A short walk on Kinder.

When the weather turns cold my thoughts often turn away from cycling and towards walking boots and hills. So, with sleet forecast, off I went to Edale this morning accompanied by the dogs (Dani being busy on a course). Within 20 minutes of setting off the rain came in hard, so as soon as I reached shelter out came the waterproof trousers (I already had my waterproof jacket on). Wrapped in Gore-Tex I set off towards Grinds Brook Clough, following a group of hardy female fell runners and a couple of lads walking (one in shorts!). Seeing those runners made me wish for better fitness, a few years ago I used to run the route that I intended to walk today. As much as I enjoy walking in the hills, running feels so much 'freer'.
The weather soon improved, although the waterproofs stayed on, and I enjoyed the walk along Grinds Brook, soon passing the two lads. As I reached the steepest part of the path the weather turned again, this time to sleet.

Dogs and sleet, Grinds Brook Clough.

At the top of the clough the weather cleared up briefly, although it was still rather windy, so east I turned and followed the edge of the plateau, past Upper and Nether Tors.

Weathered gritstone.

Even sopping wet and muddy he's a handsome boy!

Nether Tor.

I carried on, through patches of stinging hail, sleet and the lightest snow, to Golden Clough, where I turned down towards The Nab. I took the lower path, which starts out steep with loose rock then turns to steep slippery peat, next time I'll take the higher route. On reaching The Nab its easy going back to Edale. I got back the the car park just as heavy sleet started to fall, which turned to snow just after my return to Buxton.

Paul.

Melverley to Montford Bridge on the Severn.

Yesterday we found ourselves in Shropshire as Dani was leading a group of clients down a gentle and scenic stretch of the Severn, with myself tagging along with the dogs. The stretch paddled was a 6.5 mile(ish) meander along quiet water through mixed farmland. Conditions were quite gentle, a lack of recent rain meant that there was little flow to aid us. We put in at Melverley, opposite the Royal Oak pub and campsite, Dani and her group of 12 in 6 canoes, myself and the dogs paddling Dani's Mad River Legend. I was soon left behind by the main group, there's little hope of keeping up with doubles when paddling solo with nearly 30 kilos of dead weight on board, but I didn't mind as I could enjoy the peace and quiet which made for better wildlife spotting.

Dani's group disappearing off in the distance.

Dogs, lovable but dead weight.

Birdlife seen included a large number of buzzards, a solitary kingfisher (the Severn through Shropshire is a great place to see them), herons and swiflows (either swift or swallow, I can never tell which is which). Dragonflies and deep blue damselflies accompanied us on the water as well.

Cows. Like ramblers they hunt in packs.

In places the water got quite shallow, in fact after lunch (when we re-grouped) I ended up wading in the water helping push boats along as a couple of boats grounded after taking the right hand channel past an island rather than the more sensible left hand channel. But as they were simply following my line I can't complain.

Shallow water.

The right hand channel. Overgrown and shallow.

We reached Montford Bridge where the group were camped about 4 hours later, stopping once for an extended picnic.Dani and myself then de-camped and headed across country to Nottingham, where the tent was again set up, as Dani was taking part in the Outlaw triathlon as part of a team of 3, Dani swimming. The swimmers, about 1000 of them, set of at 6am. Dani did the 2.4 mile swim in 66.37 minutes, which I slept through being tired from the previous days driving.

Paul.

Hathersage Circuit.

Todays route, like so many that I ride, comes from the 'Dark Peak Mountain Biking' guidebook. Graded Hard its a 29K route starting and ending in Hathersage, your advised to use the swimming pool car park. Being a cheapskate I parked in a layby just outside the town on the A6187, a 5 minute ride away.
Bike off, helmet on, and I'm spinning into Hathersage, new chain and cassette on the Kona behaving itself (I changed the jockey wheels and re-greased the freehub as well), turning right up the B6001 then turning right again up towards the gliding club. Steady climbing on tarmac leads to another right turn onto a dirty tarmac farm road which in turn leads to the first off-road section of the day, a bridlepath across Offerton Moor. A fairly hard but satisfying middle ring climb on good tracks next to a stone wall took me up to the start of the Shatton Moor track, a stony restricted byway. Granny ring engaged its an easy spin up to the mast, where the ground levels out and the views are superb.

