Derbyshire Days

The east coast of Lincolnshire. The Edge of The Wolds. For any road rider and a lot of cross country riders, this is a brilliant place to live. Miles of trails and quiet roads snaking through the hills, all the way to the beach. However when you favor more gravity based riding its not all that great. So when we want to ride it involves day long road trips to Derbyshire, Wharncliffe and various other riding spots. Sitting at work all week checking the weather forecast every day working up to Sunday and picking up any last minute essentials from the local bike shop on the Saturday. This week was no different, Sunday morning arrived and regardless of hangovers, 9am is time to load the bikes up. All arriving (some slightly late obviously…) all the kit was thrown in the boots and wheels taken out the bikes. Quick check, phone, wallet, keys, sorted!
Anyway, off we go, breakfast is waiting! Now, McDonalds breakfasts are a love or hate meal. Of course, they are awful really but when the moment comes and you remember the beer consumed the previous night, it’s one of the finer things. Coffees and strange shaped sausage and egg consumed, we were, once again, on the move. Picking up water and supermarket sandwiches along the way. Healthy diet hey!



Keeping an eye on the sky hoping for a glimpse of blue among the clouds we made or way through central Sheffield. No traffic and straight through, Fantastic! Twenty minutes and you’re in the Peak District, arguably one of the most beautiful areas in England. Sadly, it stayed fairly cloudy all day but plenty warm enough.


Finally, we arrived! Best get unloaded really! The bikes soon got built and everyone got kitted up ready to get up the hill. Sadly no uplift (now that would be something!) so off we go pushing. It’s a long walk up but it’s always a good laugh. So many stories flying around of past rides, nights out, cars, girls and any other rubbish really. “This one time…” (no, not at Band Camp), “Remember when…” and “Oh no I did that?” all getting used too regularly. I imagine this is what every riding group does. I hope so because it definitely speeds the walk up!





Towards the top it began to get windy and there are some very exposed lines up there, but more on that later…
After a few breaks on the way up (its bloody steep!) we reached the top and had a chat and took in the views. Miles and miles of rolling hills with lakes settled between and mist gracefully moving over the top. Without much time to lounge about we just hear, “Come on then, shall we crack on”. Pads, check. Brace, check. Helmet done up, check. Errr, bike! Check. Well, ready to go I guess!


Now for those of you that have never ridden Derbyshire, Lady Bower reservoir to be precise, its mainly rock. The whole way is just one long rock garden with moss and sand filling the gaps. It’s largely used by “enduro” (sorry) guys on trail bikes and Xc guys making it round on their big 29ers. Having ridden a lot of XC round there doing these same routes, we’ve come to the conclusion it’s more fun on the bigger bikes concentrating on the descents and going faster.
The first drop in, front wheel rolls slowly off the top of the first slab of rock and after that, just try and pick a line possible to ride out the maze of huge rocks and hidden holes. This section is a bit slower, more technical then suddenly, find a rock, don’t touch the brakes and go. Stick to the line, jumping off the rocks and finding a rut to stay in until the next kicker.
From there on it’s fast single track littered with rocks, dust kicking up round every corner. Already worth the hike up!
Anyway, some pictures from the way down!








So remember when I mentioned the exposed lines earlier? Lee found this out the hard way. At the back of the pack he had a slight accident. We slowed down to check we were all there and then saw something I never thought I’d see. A Scott Voltage cartwheeling down a massive hill. Seemed like a clip you see on some old mtb wipeout video. Lee was pretty much fine, bit of a scratched back after the initial 20ft section he rolled with the bike before it had its own journey down the rest itself. Luckily. This is a shot off a phone but the trail is top right of the shot, bike bottom left. Lee in the middle walking down to his bike. Rather him than me…
The bike also stood up to it very well! Bent handle bars but otherwise fine, not even a buckled wheel! Somehow.


Anyway, more pic from the rest of the way down!

Back to the car and to get changed ready for a pie and a pint at the pub. The best way to end a good ride in the hills. Bikes dismantled and back in the car and clothes swapped to energy from the ride soon becomes energy for the pub and packing up ten times faster than we unpacked we made our way to the bar. Beer and a steak and ale pie please! The rest of the time was spent continuing the stories heard earlier in the day, laughing until your face aches and putting off going home for as long as you can because, as said, “The sooner I go home, the sooner it feels like I need to be up for work tomorrow. Your round by the way”. It’s amazing how fast your round comes round I’m sure!


The trips we do don’t include the amazing riding, amazing trails and magazine worthy content, but it doesn’t matter. We take these trips because for one day each week we have a day of non stop fun and laughs in great surroundings before we have to go back to work on the Monday. A little step out of reality I suppose. But why not! Lets face it, that’s why a lot of people ride.
The fog started to draw in and the light began to fade and we decided maybe it was getting a bit late to be sat outside and we headed off home. Smiles all round and ready for the next trip. Now for the few hours chatting about dream cars on the way home. Until next time..!