thinking of riding bakewell-castleton and back via monsal dale and hucklow and eyam at the weekend, what's the likelihood of getting trapped in snow?

I'm aware of the weather forecast (light snow and minus 12 degrees with wind chill) but it seems that it'll be as good frozen solid as it is when it's dry.

I live in Monsal dale and its snowing like ****! Has been for 2.5 weeks now and very icy.

thanks

i'm aware of how much snow there is in the peaks, it's just whether the likes of oxlow rake are passable or not even worth trying

I'm further south in Belper, and the trails round here (and up to Matlock) are just perfect right now, frozen very very hard, but not too much snow anywhere. Just come back from a quick local spin and it was ace – a few fun icy moments, but nothing too scary. Great winter riding.

Last week the Monsal Trail was just a sheet of ice – you'd probably hit that at some point on your ride? It'd actually improve a lot with a layer of snow on it to stop it being just an ice rink. Over by Darley Dale was a bit better, but still ice on the wider tracks.

Joe

yeah plan was to start on the monsal trail, we'll have a shorter loop as a back up which starts in the same place, just up for a bit of an adventure

and the north facing descent in pindale could be interesting 🙂

failing that – any good routes round you Joe?

High peak trail / Tissington trail / Cromford canal are all good routes in these conditions IMO.

Rode them a few times over the last week or two and they are at their best straight after the fresh snows.

Once the freeze / thaw cycle gets going though they can turn to badly rutted ice quite quickly.

Another point is to watch out for the wind chill as they are often open lanscapes and you are not excercising to the point of sweating once on the flat stuff. A flask of hot tea and preferably soup too is a welcome addition to the back pack IMO. The morale booth is worth 10 x the weight penalty at least 😉

More snow due in Sheffield tomorrow according to my friend who is there. The pavements in the city are so iced is almost impassable in some areas, so guess the Peak District to be colder and more exposed to weather.

If you do a forum search for Peak District, I posted some web cam addresses up the other day – you can see all the snow and just make out where some roads are supposed to be!

like i said, i'm aware of how much snow there is/might be, my parents live in the peaks and haven't been able to get their car any closer than half a mile to the house for 3 weeks.

ok, i've answered my own question, this picture was posted in Hora's thread of the limestone way which is on my route:

Round us,

http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=24048

is fine in pretty much any weather (you could probably push through it in a few inches of snow even), although it is only a 10 miler.

The stuff up at Cromford and Ambergate is all a good bet too, as long as it is cold enough to freeze, although that is mainly naughty riding and I can't plot it on bikehike easily. You'd need someone who knows the area to get the best riding (the canals, high peak trail etc. are great for getting from one bit of trail to another, but the good stuff is the stuff that comes off the top of the valley either side and heads downwards).

Joe

went for a walk instead.

You think it's tricky getting onto YOUR drive? 🙂

Half way up to my parents house:

On foot only from here:

Great pics mrmichaelwright.

Particularly like the ones of the hares. At least turning white in the winter has benefited them this year! 🙂

Was in the peak district myself this weekend over in the Goyt valley. Some stunning winter scenes there too.

thanks