The view from the Shatton Moor mast, looking down the Hope Valley.

Now its just a case of following the wide track around, wondering where the playfull children were (see photo below), riding past the paraglider's parked cars and dropping into Brough. The descent is 'excellent and rocky' according to the book, now its just fast and loose being a newish stone surface with the occasional water bar to slow you down (well they slow me down anyway!).

Hide and seek perhaps?

A few miles of tarmac now as the route crosses the A6187 and heads up towards Aston with its dark narrow sunken lanes. Left at the junction, then first right up steep tarmac, disturbing a pair of pure white doves, towards Edge Farm. Left here is an excellent and pretty 'top ten' stony climb, ridable by anyone fairly competent. I stalled several times. Then out onto sheep fields, admiring the view up the Hope Valley, before climbing around Win Hill on 'top ten' singletrack and heading on a wide Roman road towards Hope Cross.

The start of the climb.

On the Roman road.

After the Cross there's a smart little technical climb leading up to a 4 way junction. Here the route turns right and starts losing height. The first section is good stony track, not too steep not too difficult. Then through a gate where all hell breaks loose. This is the 'Beast of Hope Cross' a 'top ten' downhill described as 'very rocky and technical descent', try death chute of death! The gradient is fairly steep and the rocks are big, line choices vary from very hard to extremely hard. I managed to get down, walking down a couple of the bigger steps, mainly by scooting along slowly with one leg off the bike.Still, its good to be tested.

First section of the Beast. From here it just gets gnarlier and gnarlier...

Having survived that I now found myself on the south bank of Ladybower, familiar ground and easy riding along fire roads east towards the A6013 where the big ring is selected for a quick spin down to Bamford. Left at the Anglers Rest, keep going straight and follow tarmac until it runs out and then I'm faced with Hurst Clough Lane, a sunken narrow old road bounded either side by trees. Select granny, spin through the mud at the bottom then try and pick a line through the broken tarmac, rocks, slabs and loose detritus. This climb is tough! I ended up walking the steepest section. The lane ends at a farm track, and the next is a narrow overgrown bridlepath between fields. That's overgrown as in rampant nettle and brambles, so I emerged scratched and stung, rode past a holiday cottage (stayed there once) and disappeared through a gate into a muddy field. This part of the ride has a distinctly agricultural feel. Turning right its a short muddy drop to a stream, then a 'pleasant technical climb up narrow slabs'. Except those slabs are buried under slippery mud and grass so again I pushed up to a gate. The next field is far easier going, leading to tarmac on which I dropped down at speed, mud flying off the Panaracers, chasing roadies and dodging Police cars, to Hathersage and the final spin to the Landy arriving three hours and thirty five minutes after I set off.

Last photo of the day, taken at the end of the last off-road section, looking down the Hope Valley. Note the mast on the horizon, that was where the first photo was taken.

Weather wise it started out misty, clearing up but staying slightly overcast.

Paul.

One-geared road hack.

About ten years ago I decided that it might be nice to own a road bike. But not just any road bike, being a confirmed singlespeeder (Kona excepted...) I decided that one gear would be quite enough for the tough roads of Bedfordshire. I already owned, and loved, an On-One Inbred, original batch Reynalds 853, so the obvious choice was an Il Pompino from the same stable. The Pompi was basically a steel framed road bike designed by and made for mountain bikers, designed as an all-rounder suitable for anything from commuting to cross. The rear wishbone assembly, copied from DeKerf, is carried over from the Inbred, V brakes are fitted and the rear drop-outs suit a 135mm axle rather than the more usual road standard of 130mm. Hubs, saddle and seatpost are standard On-One mtb items, and the freewheel a Shimano BMX unit. Rear drop-outs are horizontal and there's no mech hanger. The fork is also steel.

