Okay, Im going to be over in Hope very early tomorrow morning and I need a 4 hour ride, ending at Edale. I have the VP dark peak trails book, and have done a few that I could do again (lots of Mam Tor action, Cave Dale, Jacobs and Rushup Edge) but just wondering if theres anything 'new to me' I can do, save me from riding the same trails over and over...
Had a look at the map and could work Chapel Gate in, but has this been resurfaced recently? Any other ideas?
Done Potato Alley and a bit of Ladybower too, but never Hagg Farm, so so far, Hagg Farm and Chapel Gate are close and would be new to me, any other hidden gems I should be heading for?
Don't bother with Chapel Gate. It's more akin to a B road now. Keep your height and go left from Hollins Cross through the old gate posts. This will take you back towards Edale Station.
HTH .
Was thinking up the bottom of Mam Tor, along Rushup edge, down Roych Clough, then instead of Jacobs (can't be arsed with that climb up again) head back round towards Mam Tor, then at Hollins Cross head down towards Edale but 'accidentally' head down the brilliant footpath that leads out through a farm (made that mistake last time, best mistake I've made on the bike!)
Was thinking up the bottom of Mam Tor, along Rushup edge, down Roych Clough, then instead of Jacobs (can't be arsed with that climb up again) head back round towards Mam Tor
How are you doing that? Getting back to Mam Tor without going over Jacob's or just turning round and repeating the Roych track?
BadlyWiredDog:
Without the book in front of me (at work now) I was thinking Rushup, then Chapel Gate (if it wasn't ruined) then looping back towards Edale, back up Mam Tor from Greenlands then down from Hollins Cross... But without looking at a map Im not sure on how I can make this possible (if it is possible!)
Just be nice to do something I havent done before if possible!
From mam tor, if you head over Rushup edge, you can EITHER do Roych Clough over to Hayfield, OR cut back and go down Chapel Gate. Chapel Gate is no longer worth riding as a descent, it was rebuilt and is now smooth. You also miss out the excellent sunken track from the turn off down to the road / Roych Clough
Edit - at this junction
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=410150&Y=382880&A=Y&Z=120&ax=409925&ay=382900
So once I'm heading in that direction, are my options limited to Jacobs and turning back and retracing my tracks? Suppose I could do Jacobs again, if theres nowt else worth doing around there then I suppose I can suffer that climb again!
Well, there's loads you could do in four hours. From Hope you could easily do a loop up onto Bradwell Edge, come back through the cement works, climb up Pindale and Dirtlow Rake, which is a bit brutal then cut across to the start of the Rocych track, turn right and go up Rushup Edge, follow the bridleway all the way along to Hollins Cross, take the right hand descent to the Edale Road or the lefthand down to Edale more directly. Or if you go right do a couple of miles of road then up the Roman Road, left down the Jaggers track and back to Edale on the road. Depends how fast you move really...
You could also go over Jaggers and the so-called Beast to Ladybower, do a loop over Whinstone Lee Tor either way round, then across the reservoir dam, turn right, left up the tedious climb onto the top of Hope Brink, back down onto the Roman Road and drop down Jaggers onto the Edale Road. Or if you still have time left, climb up to Hollins Cross on the first bridleway then drop back either on the other obvious one, or along the ridge past Mam Tor and down from Mam Nick to Edale...
Or...
Once you go over the Roych, that's pretty much the obvious choice, back over Jacob's. You could do a loop down Beat Lane from South Head, then up on back roads past the Wash, then a path back up onto The Roych and retrace just the first bit, then where it hits the Ruship road, cut across to the other side and do Dirtlow Rake / Pindale, though that'll take you back into Hope. In four hours though, you could cover loads of stuff.
All over those are brilliant ideas, but only the Beast is a section I haven't ridden really on my last few rides, guess whatever I do I will be retracing old ground in such a relatively small area.
Did enjoy Bradwell edge, but Cavedale was v busy last week and spoiled it so like you say, could cut across to Roych to miss that out.
Anyone who's ridden the Beast think it's worth me repeating old rides to fit it in? Got to be better than Potato Alley, was nackered after that, serious arm and leg pump after that descent!
If you're only prepared to ride anything in an area once, you're going to run out of routes pretty fast wherever you go, to be honest. I've ridden all that stuff a lot from different start points in different combinations and directions and on different bikes and it's subtly different every time - the trail changes, you can mess around with different lines and moods and friends. I like riding things better and smoother and cleaner. In different weather, different levels of traction and so on.
Of course I realise that, and I'm not of that mindset, just want to make sure I don't wear it out!
I've only had the book five minutes and I'm out every weekend doing the rides! Just would have made it different if there was something either not listed in the book/doable in a different order to mix it up a bit.