Friday evening curry at the local British Raj was the order of the day. A damn fine meal it was too and for only five pounds a head a bargain as well.
We met up with Dave on Saturday morning to drive down to the planned route start point. I planned to do a White peak route today and a shorter Black peak one tomorrow.
Totally unintentionally we had matching cycling clothes for Saturday, it was very funny to notice this at the start of our ride.
Matching Clothes.
That is all of us except Susan, she obviously didn't get the memo.
Except Susan
We started out on tarmac roads though various villages with one gentle climb up a hill to warm us all up. Then there was a really fast straight downhill section on the road. Dave led the charge, with Ben following and then me. At the end of the run my breaks were smoking, quite literally. I had to use them all the way down to keep to a sensible speed and maintain a little control.
Then we went off road along some uphill single-track paths. Unfortunately because it was such a nice day there were quite a few walkers around on the paths. Making some cycling impossible if they didn't give way to you.
In the guidebook that I was following it said that the next section would be one of England's best climbs! It was meant to be a tough uphill section on polished limestone. Once we followed the track up hill it turned out to be almost impossible to cycle up. We all had to stop and walk our bikes up the hill.
Here's Emmanuelle carrying her bike up the last part of the hill.
As it turned out we later discovered that we probably took the wrong route up the hill, as there was another parallel route from the base that zig zagged up the hill instead of going straight up the direct route! No wonder it was so difficult for us.
Lunch on top of the hill with some great views of the White Peaks.
The graveyard of bikes while we were enjoying our packed lunches.
Dave fooling around started to charge at me, and I managed to get this great shot just before being run over.
After lunch we continued on the route down a lovely single track to a disused railway bridge. Then we came across a river crossing. There was a bridge that we could have taken, but there was also a track into the river and across the other side. It looked shallow enough to ride across for the first few yards, but we weren't sure after that.
Dave attempted the route first, and came off about two-thirds along the river.
He shouted back at use to not bother trying, as it was too deep. His back wheel does look a little submerged.
Undeterred by Dave's wise words, Ben tried to cross next, with the same result.
Then I had a go. It was shallow enough at the start, but about mid way there were bigger algae covered rocks, which would have been difficult enough to cycle across without the ever-deeper flowing water as well.
Here I am making a good rate of knots on the river.
Only to end up with the same result as Dave and Ben.
Susan was the final person to try crossing the river. This time she took a slightly different route from previous attempts.
However, the final result was exactly the same.
I managed to get a rather nice grease pattern of my large bike cog on my calf muscle on the river crossing!
Just on the other side of the river was a small cottage selling hot drinks and some snacks. We had to stop to dry off a little and have a laugh at our failed attempts to cross the river without putting a foot down.
Tea break.
After a tea break we had a very nice uphill climb. It was one of the steepest ascents that I've tried on my bike and it was a zig zag ascent up a grassy valley side. While Wiki and I managed to get about half way before having to stop for a breather and to walk a little bit. Ben managed to get all the way to the top in one go. He certainly earned his title of king of the hill for today.
He later said that he didn't want to stop once he got half way up otherwise he wouldn't be able to carry on at all.
We had to stop again later on when Susan had a slight problem with her bike. Unfortunately Ben managed to put down his shades at this point and forgot about them till much later on in the day. He decided to go back for the shades, as he knew where he put them down. We waited for him to return...
And waited...
And waited...
It wasn't until almost an hour had passed before we decided to stop waiting and split up into two groups. One would carry on to the car while the other would back track looking for Ben. Just as we split up we saw Ben coming towards us. He had got lost on his way to find his shades!
The rest of the ride consisted of some tarmac uphill climbs and one very rutted downhill section along a grass field. I was so glad to have a full suspension bike, but even that wasn't enough to stop me shaking all the way down the hill.
In the evening we ate out at a place just around from Debbie's place called Flaming Nosh. It was a small pub converted to a restaurant. We met up with a couple of Susan's friends in the area, Penny and Helen.
While waiting for our table we ordered some drinks. Penny asked for a glass of water only to be told that she couldn't have one unless we had a bottle of wine as well! I believe this to be illegal. If we hadn't had booked our table, then I would have walked out on the spot at hearing this. I couldn't believe that the place was so tight as to not give us a glass of water. The waitress, who wasn't that nice all night long, just mentioned credit crunch times and shrugged her shoulders.
The food there was decidedly average and it was obvious that they had cut back on certain ingredients in the food. I certainly won't be going back there again.
On Sunday I decided that we should do the Blue John figure of 8 route again. I had forgotten my Black Peak mountain book guide so it was the only one already programmed into my GPS unit and a route that I knew well.
Here we are, less Dave, getting our bikes ready by the cars.
I think we all had slightly tired legs today after yesterdays all day ride. The climb up the broken path at the start didn't help either.
Today the weather was excellent, totally clear skies and hardly any breeze. I think that yesterday's weather was better for mountain biking, as it wasn't so sunny. Still I shouldn't complain as we rarely get good weather in April.
We had a nice lunch spot again, in the same place that Dave and I stopped for a break the last time.
From here Catherine and Emmanuelle had to get back to Oxford, so the rest of us carried on the route.
It was much better terrain at the top of the hill. While before it was quite wet and boggy for Dave and I, today it was much drier. There were some nice technical ruts to cross over and you had to carefully pick your way though the dips and bumps on your bike.
The big drop on the back of the first hill was just as good this time as before. Ben absolutely loved coming down it at speed, while Susan, Wiki and I took a more sedate pace down the hill. It was still just as enjoyable as I remember it from last month.
The steep trail drop down the back of the hill.
We did come across a couple that were going the other way at the bottom of the big drop. The bloke managed to get up the first steep section without hardly stopping, while the girl managed about half of it. We waited for a bit while watching them attempt the climb up the track.
The other riders going up the hill.
The epic climb back up the other hill on tarmac appeared to be much easier for me the second time around. I think that because I did it before in one go I knew that I could easily do it again. Time appeared to pass much quicker this time around and before I knew it I was at the top again.
At this point Susan, Ben and Wiki had to get back too. It was at exactly the same point as last month. I could have gone on alone, but figured it was enough biking for one weekend and I'd rather get back to spend some time with Debbie.
On our way back just above the Blue John cavern.
We saw some parascenders around the hills today. There were even more of them on our way back.
They made quite a sight flying over the hills in the clear blue skies.
For me it was a lovely weekend out on the bikes in The Peaks, with perfect weather for this time of year. The first day did seem a little sedate for me, and I'm sure I could have gone on much further later on into the day. Either that or start a little earlier as we didn't get going till eleven thirty.
Still I had a great time and can't wait till we plan our next weekend trip away mountain biking. Where next though? I do have a guidebook for The Lake District and also Dartmoor!
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