On-One Il-Pompino.

When I lived in Beds. I used it for commuting in the summer (I had a Spesh mtb for winter use), hacking between my home in Ampthill and work in Bedford, about 9 miles each way, riding home involved weaving in and out of the traffic on Ampthill Road (great fun!) and then either doing intervals on the open road or deviating to find the bigger climbs.
Originally it had a 42:16 set-up, fine around Bedfordshire but a bit too steep for Derbyshire, now the freewheel has been swapped for an 18T one.

42:18

Commuting often involved locking it up in odd places, so the frame was part wrapped in old inner tubes for a while, now removed, masking tape and stickers. It also saw a lot of use after redundacy struck, being time rich and cash poor it served me well taking me into Bedford on signing on day, and getting me out and about exploring the lanes around Old Warden and the surrounding area.

Shimano freewheels need a bit of TLC from time to time (they used to last about ten months on the Inbred) so its worth turning the bike on its side, spraying some GT40 style lube into the gap between the body and spocket to flush out any crap then dribbling in chain lube.

On-One Inbred mtb hub with a screw on Shimano freewheel. Chain tugs take care of tension.

I do have a fixed wheel to use with it (flip-flop hub), which did see use when I lived down south. One day I'll re-fit it and scare myself all over again on the hills.

Unusually for a bike of mine few changes have been made, in fact apart from the freewheel only the saddle (originally another On-One mtb job) has been replaced. Now perched on the seatpost is a WTB Tr-Lite Titanium, now sadly unavailable, bought cheaply at the time from some on-line retailer. Another one of these sits atop my Inbred, and I honestly wish that I'd bought a few more at the time as they are simply the lightest and most comfortable perch that I've ever sat upon, and probably the best made, the leather covering still looking good after ten years of use.

The best saddle I've ever used!

The bikes looking a bit tatty now (saddle excepted), there's a few rust spots around the bottom bracket and the paint is looking tired in places. One day I'll find the money to buy myself a nice light geared job, but the Pompi still rides well, and there's nowt like riding a singlespeed! (If you need to ask you'll never understand).

Paul.

Cut Gate, North America and the TdeF.

With the worlds greatest cycle race running through part of the Peaks we decided that it would be seriously silly not to make the effort to be there, especially as Dani is a great follower of cycle racing. But how to get close...

Parking at Hetherdene car park at the eastern end of Ladybower reservoir we jumped onto mountain bikes (me on my Kona - see yesterdays post) at about 11am and rode tarmac up to Fairholmes visitor centre, between Ladybower and Upper Derwent reservoir. Then we picked up the gravel track that runs along the eastern side of Derwent and Howden reservoirs, heading north until we reached Slippery Stones, then turning east to Cranberry Clough and the famous Cut Gate track. Obviously this was a good idea as a lot of other mtbers (about 60 at a very conservative estimate) were doing the same.

Now, I've been meaning to ride Cut Gate for a while now, which is a pretty serious track across moorland famed for its singletrack, but one which needs to be in condition to be ridable. The one time that I rode it in the past it was a grim slog, I gave up and turned back halfway and wore out a set of brake pads for good measure. Today despite recent rain the track was thankfully in condition.
The first section was a walk up the side of the clough, then some more walking up steep singletrack, then a short ride followed by some more walking...

Dani pushing up Cranberry Clough.

We were not alone...

When we did get going there was a lot of quite technical rocky sections, great fun of course despite my usual poor line choices...

Pavement cyclist...

Technical!

