be laying into the Derwent Valley area because your own expectations of it are skewed, which just seems unfair. It is what it is. I like it just for its warm familiarity, compactness, a lot of good memories and I don't expect it to be anything else. 😉

My favourite bits are nearer to Hayfield. It doesn't get so crowded, and is near to home.

I love the Peak/s

And the Peaks love you bunnyhop [img] [/img]

pook - why shush? 🙁

geetee - yeah interested in that, dont recall riding in any of that area that i know of (not great with names though) but if you do sort out a route, keep me posted will defo be up for it if im free! been meaning to get out with pook for a while now but always managed to avoid meeting up the same weekends, which is poop! 🙁

geetee1972 - Member
And the Peaks love you bunnyhop

Be very wary of that man bunnyhop. Very wary.

The Peaks - its all good. As long as you avoid that grassy climb up from Ladybower 😕

My alltime fave would be the Kinder Circuit with a slight deviation down the lovely Hayfield descent. (Jacobs to Edale to finish of course) 😀

Be very wary of that man bunnyhop. Very wary.

Can I just say in my defence that there was no evidence, whatsoever, that I was the callous individual what cruely ran over and broke the hind legs of the fluffy bunnky kins in the first instance.

I merely finished the 'iddle bidle bunny rabbit kins off in the most humane way I could.

i like that area for some of the reasons you say you dont. my mid-week rides have to fit in between the school runs and derwent is 45 mins away so having somewhere i can park up, start pedalling, then decide which 3/4 descents i want to do that day really suits me. there are lots of options (some more legal than others), many of which ride pretty well with a bit of water on them too. i agree with whoever it was who said that trails like the beast require a certain level of effort and commitment to get the best out of them. i really like trails that you have to use loads of body movement in order to keep your momentum and flow. there should be an unwritten rule that people arent allowed to take the easy lines either. with a bit of practice the only places you need to brake on the beast are coming in to the turns and then only a scrub. thats using the proper lines too.

geetee1972, that ickle bunny did get it's own back though, when it weed on you. Had it been a bigun I would have taken it home for the 'pot'.
P.S. I'm no bunny boiler though 😉

slowrider I think you and geetee will be racing each other on the descents on the 'pootle' ride.

lol are you trying to start an ego war bunnyhop? i didnt think there were any proper downhills round marple anyway? 😛

slowrider - remember farmer Johns 😉

The Beast?

Check out Cedric Horacia at 2.02 😀

I merely finished the 'iddle bidle bunny rabbit kins off in the most humane way I could.

I ran over a shrew once. It was obviously trying to make a quick dash across the path to safety and it went 'eek' as I flattened it. Poor thing. Cleaning it's innards off the bike wasn't much fun either.

For some reason I pictured you running over a Hobbit.

slowrider I think you and geetee will be racing each other on the descents on the 'pootle' ride.

Well having just spent a few minutes watching slowrider's valliant efforts on a certain trail in a certain valley not a million miles from Lady Bower, I think I may have met my match.

When are we going to ride that trail that may not be legal slowrider? Off the top of Hope Cross down to the reservoir through the small swing/loaded gate?

I vowed never again. I might change my mind 😀

Please could some other Sheffield riders go to Moss Valley. It's great for old school/singlespeed and some tracks in danger of being overgrown, it's so neglected.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you seem to be laying into the Derwent Valley area because your own expectations of it are skewed, which just seems unfair

😆 I contest that. I was hardly "laying into it", and even if I was there's nothing wrong with having an opinion. That's what this place is about, isn't it? I just don't seem to "get it" as much as many others and wondered if anyone agreed with me. I do agree that I do have high expectations tho'. My problem and I have to live with it 😥

Hora I'm not sure I know which one you mean? I'm always up for a cheeky new trail though

We discussed it before. Its accessed via a tiny spring-loaded gate thats circa 1metre high with a steep drop on your right and lots of roots.

Actually on hindsight **** that. I need to renovate a house and I aint doing that with broken arms.

Ah yes I know where you mean now! Doing it today as it happens, I'll let you know how it's holding up.

Not on your own though? 😕

Lol if I said yes would you bunk off to come and play? There's 3 or 4 of us going, a couple will just be spectators though. They are coming along for the warm up ride really

Anytime I take off now I have to spend it filling holes 😐

Dogpower

? Moss Valley where exactly to you mean

I contest that. I was hardly "laying into it", and even if I was there's nothing wrong with having an opinion. That's what this place is about, isn't it? I just don't seem to "get it" as much as many others and wondered if anyone agreed with me. I do agree that I do have high expectations tho'. My problem and I have to live with it

I was just being compassionate, I hate to think of your endless disappointment. You seem a bit like someone who's gone to a really good pizzeria and, instead of ordering pizza and enjoying it, is disappointed that they don't do exceptionally good Chinese, because - for some reason - you expect it there 😉 But that's just my opinion. 🙂

😆
Have you seen me in a restaurant or something? You know me so well.

If I carry on your analogy, I see myself as someone who keeps going to this great pizzeria year on year. All the others in the restaurant are raving about the pizza but I can't help but think about the better one I ate when I was in Italy. Why, godamnit, can't the British make pizza like the Italians?
😆

ANYWHERE is good to ride as long as it isn't flat.

ANYWHERE is good to ride as long as it isn't flat.

...but back to the pizza analogy, you've got to admit the topping makes a difference 🙂

...and who serves it. At my old fave indie coffee shop a Serbian girl used to serve me the mentalist espresso in a morning.

Given half a chance I would have lined her up against the wall and let her have it..

That trail was pretty sloppy today; ended up in the gorge twice and had half a dozen near misses!

Probably best left alone till next year now...

Aye. I'll take your word for it. I'll do it next year. 🙂

Lol feel free to prove me wrong