Crew: Dunc, Stunt
Route: Tythy, Cliff Lane, Tea Rooms, Shooters Clough, Track to the Shrine, Top of the Street, Pym Chair, Jenkin Chapel, Hooleyhey Lane, RHS of Lamaload to Waterworks, RHS grassy climb, Rainow, Oakenbank, Tythy.
Conditions: Cool, still, drier trails than last week.
Notes:
Good conditions for going high again, not as cold as expected, and no hill fog either! Generating plenty of our own heat in climbing cliff lane, and up to the team rooms. Big Owl swooped across in front of us at the start of the long drag up below Shining Tor.
Quiet on the roads and trails, only saw two other riders, and a pair of dog walkers close to the tea rooms, then one set of fell runners in the Goyt.
Main decent to the gate for Shooters Clough was a great mix of fast and dry, with wet slidey bits at regular intervals! As expected the clough was wet and muddy!
Once over the stream past Errwood Hall, Dunc nailed the narrow tricky ascent…as combination of pedal strikes, new boot cleat unclip anxiety, and general lack of skill meant he had to wait for me a lot!
Spooky moon poking through the clouds, and a visit to the shrine seemed a good plan. It’s well maintained and regularly visited, although we declined to write in the visitors book.
Very steep push up the steps back to the main track, and much better progress on the wider grassy trail back to the Street.
A couple of rear wheel squirms on the descent to Jenkin chapel, and the climb back to Hooleyhey lane is always a killer!
The gate at the top of the grassy descent to the waterworks was closed! Can’t recall having to use the stile in the wall there before.
Legs very pleased to top out above Rainow (less pleased to do the climb to the top of Oakenbank a bit later)…bodies getting weary we abandon plans for Lord Street and Kerridge, and take route one back (after a cheeky poachers snicket).
I fade and Funky does 2.5 laps of the Kershaw roundabout while I catch up.
Not quite a Munro night, but the stats say 21 miles, 2,700 ft of climb, and 1,700 calories burned!
Rule of 6 TNR’s return next week.
Lee and TJ did another monster day ride also!!