drunkcyclist2

Words by Eric

Crew; Stunt, Mr I, Eric

In the pub; Gee.

Lame excuses; B ride options available

Route; Cock and Pheasant in Bolly, Poachers, Blaze Hill, Pike Road, Bank Lane, Jenkin Chapel, Pym Chair, The Street, forest below Hoo Moor, Madscar Farm, Taxal ford, Shawcross Hall, Long Lane round Ladder Hill, Old Road to White Hall Centre, Roman Road to Buxton, Old Buxton Road to Derbyshire Bridge, Cat, Bottom o’ t’ Oven, Standing Stone, Sutton Hall.

Conditions; The perfect evening for a big ride.

Stats; Mr I, – rear mech kicking required.

Offs; Eric, clipped in thud to the ground. Root cause was failure of the sole of the £12.99 Aldi shoe which disappointingly only lasted three years.

Notes;
Two threads on the forum lead to the long awaited a) and b) rides. Stunt, Mr I and Eric joined up for the “big one”. There was some trepidation about whether the Buxton Circuit classic would be as classic done in reverse but there was only one way to find out.
Stunt and Eric slogged up Blaze Hill whilst Mr I lived up to his superhero billing with a sprint up Hurdsfield Road for a rendezvous at Four Lane Ends. Bank Lane proved to be as wet as the proverbial otters pocket despite the surrounding area being bone dry; however everyone arrived at the bottom alive this time, damp bottoms and big grins (if you can print that). ?Up and over Pym’s Chair and down the sneaky singletrack to the forest entrance – so far so good. The normal slog through the forest is so much better south to north as the gentle gradient makes for a big ring blast. Sadly no one risked the ford at Taxal before Shallcross Hall which became a technical climb. The start of the climb up Long Lane to Ladder Hill was a bit too steep in places and saw Eric’s soleless fall, being at the back no one heard the dull thud. The traverse round Ladder Hill gave fine evening views over Combs Reservoir. There was some trepidation about the start of the climb over to Wythen Lache but again it proved to be a do-able techy climb. Top speeds were recorded on the tarmac descent from the Wainstones to the outdoor centre as leaden legs started to set in. Our resident superhero had run out of water so we made a brief detour in Buxton for a top up, and despite a minor wrong slot in the suburbs were soon on the long climb out onto the old road. It may have been a road once but it is more a heap of stones now; the last couple of hundred yards of loose rock just too much for the legs at that time of night.
Compared to the rest of the ride the climb out from Derbyshire Bridge to the Cat was gentle. With time moving faster than we were it was a flat out blast from the Cat to Sutton Hall in time for food, although there was just time for a quick sideways glance at the Short Eared Owl hunting over the Tearooms.
So is it worth going clockwise ? The answer is yes, for whilst it has some gritty climbs there are some very rewarding descents, and at 3 hours 45 mins it makes for a good big spin. Given a little more time it could also be ended with any one of the standard “forest finishes”

Words by Eric

Crew; El Pres, Coley, Stunt, Mr I, Gee, Butty, Slim, Eric

Lame excuses; Work for some

Route;BL, New Buxton Road, Chazza, Bottom o’th’Oven, Cat, Danebower, Holt, Three Shires, Cut Thorne, Crag Hall, Standing Stone, forest options, Sutton Hall.

Conditions; Bit damp in places but OK.

Stats; We must all be getting very reliable – none.

Offs; Nothing noteworthy.

Notes;
A challenging itinerary and a distribution of provisions from Mr I’s bulging pack boded well for the evening ahead.
Charity Lane was still rather more of a river than a lane after the recent downpours and the long crank up to the Cat never gets any shorter. One or two tales of being buzzed by looney bikers but we were soon in our own space zooming down Danebower and across the sodden field to 3 Shires.
At the bridge we surprised a rather large party of what seemed to be geologists, either that or they had lost something amongst the rocks as they were intently peering into the bank. Their attentions soon turned to us as we set up in the lee of the riverbank and Mr I spread out his birthday fare. Sushi accompanied by Toffee and Black Pepper vodka shots – beat the hell out of their ham rolls and a thermos’s of luke warm coffee.
A passing posse of 10 inch travelers seemed similarly impressed.
The climb out to CutThorne was a great deal easier for some reason tonight but when we got to the top we realized that much haste was required to get to Sutton Hall before we turned into pumpkins – I fear we dallied too long over the festivities.
Hard pedaling along the valley gave options for a quick blast through the forest and down to Sutton.
More birthdays please Mr I.

Words by Eric
Crew; El Pres, PtD, Butty, Stunt, TJ, Mr I, Gee, Eric?