We finally hit the famed singletrack which draws bikers from miles around, and it was good! Flowing along the hillside, never too steep, never too rough, just great riding down towards Langsett Reservoir and woodland. Here we entered the woods, then turned left and followed a fireroad along to the Woodhead Pass, arriving at about 1.20pm. A short ride found us a decent spot, not too crowded, and we settled down and dug out Dani's Jetboil and our picnic. Except that the piezo-electric starter on the Jetboil wouldn't work and the matches that we managed to scrounge didn't light, so no tea was had with our ham rolls and Aldi Jaffa cakes. Still, it was a nice day and we spent a gentle two hours looking at the promotional vehicles, wondering why so many cars needed to travel in front of the riders and waving at friendly British motorcycle policemen, obviously enjoying a jolly day out, unlike the French Gendarmes on their bikes who looked so very serious...

Happy British coppers.

Chips and cycling - obvious really...

When the Tour finally came through it was all over in a flash, I didn't even get any good photos, but the sight of so many riders in such a tight group is always impressive.

My best Tour photo.

The journey back started with some stiff climbing, and to avoid the worst of it we detoured across the moors on superb trails to the ruins of North America Farm, then turning south to rejoin Cut Gate. Along here the rain finally let loose, fortunately it was a brief shower and the sun soon returned to dry us all off. Heading back towards Slippery Stones saw us riding down terrain that we previously walked up, before hitting fireroads and tarmac on the return to the car.
 

North America - we've ridden there...

Overall we did about 44k of riding. Not a bad day out. And the Kona performed faultlessly.

Paul.

Digging out the Kona.

For the eighteen months or so my full bouncer has lurked at the back of the shed, forgotten and unloved, tyres flat and saddle dusty. Its a 2002 Kona Mokomoko, which was the middle bike from their range of cross-country race bikes at the time. Its rather dated now, 26" wheels are yesterdays news and no-one would think of making a full susser with only 80/85mm of travel front and rear.

Not too shabby for a 12 year bike!

I've made a few changes to it over the years, saddle first, then a lighter USE seatpost, V brakes (nice Avids) replaced with Hope Mono Mini discs (also very nice), wheels are now Hope hubs with Mavic rims. The narrow Koski bars went to be replaced by wide Titec flats, which at 645mm would now be considered narrow!

Marzocchi MXR air forks.

It was bought after I returned from a biking holiday in Morzine, I was mightily impressed with the hire Kona Stinky (the classic red and silver version) and wanted something with similar handling but less hardcore, a 37lb freeride bike would be hard work on the climbs (I really enjoy a good climb) and wasted on me on the descents. When I bought it I lived down in Bedfordshire, however it was rarely used locally (I prefered my rigid singlespeed Inbred for local riding), being saved for trips to the Lakes and Wales and for the South Downs Lemming.

Those bars were once considered wide!

Anyway, yesterday I finally dug it out, brought it into the house and left it overnight upside down so that the oil in the forks can work its way up to the seals. Taking a pump to the tyres revealed the rear tube, a nice pink lightweight job made in 1997!, to be totally shot so in went the last of my lightweight tubes. The front tube is marked 2003...

Lightweight USE seatpost, Salsa clamp and WTB saddle.

Today its had the air fork and shock pumped up and has been around the block, considering its long sleep everything works well, suspension feeling supple and gears changing reasonably. Work is definetely required though, those pedals need a strip and grease, the chain, cassette and jockey wheels need replacing and the suspension bearings could do with close inspection.

Paul.

Old shoes, new cleats.

My single pair of cycling shoes (Shimano) are pretty old, but still comfortable and have yet to actually fall apart. The cleats however;

Knackered Time cleat.

I use Time pedals, these have more side to side float than Shimano SPDs which I find more comfortable. The cleats are bronze and are held in place by two screws which pass through the sole into an adjustable steel plate inside the shoe.
The screws were seized solid, any attempt to unscrew them just resulted in the hex head rounding off. So, clamping the shoe in my 24 year old Workmate I fitted a 9.5mm drill into my equally ancient Bosch and set to work drilling the heads off the screws. Which was rather hard on the drill bit, I had to re-sharpen it twice. Luckily I've just been lent a bench grinder, and its nice to know that I can still sharpen a drill off-hand even though I've not had to do it for a few years.

Screw heads drilled out.

