The best word to describe the peaks today would be ‘scorchio’. Timba and I managed a ride taking in Hagg side and Lockerbrook before heading over cut gate to langsett via the right hand fork and back up the other side and returning over to Derwent/Ladybower. It would be fair to say conditions were nearly perfect. You’re gonna hate me here, but I might even venture that it was a tad too hot. At least there was a scanty breeze on the tops to keep things sane. Just. By the homeward leg stream crossings were being treated as an opportunity to stop for a bit and cool down! I got through 3.5 litres of squash and water no bother. I’m pretty convinced that I lost more than that.
We kicked off witht the steep, but doable climb onto Hagg Side and a rip down Lockerbrook. On the way up to the top Timba mentioned that he hadn’t ridden in the area before. I mumbled something I audible about ‘rocks’ and we were on our way! The Lockerbrook descent was dispatched and we were off for the spin around the reservoirs to the base of cut gate. The first climb is always a push anyway, so no worries there. We finally topped out after a riding a reasonable amount of it and began the sunken riverbed section. This was as dry as I’ve ever seen it. Only one or two boggy puddles left. It was great fun picking lines through this and then it was right through the stream and off down the singletrack descent proper. I pulled up at the junction to decide which way to go, but Timba didn’t appear for a bit. After a few minutes he appeared with blood seeping from various parts of his knees. Luckily he was phlegmatic about it to say the least and we pushed on. Truth be told I’d also had a big ‘moment’ on that descent, on a straight forward bit I managed to be undecided about which strip of trail to go down. I ended up sort of side hopping with my weight all wrong. Luckily the front wheel railed into the rut and I managed to follow it.
Lunch was had at the top end of the loop and we headed back up to retrace our path. By this stage the ride was feeling like something out of a spaghetti western. No fibbing, a heat haze was hanging over the moors looking eastwards toward Sheffield. Still we made it. No alternative really. A stop and a chat with a walker at the top cairn was followed by the last descent. An absolutely classic bit of trail, again I got over keen in front of a bunch of other riders and nearly binned it at pace. Again luck was on my side. Then the final drop into Cranberry Clough. One of the best bits of trail in the peak IMO, narrow and with corners(!)
A quick dip in the stream at the bottom then the spin back to the cars. Big thanks to Timba for making a potentially very gruelling day into a really fun ride. I hope this hasn’t put you off the peaks for life! Even though I have ridden around there a lot it always takes a while to get back into the habit of only filtering out every rock except those that your wheels can’t roll over, or will move under you enough to take you down. Everything else just has to be accepted, even if it feels like you’re using a pneumatic drill rather than a mountain bike.
Seriously people, if you can get to the peaks this weekend and do cut gate, do it! It won’t get any better.
Cheers, and hopefully see you all on Wednesday if I haven’t just ruined my working week by not going in today.