Lame excuses; Slim, career issues limited attendance to the pub
.
Route; BL, Sutton, Hollin Lane, Fourways, Barlow Hill, Danebridge, Swythamley, Paddock bridleway, bridleway by Bearstone, Eagle and Child, Tagsclough Hill, Crag Hall, Standing Stone, Nessit, KM descent, Sutton Hall.

Conditions; Despite threatening skies the rain held off for another nights dry riding – BUT the breeze got breezier and the temperatures were more 1st of March than 1st of May.

Stats; None.

?Offs; None, surprisingly.

Notes;

For the second time in three weeks we were to be treated to a PtD route into the badlands around Gradbach. There were no real objections following the last trip which was a darned good one.
Gee was a late starter but managed to catch us just after the Ryles. Did he go fast or did we slow down? –“if a tree falls in the forest and no one sees………….” So it was off at pace up to Fourways and out to Swythamley – again. Instead of the climb out to Lud’s, PtD lead us along the rocky track towards Bearstone Rock. It was at this point your correspondent realized that, after ribbing Joe last week about inappropriate bike choice, a skinny tyred hardtail was truly a penknife at this gunfight. At least it was light for the pushy bits. The cold seemed to be seeping in as we hit the furthest point south and turned for home along the naughty boys bridleway. Bridleway is the designation on the map – technically challenging was the additional information not supplied.

By the time we regained the tarmac the conditions had deteriorated to South Pole rather than South Peak and those who had thought summer was here and broken out the shorts found themselves a little undertrousered.
Once out of the wind spirits quickly rose and we climbed over Burntcliff Top towards the Eagle and Child. Look out for the amusing “this house is not …” placards along the way; interesting neighbour wars going on there methinks. The wind returned on the climb over Tagsclough and gave a strange sensation of pushing you back up as you leaned into the bottom hairpin.
The original plan was to climb back up the A54 and descend Cumberland Brook but the howling gale strength headwind made even the downhill a hard pedal so it was down to Crag Hall and head for the forest.
Standing Stone and up Nessit to the bench below Shuttlingsloe with a birthday to celebrate. Lashings of Ginger Beer and a toast to Alex was the order of the day. Dan was remembered too, as ever and for always.
It was getting late as we went down on KM, past Bob’s bench and on at speed to Sutton Hall where Slim was already entertaining the locals. Tired legs did not inhibit the beer and banter which reached “second whisky” on the happiness metric.

Words by Eric, pics by Pete

Crew; A Route – PtD, Butty, 3 Sheds, Coley, Stunt, Mr. I, Slim, Eric
Pub – Gee,
Lame excuses; More Easter holidays

Route; BL, Sutton, Hollin Lane, Cleulow Cross, Barlow Hill down, Swythamley, Paddock Farm, Lud’s Church, Forest wood to the hairpin, riverside return, Barlow Hill up, Hollin Lane, Sutton Hall.

Conditions; There was a placebo of a rain shower before the winds dropped and a perfect evening broke out. Still chilly post pub!

Stats; Mr. I, back end threatening to fall off, PtD, wheel bearing woes, Eric, head wobble.

Offs; Nothing major but everyone had at least a couple of brushes with the scenery.

Notes;

After a Northern classic last week it was the south’s turn this week and a classic it turned out to be. The long climb up Hollin Lane out of Sutton was done under darkening skies and the first spots of rain. Fortunately the black clouds moved ahead of us and we were spared the expected soaking. The first stop at Fourways saw our resident superhero attack his rear suspension with ever larger tools eventually resorting to a rock. – which seemed to work. It’s a true superhero who mends his bike suspension with a rock and 30 seconds later is descending Barlow Hill at 30 plus mph.

The climb above paddock was pleasantly dry for the traditional testosterone fuelled race for the summit but the deep mud pits on the following traverse required an element of caution. Once in the woods the root treatment began with a very fine line between carrying enough speed to get over the fiendish things without making the inevitable accident too serious. Stunt lived up to the name with a graceful clipped in cartwheel which qualified as a dab as contact was maintained with the blue Orange at all times. There was some frantic adjustment of tyre pressures at the hairpin before the downhill began; just as darkness fell.

The group soon strung out and the woods echoed to a mix of a whoopin’ and a hollerin’ and grunting a groaning in equal measure accompanied by the sound of contact between expensive bike parts and solid rocks.

Despite the exertions of the battle with the roots and the rocks the lead group raced up Barlow Hill in record time before grabbing the comfy fireside chairs at Sutton Hall. Others maintained a more gentlemanly pace but still arrived in time for pre dinner drinks.

The usual fine ales and conversation were just rewards for a “proper ride”