Once the heads were drilled off the cleats came away easily and the inner plate could be removed.

Inner plate on left, old cleats top, new cleats below.

I was expecting to have a fight with the stubs left in the inner plates, but to my suprise they came out easily with a pair of pliers. So then it was just a case of refitting the new cleats and sticking some duct tape over the inner plates to seal the inside of the shoes.

New cleats fitted. Sole looks a bit worn though...

Job done.


These are used with clipless pedals, even though the cleat clips onto the pedal. This is to distinguise them from rat traps, which have a cage that you slide your foot into, but no actual clips. Bicycle clips have nothing to do with pedals, but do stop your trousers getting caught in the chain. Hmmm.

When it comes to rat-traps (of the pedal variety) I'm with Sergeant Pluck;
'...If rat-trap pedals were universal it would be the end of bicycles, the people would die like flies...
...Did I ever tell you how I asked Inspector O'Corky about rat-traps? Why they are not made prohibitive, I said, or made specialities like arsenic when you would have to buy them at a chemist's shop and sign a little book and look like a responsible personality?'
'They are a power for the hills,' said Gilhaney.
The Sergeant spat spits on the dry road.
'You would want a special Act of Parliament,' said the Inspector, a special Act of Parliament.'...
Taken, slightly abridged, from 'The Third Policeman' by Flann O'Brien.

Paul.

Totley Moor.

An easy ride today.
This route came out of MBR magazine and I've been meaning to ride it for a while, prevented by weather and racing.
I parked up next to the A625 next to Totley Moor, then took a wide bridlepath leading from the A625/A6187 junction (near Longshaw Lodge) towards Bole Hill. All easy going, if a little muddy in places, but whats mountain bike ride without a splattering of soil?

Totley Moor, looking towards Sheffield.

An easy-to-miss gate on the left led to a mud hole then one of the sweetest natural singletrack sections I've ridden in a long time, smooth and flowing contouring around a hill.

Singletrack loveliness.

Through a gate, across a field, then its all good quality, sometimes rocky and sometimes smooth, bridlepath flowing down towards a ford.

Splash time!

Turn right, hit tarmac, miss turning, get to junction, check map and directions, go wrong way, retrace, find turning, head for A625, turn right then left, and back off-road again along a byway heading onto Houndkirk Moor.
A short off-road climb (walk, those extra miles took a toll...) and turn left along Houndkirk Lane, a controversial byway which local pressure groups want closing to vehicles (one day they'll win I reckon). This has recently been resurfaced by Sheffield CC, the reports that I've read (written just after the work had been done) say its an awfull surface to ride on, I didn't think it too bad, perhaps the surface has now bedded in helped by a wet winter.

Looking south-west along Houndkirk Lane.

I've driven this lane many years ago pre-resurfacing and it wasn't in bad condition so I can only assume that it had either deteriated in the meantime or Sheffield CC are bonkers and have money to burn... In some places boulders have been placed along the side, presumably to seperate 4x4s and walkers, seems a bit daft, and rather unsightly, to me. I can't see me driving it again though.
The lane meets the A6187, and a short tarmac ride leads past the Fox House Inn and Longshaw Lodge back to the waiting Landy.

A short ride, 12k, but rather satisfying (despite my unplanned deviation) in fine weather. I'll be back.

Paul.

Race & (Cannock) Chase.

Back to Cannock Chase today, for the Cannock Chase Winter Classic. This is a mountain bike race held in a different part of the forest to the usual bike trails, around a 5k course set out purely for todays event.

Dani and myself both entered, she in the Enthusiast Ladies and me in Singlespeed Men. We arrived early, drank tea and had lunch, and rode around a lot to warm up (it was cold). We did stop to watch the under 10s race, a riot with older kids on 'proper' mountain bikes (one girl on a Rocky Mountain!) and toddlers on balance bikes being helped by their parents. All very heartwarming!

