While driving over Snake pass yesterday, police/medics were by the side of the road attending to a chap who looks like he'd been hit (quite badly) the bike was missing its rear wheel and he was on a stretcher.
Just wondered whether it was anyone on here knows who it was and to wish him all the best in his recovery.
jt
hope they are ok, not a road i'd attempt myself. I once rode the woodhead in my irresponsible yoof and it was a pretty frightening experience
I'd ride The Snake over Woodhead any day every day. Woodhead's just menkal and it's such a shame that it's the only way off the south side of Holme Moss.
second that - snake over woodhead any day. Doesn't get all the big lorries either.
Hope he's OK.
I agree about Woodhead being a nail biting ride but thats mostly down to the HGVs. Snake is a fairly reasonable ride, the closest Ive come to killing myself is getting a tad over ambitious on the descent into Glossop
Yes, it looks quite bad and the driver of the vehicle looked incredibly shook up (we had to wait to go past).
He looked to be from a club but I didn't make out which one (other chap in same outfit).
jt
I rode woodhead once on an MTB only about a mile in all, but it was terrifying, does snake pass turn off woodhead and go into glossop, or is it the other side of glossop?
EDIT: Hope the guy concerned is OK
warton - woodhead spits you out in glossop at the bottom of the hill (mancs side) and you turn right and through to then come out onto Snake Pass.
Yer, woodhead = scary big trucks!
Big scary trucks and me, I go over it every day to and from work, snake is twistier but generally quieter, a couple of times I've seen cyclists flattening out the hill and taking the corners wide which is almost like suicide on some of those blind bends, I feel for both sides but it clearly was an accident waiting to happen.
My local roads... Snake is okay early on at the weekend and quite beautiful, but scary when busy on the Ladybower side, too many blind bends and brain-dead day trippers who can't deal with oncoming traffic and a cyclist on their own side of the road simultaneously.
The Woodhead is seriously nasty, just very fast with lots of lorries. If you come off the bottom of Cut Gate and want to head over to Glossop, you're better off cutting across to the disused railway from the old road opposite the Flouch, follow that to Dunford Bridge then left, up the hill and onto the Longdendale Trail and off road until Royston Vasey.
I got the train to glossop from uni in manchester and rode my MTB over the woodhead then back over cut gate from Langsett to my parents house in the Derwent Valley. I was so scared on the pass that i averaged nearly 18mph over the road 😐
Jebus! People cycle on Woodhead?
Snakes pass is fine though, usualy ride it form Sheffield to Glossop and its relatively straigh on the climb (cars coming up behind you can see you in time). Have had a few hairy moments on the last sharp left hander round the dry stone wall into Glossop though!
i don't know snakes pass at all, could someone explain why its so treacherous?
because it's an interesting / twisty road to drive over, and every other vehicle is driven by an idiot trying to set a new personal best time...
it's treacherous because it's a major cross pennine route and most drivers are idiots
snakes isnt so bad.
but picture the main route from west sheffield to east manchester. then put that route onto the terrain of the peak district. but keep it all nice and narrow and single carriageway. and add a lot of corners. and remove the top surface. and add some wierd bumps where the land slips etc.
then invite numpties to drive up and down it all the damn day long.
both of the are twisty fast roads which cross the pennines, essentially both dumping you in the same place on the west side. trucks use woodhead as it's a bit less windy, less steep and wider.
some folk use the snake to pretend they're a WRC driver on a closed stage.
by windy I don't mean the breeze that blows, I mean twisty 🙂
both are applicable though