Who’s cycled the Pennine Bridleway, full length…

…Middleton Top, upwards?

What were your experiences?

What bike, bike packing or b&b’s? How fit were you and how long did it take? Was it worth it?

Won’t be this year, but it’s an itch for maybe next year

Bookmarking, as I have all the same questions. But I was thinking N to S.

I’d like to hear too.

I live just South of Middleton, so want to hear how it goes and the prevailing view of whether to go N-S or S-N.

(Logistics for me says N-S so I’m heading home all the time and not panicking / pushing hard for a last train bsck south or similar when reaching the northern end.  But that can be mitigated of course by planning a short last day or having a plan B).

Logistics for me says N-S so I’m heading home all the time and not panicking / pushing hard for a last train bsck south or similar when reaching the northern end. But that can be mitigated of course by planning a short last day or having a plan B

The last bit going North through the Dales has at least four different stations on the same line as potential bail-outs if you really need to catch a particular train and find yourself falling behind. You’re never more than half an hour or so from one of them.

Apparently going North is the way to go – scenery wise for a start – get the good stuff at the end.

Also, it would feel more of an adventure for me. Wouldn’t want the last days slog to be in familiar territory, I’d be more motivated going the other way

I live just South of Middleton

I’m in Darley Dale

Also wondered about this.

I quite like idea of riding home, N-S. Haven’t done a multi day trip but big days out feel better to me riding familiar routes when I’m flagging at the end.

*waves from Ilkeston*

Haven’t got the full award but went from Middleton top to Mary Townley in one session.

It’s easy for 15-20 miles! Lol.

Think we got some food at a tiny place called Summit.

Also grabbed some food around Glossop if I remember correctly.

Not me, but a mate did, and wrote down a few things. https://www.waterstones.com/book/pennine-bridleway/hannah-collingridge/9781839810428

rode the hebden to barnoldswick section on hottest day last year, 3 of us on gravel bikes, i had 27.5×1.9 gravelking sk’s and it handled it all fine, then did LL canal north and then over the moor to settle, nice ride,

lightweight hardtail or gravel is a good option.
gonna ride holmfirth/holme moss and get on the pbw to hebden this summer at some point.

@tomhoward – ah, you know Hannah too.

Not ridden the full length but have ridden various sections of it.
Gates. Do you enjoy gates. That’s my enduring impression of the Pennine Bridleway… bloody gates!

You should try the Mary Towneley Loop!

rode it over 4 weekends in 2017. north to south for the first 2 sections.
kirkby stephen to earby, was fantastic, with a night in settle for beer. just good dales tracks.

earby to milnrow 2nd weekend with a night at mankinholes yoho.
the bit from earby to hebbers is shyte, and takes forever. gate after gate and farmers fields.

then we rode middleton top to sparrowpit, in a day and stayed in hope and rode home from there.

and the final weekend was hope to milnrow, with a night in meltham on the beer.

not sure of overall time, but it was good fun in good weather. the section from hebbers to just north of earby is shyte. i would never ride that bit again, but i have ridden most of the other bits since.

the dales section to kikby stephen is awesome, my fave type of riding. big dales tracks with big views.

You should try the Mary Towneley Loop!

Watched a YouTube vid last night where the guys did it over 2 days and the overriding theme was…..

Gates

I’ve done Kirkby Stephen to Hebden over a weekend, camped nr Settle after day 1.  Lots of nowt between KS and Settle, don’t think we found anywhere until Feizor (Elaine’s tea rooms, well worth a visit!).  Grand scenery, but pretty samey after a while.  Settle to Hebden was harder IMO, but I could just have been tired from day 1! Different scenery, much more post industrial landscape than dales hills.  And gates as mentioned!

Separately I’ve done the MTL and parts of the PBW South as far as the outskirts of Manchester, it is on my list to finish off!  I reckon it’s one of those tick box rides that needs doing, just because it’s there! 🙂

Take a look at this guy he’s bikepacked most of the trails in the UK.

This thread reminds me to plan some trips to finish the parts of the PBW we haven’t yet ridden. Mostly we’ve ridden in bits which means there and back so twice as much work!

Just on the MTL I’ve done it in both directions, possible in one (long) day, I’d recommend anti-clockwise which means generally steeper climbs with longer descents. The other way you grind up hill all day and descents are over far too quick. I don’t remember gates so much as we have a two-or-more person system where the lead rider opens gate and the next rider becomes the lead, rather than stopping at each gate, though I know the section people complain about!