The enthusiast, singlespeed and fat bike races went off in waves, following each other with a minutes gap between, the fun and first timers races being held earlier. Enthusiast Men went off first, followed by the Ladies, then came the singlespeeders and fat bikes together, both male and female.

I hung around the back on the start line (and throughout the race), not being entirely sure as to why I was there (it seemed like a good idea at the time) or what to expect. The start itself wasn't too bad, the track wide and flowing, but I soon had my first moment of sillyness when I dropped my water bottle, in my defence I usually use a Camelbak. Not good. The track stayed fairly wide until we hit the first proper singletrack section, a muddy line through trees which took us to a short strip of fireroad and the first technical section, a short steep drop-off. All I saw on the approach was the horizon line, it wasn't until I was almost on the lip that I could see down and try and pick a line, unfortunetely my choice was poor and off I came, landing on my right and bending the r/h brake lever. No injuries, back on the bike but with shaken confidence I carried on, but not very well as I couldn't clip in (muddy and undulating) and trying to get used to my brake levers being out of line. Still, I got going (despite hitting a tree or two), made steady work of a short fireroad climb before jumping off for a muddy rooty climb (as did lots of others). It was here that I caught Dani, she'd come off at the same drop, got back on the bike and tried to carry on but then had decided to pull out. I thought that she had just lost confidence so left her to it.

The course continued to become more technical squeezing through the trees, mud and roots under my tyres, never quite allowing me to find any kind of flow. Not the kind of riding that I'm used to, to be honest. Another technical drop (for technical read short and steep), jump off at the lip, run down then up the other side, re-mount, repeat twice more. More trees, more climbs, then again everything opens up and we're back at the start.

Lap 2 was little better, although I was aware that I was getting de-hydrated. At the first drop-off I spotted a chicken run signposted right, not sure how I missed it the first time but then I probably would have ignored it anyway... By now the faster Enthusiast Males were coming through, who always seem to catch up in the singletrack, finding space to let them past proved difficult at times.

On Lap 3 I found my bottle, both water and mental, but the body was flagging even though the mind was getting a grip on the course. By now the fastest s/s men and fat-bikers were lapping me. Sluggish would be the best description of my effort on that final lap, I need to be fitter, better skilled and on a lighter bike. Then it was all over.

Dani met me at the finish, with dogs in tow. Her crash was worse than I thought, she'd gone right over the bars, landing on her left side and leaving a crack in her helmet. The marshal wanted her to stop and call a medic over, she got back on and rode as far as she could before the adreneline wore off and the pain kicked in. So, bikes on roof and straight back to Buxton, stopping at Buxton Hospital's Minor Injuries Unit so she could be properly checked out by the lovely people there (the nurse that saw Dani turned out to be a mtber). Dani's got a bruised calf, and big bruise/lump on her left forearm and a couple of cracked ribs. So she's now on painkillers and light duties for the foreseeable, not good as she's running a marathon in April...

I finished 23rd out of 28 s/speed riders. My time was 1 hour 26 minutes, the fastest rider took 55 minutes and the slowest 1 hour 35. Work needs to be done!

Paul.

Greenlaning? Or just bloody vandalism?

The Old Macc Road is a UCR which runs between Buxton and Derbyshire Bridge, where it turns to tarmac and leads up to the Cat & Fiddle. Being close to town and well known its often busy with mountain bikers, walkers, off-road motorcyclists and 4x4s (I drive it myself on occasions). The stony surface is pretty hardwearing, not challenging to a 4x4 (a bit tough in sections on a mtb though!). But the lack of challenge seems to be a problem for some, in the past few months some fuckwits in 4x4s have been tearing up the peat verges. By the tyre tracks and depth of the damage it looks to be vehicles fitted with lift kits (raised suspension) and extreme challenge type tyres (very deep lugs), neither of which are really necessary on a Derbyshire lane. The result is a bloody mess;

Looking towards Buxton, stone road on the right.

Same spot as above, looking the other way.

The hole on the left has been caused by 4x4s, and just gets bigger. The bottom is clay.

