Dream ride: Get charmed by the legendary Snake Pass
The A57 coils its way through the stunning Peak District and will leave you gasping for more...
46
Some roads manage to make an impression even before you ride them for the very first time. The name’s enough to build a sense of drama. For me, Snake Pass is right up there with Death Valley in terms of setting expectations.
OK, I didn’t expect to die in the Californian desert and nobody anticipates being knee-deep in pythons when heading from Manchester to Sheffield on the A57, but the name tells you this isn’t going to be any old road over the moors. It’ll be tougher and twistier.
It’s going to be good. I vividly remember my first time on Snake Pass. It was a wintry evening in 1988 and I was on a Honda CB250RS. The gutless single struggled with both the climb out of
Glossop and the elements, getting knocked about by a wind edged with sleet like brass knuckles. The road was throwing corners at me like punches, visibility was low, grip lower and frankly I was amazed I made it across the moors in one piece. But I knew I’d ridden a proper road. I’ve never had such a tough ride on the A57 since, but I’ve been back to the Peak District countless times – always looking for an excuse to ride Snake Pass. That became easier when I moved from London to Lincolnshire in 2003 to work as a motorcycle journalist and, with better weather and better bikes, I discovered just how good the riding here could be.
I was in good company, heading from Lincolnshire to the Derwent Valley. The Dambusters had flown from Scampton to practise for their German raids with six weeks of dummy runs at the Ladybower Reservoir which lies beside the A57. Mind you, I think Guy Gibson and his crews were missing out by flying through and chucking out their bouncing bombs. From a biking point of view, this place is dynamite. Part of that’s the contrast. Both ends of the road are in cities. Then suddenly the buildings fall away completely and nature explodes around you, first with woods and fields which give way to huge views
‘So many twists. Every kind of bend is here’
as the road twists its way out over the open moors.
And there are plenty of twists on Snake Pass, make no mistake about that. It’s well named. Every kind of bend is here – from long and sweeping corners to blind ones, plus more than a few evil ones that look innocent to begin with and then
sink their fangs in, tightening up halfway round.
There’s a fair elevation change as well – the road peaks at 1647ft above sea level, drops down to Ladybower, then climbs again before descending sharply on the approach to Glossop. Ladybower isn’t the only reservoir here. Take a short, relaxed ride up the side road to the Upper Derwent Reservoir. There’s even a café, if you’re not stopping in the layby by Ladybower, and a short stroll to the Howden Reservoir. You need to take it steady and look out for walkers and cyclists, though it has a lowered limit anyway.
The same goes for the A57 these days: those bends have bitten enough people that the road has been slapped with a 50mph limit and there are plenty of cameras out to enforce it. But like all roads linking major towns, it can get busy anyway… a bit of patience goes a long way up here.
So does good timing. Rather than the middle of a busy weekend, this is a road to savour when it’s quiet. Try a midweek morning, when traffic is light and the sun is shining. When you can see for miles, past the black-andwhite Armco, to the next glorious bend and the moors beyond. Stop for a coffee or an ice cream halfway along at one of the reservoirs, then carry on – and maybe turn around and do it again. Because if there’s a sting in the tail here it’s this: one ride on Snake Pass is never enough. Once you’ve been bitten, you’ll be back…
June 9 2021