So I thought I'd see what all the fuss is about riding UP Jacobs ladder this weekend....
Got to the 'proper' start (I think) after the gate and after all of 5 seconds I was off the bike huffing and puffing it up the steps thinking 'who on earth can actually ride up this stuff' ?
Just been looking on the map and I see I MAY have been going up and down the 'footpath' rather than 'bridleway'.
I'd gone over the narrow stone bridge, and then I went up steps to RIGHT.... didnt see any option to the left, but maybe I was being a bit dopey....?
I do hope so.
To your left was a track that is the bridleway.
You would more than likely lasted 20 seconds longer on the bike on that one.
(unless you are one of the many singletrack riding gods)
Yeah, from the bottom the footpath branches to the right pretty much straight after the bridge iirc, the bridleway goes up to the left. The footpath is considerably steeper...
**edit** [url= http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=edale&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=26.627145,53.569336&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Edale,+Hope+Valley,+Derbyshire,+United+Kingdom&ll=53.37216,-1.868851&spn=0.000815,0.001635&t=h&z=20 ]google map link[/url] - the footpath is the wider trail going directly up the screen, the bridleway goes down with a wall to the side.
As others have said Left is where you want to go. After the second gate is when it gets really hard!
that reminds me, been meaning to get out to Jacobs and have a crack 🙂
Yes, over the bridge, turn left, through the gate and up the bridleway - sounds like you did indeed go up the stepped footpath.
this is what you want to do:-
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Yes. You should have been riding down Jacob's ladder, not up it.
Ahh Cheers- thank goodness for that. I was beginning to get a bit worried if anyone had actually been able to get up the steps bit to the right..
I take it the bit with Cp's arrow is also less steep/steppy on the way down- I was thinking 'this isn't super-easy down either' before I fell off.
You tried to ride up and then down the footpath steps? Well done (or not) you :-).
The only hard part of the descent on the bridleway is the very top bit, the rest is no great shakes at all.
We did it - down - on Saturday morning. No walkers or bikers in either direction which was a first for us.
That photo ^^ shows it very well, the climb is split into three distinct stages. Part 1 (from the green arrow to the sharp R/H bend) is steep loose baby-head rocks, part 2 (from the bend to the junction where the FP joins it) is a lot more rideable, bits of loose rock and sandy ruts. Part 3 (from the FP junction to the top which is over to the far left of that pic) starts steep up a rocky climb then levels out to almost flat before turning into a packed rock slope, very steep and steppy towards the top.
pfft easy, I rode the footpath three times one handed with no saddle, not because its hard, because I wanted a rest.
yeah, do it the other way (north to south).
near impossible to go up it and a bit boring going down the other side
oh yeah an use the bridleway this time 😉
+1 for its better ridden hayfield->edale than edale->hayfield
[i]+1 for its better ridden hayfield->edale than edale->hayfield [/i]
-1 for that comment