For our mid-week ride we decided on a pootle round the White Peak as my riding mate has back trouble and is booked in for an operation in April so we thought this would be easier than the Dark which is nearer.
All went well until for some idiot reason I decided to go down Grattan Dale which goes from the A5012 to the road below Elton.
It is normally interesting with muddy rocks to traverse but this day it was a sea of glutinous gunge which only kicked in once we had passed the point of no return. Within seconds the bikes weighed twice as much and wheels wouldn't turn with mud jammed in fork bridges and swinging arms. It seemed to take hours to drag the bikes to the end of the trail by which time my mate was in agony with his back.
Amazingly he is still talking to me and we are going out this week for another back killer round Macc Forest!
Ah, a Somme 1915 ride...there's nothing like that 'Oh Christ, We're f****' feeling is there? 😆
I've never had a dry run down Gratton Dale yet, even in summer the mud down there seems to stick to every moving part.
I've done that too, in early summer a couple of years back. Looks great on the map, but unless it's a drought, it's a killer - one of those horrible trails that you have to pedal on the downhill.
Sounds like it's starting to dry 🙂
Time to dig out the Road Bikes Guys! 🙂
There is nothing to enjoy about riding down there - ever!
I was up Macc forest today, the bridleway half up the climb from the leathersmithy to charity lane is trashed to a big logging vehicle & they've closed it off diverting cyclists to the bridleway next to the barn, which means you have to climb all over again on tarmac. But still very thick cloggy claggy mud, was horrible.