Peak District Weekend Break

19th 20th and 21st June

It’s finally arrived, our (Paul and Graeme’s), weekend in the Peak District organised by the Trail Break Crew, but this is organised from Friday evening through to Sunday afternoon, no point in driving all the way to the Peaks on Friday without stopping to ride something new, so after spreading the map of the UK out, we decide on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire.

You could compare the Follow the Dog trail with Bedgebury, similar terrain, scenery, woodland and managed by the forestry commission. However, that’s about where the comparisons stop, the Cannock trail has actually been designed with long term use in mind, the trail has been professionally laid, with a firm gravel base all the way around, erosion of the trail was at a minimum, and the use of the gradients were exploited to the maximum. The trail itself is 6 miles in length, and at a good pace takes about 45 minutes. As for the riding, well it was actually quite good, tight, twisty singletrack through the trees with some nice little drop off’s, then swoopy downhill sections that flowed reasonably well. If you happen to be in the area, it’s worth a thrash round.. twice.

We arrive at Lockerbrook Bunk House where the weekend’s event is taking place, I must admit, I’m quite excited, the point of the weekend is to crack some great riding, with likeminded people and most of all, have a laugh (two boxes of Stella will certainly help). Friday night and we head to the pub for some dinner and a few beers. Now, we know that when you go away for a weekend with 30 or so other people, there is inevitably going to be a few people that may not be compatible with your personality, but we at least expected everyone to have a personality.. there seemed to be a few people that were, shall we say.. a bit strange, for god’s sake, cheer up, it’s not a funeral!

Saturday morning, and after a restless night of trying to sleep through the worlds loudest snoring, we wake up to rain, sheet rain at that, never mind, it’s supposed to clear up from 10. After a great breakfast, pre-ride faffing, me and Paul look around at all the bling that’s on show.. oh dear, a Yeti 575, a couple of Santa Cruz Nomad’s, high end Cannondale’s, Specialized, Gary Fisher’s etc, etc, have we bitten of more that we can chew, are we going to get a lesson on how to ride properly!!

So, off we ride (it’s still raining), about 35 riders in all, so, how do they break the group into levels of competence and fitness so everyone gets a good ride, well, we thrash round the side of Ladybower Reservoir for about an hour, stringing out the group before hitting an impossible climb.. which is about half a mile from where we started, well it worked, we are now in two groups, I’m sure there could have been an easier way.. never mind, Paul and I are in the front group, so we’re doing okay.

The first Downhill, about time as well, by the guides description you would have thought we were descending from the summit of K2, but when we reached the bottom it was a bit of an anti-climax, still, more to come. Half way round the ride (it’s still raining), it became clear that actually, Paul and I were quite competent riders, leaving the field behind when it came to both climbing and descending, always funny to see people racing off on the road to then get off the bike when it became a bit tough on the trails and we would blast past, great stuff. Rushup Edge (going south west) was fantastic, rock steps with baby head sized rocks to contend with, and the final decent at Blackley Hey was immense, that’s when we realised what we always knew, just because you own a Yeti, Nomad, blah blah blah, doesn’t mean you can ride it.. he he! We arrive back to a locked bunkhouse, never mind, it’s stopped raining, and my car is unlocked, meaning we have access to beer!

Sunday morning, a better nights kip, which could have been down to the box of Stella and 2 bottles of wine we consumed, but no hangover, and more importantly, the sun was shining. So after another great breakfast, the change of a tube from a slow puncture and we’re off... straight down a loose rocky twisty descent, fantastic, all I could do was hold on for dear life and shout “on your left” as I flew passed everyone else (I might have pissed off a few people.. hey ho!). We cross the road, and pass the first climb we did yesterday.. now that would have saved an hour instead of the pelt round the reservoir!

The route we did today was cracking, real technical climbs and then all the way to the top of Whinstone Tor, then a fantastically rocky descent with more rock steps, gully’s and jumps to end up at the reservoir visitor centre for lunch. Well, we thought we had another couple of hours riding left, but all that was suggested by the guide was a pootle round the reservoir, and back to the bunkhouse.. well we hadn’t exactly come to the Peaks to ride what was basically a road, so we created a splinter group and decided to do the loop again, this time faster, it just doesn’t get better..

So was the weekend worth it, well yes, we did some excellent riding, our confidence has gone through the roof, we met some great people (and some tossers), and most of the trail break team were great fun to be around. We just thought that the range of riders was too great, and that they could have managed the groups better to ensure that the more experienced riders could have gone further, it was a real disappointment not to crack Jacob’s Ladder and Cut Gate... but one things is for sure, after having ridden The Lakes, Welsh Trails, North/south downs, The Peaks is the best place to ride in the UK and we will be back (although in our own group).