Hi, I’m looking at cycling the pbw but wondered if there is a better way to do it?

The guide says start in the Peak District and finish in the dales.

Any suggestions or tips? Is this the best way?

Thanks

go in the same direction as the wind. HTH.

Depends which way the wind blows. The southern end is pretty flat for 15 miles so it could be an easy start or less taxing finish

Damn that hawk is fast

What’s it like for campsites and bivi spots? I’m guessing it’s set up for it and campsites are well posted.

Not sure about the Peak but from the Mary Towneley Loop northwards there’s not many. Might be something attached to caravan parks. Bivy spots – pitch up anywhere where you can’t be seen and you’ll be fine.

North to south is downhill all the way, surely?

North to south is downhill all the way, surely?

+1 😉

I’ve done it from Middleton Top. You think you’re going to complete it in a couple of hours as the first few miles are great.

I suppose with a choice top to bottom feels more logical as at least it doesn’t get harder at the end. But we lived closer to Cromford so we did the first 70 miles in a hard day.

How many days does it take the average rider with camping/cooking gear?

I’m thinking about 4 days.

Thanks

It’s 184 miles so four days would be somewhere around 45 miles per day (the fastest time is just over 20hrs!!). If you are doing it about now then you’ve nearly 18hrs of daylight.

For me, three full days would be “steady”, two full days would be “brisk”, sub two days would be ITT/race mode. A lot depends on how much faffing you do, even at slow speeds going “let’s have a break here” means you aren’t moving forward.