Tempted by this route and got the book for Christmas, it’s very nice with maps and is small enough to take with you en route.
Also available from STW shop.

Pennine Bridleway From Derbyshire through the Yorkshire Dales to Cumbria

The section I did in the summer whilst following the GB Divide left me with a strong impression that gate manufacturers must make a fortune up there.

This guy has done a vlog taking 7 days. He doesn’t say too much about where he is along the route, but they are pretty decent videos. Nice guy, little bit mad.

He describes it as VERY hard and then goes for a 10hr loop by Ullswater with his mate on day 8.

That makes me realise that it would probably break me into little pieces

Day 1, you can find the rest

Bit of a thread resurrection, but I’ve been thinking about this too. Taking a train to Kirkby Stephen and riding back to Wirksworth. I make this about 165 miles +/-

My rough plan is:

Day 1. Various trains to Kirkby Stephen. Stay in hotel overnight.

Day 2. Early (ish) start (I’m in a hotel, so it can’t be 04:00 or anything).

Day 3. Finish.

From reading other posts I think my old HT over Gravel, but I’ve no idea what’s a reasonable distance to cover. I’ve done the SDW in a day (twice) so I know that I’m OK for a big day (100 miles/11,000 ft). Does anyone know how the terrain/paths/gates situation differs from SDW?

The last 15 miles or so are very easy, so day 2 could afford to be longer. e.g. An alternate plan might be to try to get there earlier and ride as many miles on Day 1 before stopping, and then finish on Day 2.

Does that sound do-able?

We did Giggleswick to Glossop section last year (Glossop end is local to us) and it was two long hard days to do 80 miles – about 8 hours for 40 miles.  Did it on FS with basic clothing for overnight at a pub.  Did KAW in September on a CX bike averaging 60 or so miles each day over 4 days with camping gear – again long days with a heavy load.  PB is a lot rougher than SDW and is not gravel bike territory – a hard tail is fine.

Glad this thread has been resurrected; it’s come at just the right time as I’m planning my trips for the year.  PBW 2025 is definitely on!

I had a crack at the E2E record a few years ago and failed hard. I started at Middleton Top at about midnight, the idea being to do the night riding on the ‘easiest’ bit, while still fresh. However I’d never ridden through the night before continously as it properly messed  me up – really struggling with keeping warm, not being able to eat enough etc. Only made it as far as Rochdale before getting my emergency blanket out and sleeping under a bench!

Anyway, since then I’ve clocked up a load of long distance experience and feel somewhat ready to try again. The time to beat is just over 20 hours by Phil Simcock, which was (and remains) an incredible effort. It’ll all have to go perfectly to be in with a chance of going quicker.

On balance I think a hardtail is best for speed, although a full-sus would be nice for some sections. Phil rode a titanium 29er HT.

I’ll probably shift the sleep tactic slightly and aim to start at about 3AM after having been in bed for a bit, and put up with some darkness towards the end too. That was hopefully my circadian rythmn won’t be fighting back to quite the same degree as before.

Any tips that haven’t already been said relating to the second half , or warnings, would be much appreciated.

I’ve done it as part of the Great North Trail. The first 3 days are tough as in almost proper mountain biking tough. I’d suggest being sensible on planned distance or expect very long days. We did the latter… we stayed in digs, the usual collection of B&B’s, hotels, hostels and Air B&B’s- whatever we could get.

I have ridden it… but not in the way @padkinson plans to ride it! No where near as fast as that… we camped and took several days.

It took me a while to suss out that some of the odd bits of the route are based on the fact that it is a bridleway and had to be designed for horses as well as bikes so there are some stretches on the edge of towns where the route goes all over the place but where I would have blasted down a section of road and be done with it had I thought about it… but that is no good if you are trying to break a record or stick to the true PBW route.  I think somewhere around Charlesworth comes to mind as an example but I may be mistaken. Whilst there are some bumpy and tough climbs, what is most energy sapping are some of the grassy fields in the lowlands and the opening and closing of gates!

I’ll probably shift the sleep tactic slightly and aim to start at about 3AM after having been in bed for a bit

Mmm. I never understand how people about to do a hideous long cycle decide what a great idea it would be to miss most of the prior night’s sleep.