If I tried to drive my 110 through that it'd get stuck.

Looking towards the Cat & Fiddle. This was a peat verge.

The above were all taken at approx. SK024718, and shows the worst of the damage. This carries on to a lesser degree all along the whole length of the lane.
The big hole in the 3rd photo down has been there for about a year now. Late last year I tried to help a park ranger pull a Freelander out of it, even with my 110 coupled to his 90 pulling together we couldn't shift it. As I said to the driver, the stone track is the road, that parts the verge, and you don't drive along the verge anywhere else.
There will, I'm sure, come a day when this lane is closed to 4x4s due to the damage shown above. If it happens I'll have mixed feelings. I enjoy driving along it (although seeing it damaged takes a lot of the enjoyment out), but it does need repairing and protecting from idiots, and if that means a permament TRO then so be it. A lot will say education is the answer, but I get the feeling from seeing this amount of wanton damage that the culprits couldn't give a toss. There's also the 'we have a right to be there' argument, but with rights come responsibilities, in the case of 'laning responsibility means treading lightly and respecting the terrain, the conditions and other users.
There's a very strong anti-greenlaning lobby in Derbyshire, the above damage just gives them ammunition.

Paul.

Cannock Chase.

Cannock Chase today for a dose of trail centre silliness. Dani was keen to visit, we've never ridden there before, and her job takes her down that way on occasions so she wanted to see what the Chase had to offer. She has plans to take her bike with her when working in the area and fit in a weekday ride.

As Dani wanted a fairly long ride we decided  to tackle the 15 mile Monkey Trail, graded Red/Difficult. The route was quite technical in places, and some of the climbs are on the stiff side, the Insidious Incline sticks in the mind, with switchbacks to zig-zag up hillsides. What goes up must come down and the descents are fast, technical in places, and damned good fun! Rock gardens add interest as do the re-assuringly wide (I don't fancy North Shore!) wooden bridges.

I rode my Mojito, probably the cheapest bike there today, and I'm pleased to say that the whole trail was singlespeed friendly. Singlespeeds are, in my rather biased opinion, the best tool for singletrack riding, it seems that getting the power to the wheel feels more immediate than on a geared bike, and of course only having one gear to play with means that you concentrate on the trail and forget about changing up or down. Singlespeeds are quieter as well.

All in all it took us about 2 hours, which wasn't too shabby. We will return, but not too soon. Trail riding is great, but its not something that we want to do too often, especially as we live in the Peaks!

I forgot my camera, so here's a couple that Dani took with her over-complicated 'phone;

 

Note my fifteen quid Aldi jacket!

Paul.

First paddle of the year.

Back to Rudyard today for a Peak Paddlers meet. Four of us met up, others cried off presumably due to the cold, it was a rather frosty morning. So Alan, Gary and myself set off down the calm lake, chatting and catching up. I had small dog with me in the boat, who whittled and kept moving around. I hope that he'll learn to settle in a canoe one day...

As we travelled down the lake the wind picked up, not by much but enough to chill my bare hands, for some reason I left my neoprene mitts at home. At about 2/3rds down my hands were far too cold so we turned back, although I did get distracted when I spotted some old coach bodies on the bank and couldn't resist getting out to explore. Back at the car park I spotted Mark's car, he obviously turned up late and was out on the water, paddling to the end of the lake to eat his lunch. Alan and Gary went out again but my hands were too cold for continued paddling so I got changed and enjoyed and brew and sausage and egg bap from the cafe. The others soon returned, and we were joined by Dani who cycled over from Buxton via Poynton and Macclesfield. With Dani changed (I took a change of clothes for her with me in the Landy), fed and the bike and canoe strapped to my vehicle we took small dog for a walk alongside the railway line before heading home.

Alan and Gary.

Old railway coach - once a holiday home?

Mark in his racing canoe.

Note to self - when winter paddling take mitts and wear fleece under dry trousers, Ronhill leggings just ain't warm enough!

Paul.