Trail: Derwent Reservoir to Langsett Reservoir via Cut Gate
Where: Derbyshire
Distance: 21 miles
Total Climb: 958m or 3,143ft
Date:17.07.10
Dirty Bikers: Bam, Big Al, Mikey & Pete
Bikes: Orange 5 Pro, Trek Fuel Ex8, Giant Anthem X2, Norwood Shova (custom build)
Weather: Poo to very poo
Score: 9.5/10
Start from a very wet and windy visitors centre at Fairholmes at the base of Derwent Water. After spending some time getting all the gear on and stashing the pork pies, we set off on the trail to the east side of Derwent, gentle and easy and great way to warm up, follow this trail all the way to pass Howden dam and on to Cold Side. A nice bit of single track along the side of the River Derwent, the boys were racing down here hoping the timber anti erosion bars and coming into the river crossing laughing like kids!
Here is where the climb starts up on to Howden Moor a total climb of more than 210m, starts off easy enough with a gentle climbing single track between overgrown ferns, then bang some near vertical rock sections, with all the boys dismounting and doing some pushing with Pete at the back laughing as the Anthem weighs as much as the pack of pork pies I am carrying in my rucksack! Once we where above the 350m contour, the climb eases off, but was still hard going as the peat had soaked up so much rain it was like pedalling through glue. We all strung out here, with Al up front nailing the Shova, me next, then Pete and bringing up the rear on his new rig was Mikey. With the wind and rain in our faces this was tough. We stayed like this until you meet the stone slabs that take you up to the west of Margery Hill (530m approx) the highest point on Cut Gate. The stone slabs don’t last long with the going changing to a mixture of grit stone, rocks and peat and is fantastic, with us all gunning it, until Mikey did a superman and bloodied his new stead and gaining some serous boulder burn to his shin!
The path if you can call it that weaves in and out of a stream full of boulders, then into rutted peat single track with you having to gauge your pedal stroke so as not to catch you pedals and crank arms on the peat side and being flicked out of the ruts and down the valley side, all the time with near horizontal rain pinging of you face! We were loving it, after stopping for a short while to get Pete’s seat sorted as it had just tried to penetrate his anus we set of again, with the track still being rutted single track, starting the decent into Langsett, this descent is fast and long and not for the faint hearted! The track surface changes from rutted single to wide grit stone covered path to peaty mush in places, but you can gun it and we did! We were all strung out and up there on the moor you felt alone laughing like a big kid as you nail it down hill, this section was honestly fantastic, lasting a good ten to fifteen minutes, the weather was terrible but it just didn’t matter the ride was THAT good, the final section has some sharp turns but get your foot down and twist into the turns then down a very rocky, steep technical patch and you are spat out into the plantation at the side of the reservoir.
We took shelter under the trees here all agreeing that the last section was fantastic. We stayed here a little too long watching other riders being spat into the woods, they all had the same look on their faces…..very big smiles!
Now simple track along the banks of Langsett up to the Wagon and Horses at Langsett, too cold for beer, so we all gathered by the hot air being extracted from the kitchens, drinking coffee and refuelling on pork pies! We got nervous when Al and Pete disappeared with the landlady who had offered to show them her passage!! The rain was still horizontal but started to ease off, so we decided to make a move. Down over the Reservoir and up to Midhope then along the fire road into the plantation along the side of the reservoir here you pass over Thickwoods Brook and take a left up an un-named path climbing from 260m to 375m the climb was made more difficult by the weather, again we all strung out with Al and I doing battle up front and Pete behind cursing his line and Mikey bring up the rear.
The climb is technical with a mixture of peat bog single track and grit stone river beds but was great fun. At 375m you re-join cut gate, we stopped to take some photos here as the weather started to break, then back onto cut gate and the rutted single track and the four of us strung out along the patch all picking a route through the mixture of peat and boulders, until we met the stone path, a chance to gain some speed here, so we nailed it as the elevation descends down to the River Derwent. The descent on the peat was sketchy as it was very slippery and difficult to keep a line, with the back end trying to take a different line to the front! The final section down to the river was a real test of brakes! With all four of us dismounting to carry our bikes down over some of the near vertical rock faces.
At the river crossing we stopped to session the crossing a boulder at the streams edge providing a nice lip to manual into the river, good fun, how Pete didn’t end up in the stream is a mystery a truly sketching landing!!
To finish a nice easy warm down along the sides of the reservoir then back to Fairholmes for a brew, a truly epic ride! Finished off with the bikes being cleaned by Mikeys new toy the 15l mobi washer.
Mon, Aug 9, 2010
Where We Ride