This issue, Max and Russell head to Hathersage in the Peak District in search of that sweet, sweet first ride of spring
If you’re looking for fun, technical trails and stunning views, you’ll ind them in the Peak District – along with a big dose of community spirit
Spring is finally in the air, so we’re heading up the sunny motorway to the Peak District. But as soon as we turn off, the (aptly named) Dark Peak becomes very gloomy. Undeterred, we continue to our destination of Surprise View car park, up above Hathersage. The car park lives up to its name, offering a stunning vista out across the moors, despite the dark clouds rolling across the sky. These actually make the place look better – more rugged and adventurous than it would appear under clear blue skies.
Support your local
The Peak District sees a lot of visitors every year. Although some of its ancient rocky tracks are incredibly robust, other trails suffer, especially in the wet. The route we’re going to be riding today is in good shape, thanks to the community groups that are active in these parts – Mend Our Mountains (www.mendmountains.thebmc.co.uk), who are trying to raise £1 million to repair paths in the UK’s National Parks, and Ride Sheffield (www.ridesheffield.org.uk) and Peak District MTB (www.peakdistrictmtb.org), two advocacy groups who use the collective might of the local mountain biking community to promote riders’ interests in the area.
Today, we’re with local living legend Nick Craig – a Scott-sponsored rider, multiple-time national
champion in XC and cyclocross, and generally nice chap, to boot. Nick’s on a tasty-looking Scott Genius, blinged up to the max, while I’m on my trusty Whyte T-129, but in honour of his presence, I’ve dressed in Scott kit. This means we’ve accidently end up wearing matching orange and blue, much to Russell’s bemusement. That’s where the similarities stop, though.
Heading out of the windy car park, we pop onto a singletrack path beside the road and roll downhill with the wind on our backs. The diminutive figure of Nick ducks easily under the outstretched fingers of trees that try to pull us from our bikes. Thankfully, Russell’s camera pack clears the way for me. Rejoining the road, we climb up to The Fox House inn and negotiate a tight, blind corner, now heading out onto the bleak moors.
Trail mix
We’re soon off the tarmac, joining a bridleway which ventures out onto Totley Moor, the firm track soon deteriorating into rutted channels that hold water of unknown depths. I discover there’s one advantage to riding with a highly-competitive rider – Nick likes to be in front, so I dutifully follow his lead. We join a wider, rocky track which drops us across the moors towards the eastern edge, offering great views over the urban sprawl of Sheffield. Turning left, through a gate, we head into a lush valley on a lovely little section of singletrack which clings to the side of Wimble Holme Hill. Sadly, it’s short-lived, but it gives us an insight into the variety of trails here and puts us in a good mood, ready for the grassy climb out of the valley.
The trail quickly and steadily improves until we’re zipping along a firm, rocky track, emerging at a car park for Blacka Moor. This wooded hillside offers some great rooty trails, which are fun to session. Today, though, we join the bridleway which runs alongside Hathersage Road, twisting between moss-covered trees and glistening as the sun pierces the canopy of leaves overhead. The first part is quite flat, so still a bit slithery, but good fun as we slide around the corners, before we’re on the brakes to go through a gate halfway along.
There’s a bridleway to the right, just before, which is a fun downhill. But, in the wet conditions, we decide to stay along the top a little further for the next, rocky descent down to the next T-junction. While we’re here, we decide we may as well add a little out-and-back along the bridleway to our left. Numerous roots have made their way to the surface, providing some fun and challenging riding down this next section. With a smattering of rocks along the way down too, it’s obvious why this small woodland is a popular destination for riders in Sheffield. A lot of praise has to go to Ride Sheffield, who’ve fought to preserve, improve and maintain the trails here, enabling them to drain and providing excellent riding whatever the weather.
Sun’s out
What goes down, must come back up, so we follow Shorts Lane out of the wood and start our steady
climb back up the hillside. I put on a brave face, but with Russell on his e-bike and Nick always up for a challenge, they start to pull away, neither one admitting that they’re racing the other. It’s not a sociable pace for me though, so I ease off a little. We regroup and briefly join the main road, before peeling off onto a side road around the edge of Houndkirk Moor and then onto a byway onto the moors themselves. The sun’s even decided to come out and the gritty trail glistens as we zip along, weaving between the rocks.
After skirting along the edge of Lady Canning’s Plantation, we head into the woods until we’re on Cooking On Gas, a lovely bermy, rollercoaster trail with jumps. It’s a huge change from the terrain we’ve been riding and, although not technical, is great fun because we can hammer it, railing the berms and getting air off the jumps. It’s designed to be equally good fun for less-experienced riders, who can enjoy the flow and roll over the jumps. The compacted surface is smooth and quickrolling, too, and looks pristine despite the long winter. There are plans to build more all-weather trails here, including the new, more technical, red-graded RADmires trail, to link with the existing bridleway network.
Spoke too soon…
We’re keen to have another run, but the sky’s turned black so we decide to crack on. My idea is to head to the pub for food. Unfortunately, this doesn’t even feature on Nick’s radar – he wants to outrun the storm. This isn’t something that even he can manage, though, and a mile down the road we’re being beaten sore by hail, while the icy cold wind drowns out my cries of, “I told you so.” Nick laughs at our southern softness, but I can’t imagine even he is enjoying this hammering.
It’s a bit of a tarmac slog around to Redmires Reservoir from here, which’ll hopefully be reduced with the new trail, but at least it keeps us moving. There are even some lovely flagstones, which are part of an ancient packhorse route known as the Long Causeway, to keep us out of the newlyformed puddles as we climb to the foot of Stanage Pole – a landmark that’s stood here for hundreds of years. For us, it marks our imminent arrival at Stanage Edge, a popular haunt with walkers for the surroundings, climbers to scale the huge grit rocks and mountain bikers for the steep, technical descent. First off, you have to enjoy the view, though, even if it is of dark clouds.
The twist and sink
Thankfully, the wind falls as we drop off into the rocks, twisting and sinking down between the rounded, worn edges before picking up speed and skimming along the lower path, ready for the fast and slippery finish across the field to the car park. Joining the road here, it’s simply a case of knocking out a few miles back along the tarmac.
The route today has provided a wide variety of fun and technical riding, despite the wet and long winter. Yes, the Peak District has some trail maintenance concerns, but there’s a lot of support and work going on here. It’s good to see mountain bikers putting something back into the sport, and it’s paying dividends, with new trails being opened and built. The future looks very promising for mountain biking in these parts.