The Peak District - Hayfield Loop - 21.5 miles (Day 4)

Morning Al :))))

Raph had pulled Al out of the tent, but she didn't look impressed.

The Route

Getting prepared - never straight forward.

The first climb of the day

Raph taking a rest - he was doing well, but just couldn't manage a clean run.

Al showing us how it should be done.

And Grant deciding to walk - funny - he wasn't too keen on having his photo taken lol.

Ok - it was at this point and after a really nice decent that we realised we had taken the wrong road.

Time for the Edwards Brothers to eat a pork pie before heading back up the hill.

At this point and back on track the road ahead looked decidely rough. The faces said it all.

The route was heading towards Jacobs Ladder an was very rocky. Making a clean sweep of it was going to be very tough ineeed.

We turned left across the moor

And then a great decent down towards the reservoir.

The Peak District - The Breakdown (Day 1)

The Journey Begins

It was Friday and time to jump on the bike and head home ready to pack the car with kit and head up to the Peak District. Grant arrived on time and duly helped me take my kit to the car and we were nearly finished when i decided to take my hat off and put it on the roof of the car as I reached in to place the last lot of gear in the back.

It was then in the car and off to sainsburies to buy the (yes, you have guessed it) obligitary nibbles for the journey. We were in and out of sainsburies before you could eat a bar of green & blacks and with enough reading material to last us a week we headed of towards the M1. Well, this is where the fun started.

On way through Camberwell the realisation set in that i had left my hat on the car roof. a frantic journey back to retrace our route was to no avail and it was bye bye hat :((((((((((

The Lost Hat - Farewell old friend

Back on the road on on our way through Victoria. Have you ever wanted to push an mgb over eccleston bridge in flip flops in 3 lanes of traffic? Mmmmmm though not - not reccomended. The bloody (sorry Granty) beautiful car broke down and we ended up being stuck outside Victoria station for hours and hours and hours.

Daaaaaaaaaaad - i am stuck in Victoria - HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP.

Daylight started to fade and the traffic started to ease.

But before we new it the night arrived and we were still sat their waiting for the recovery vehicle to arrive.

First recovery lorry eventually turned up but it had to go again as we couldnt get the car on without causing damage to the petrol tank (too low). So having waited hours for the chance of being rescued we were left again by the side of the road.

Finally, after waiting what seemed like an eternity the second recovery vehicle arrived and we were able

to get the car onboard.


And what an experience that was. It was like jumping onto a club, with the music blarring out. The driver was very chatty and loved classic cars. He was very keen to tell us about another customer. The guy not only owned a pink mini, he wore pink clothes, had pink hair, pink shoes - he was a bloody Puff, but a very nice Puff. Little did he know.

At that point a women walked by with huge knockers - it would have been rude not to have commented on the pair of puppies and was enough to confirm our 'Straight' credentails for a few minutes at least lol.

We ended up getting back to crysatl palace at 12.45am.

Cup of tea, Mock the week and off to bed by 1.15am.

The Peak District - Edale & High Peak Reservoirs - 32 miles (Day 2)

Morning Campers  

The morning started well - happy smiley faces. But thing were going to change.

The Route

Distance: 32 miles

Location: Edale & High Peak Reservoirs

The Start: Car Park in Castleton

Mmmmmm looking at this map Andy - there seems to be a few hills - that can't be right surely.

If i do this to my bike i won't be able to ride it :))))))) then i can spend afternoon in a cafe.

Not so fast Granty.

Out of the carpark and along the road for a short while before we headed up Winnats Pass.

A long steep drag up towards Speedwell Cavern.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnats_Pass

Al takes Raph on Winnats Pass followed closely by a few roadies.

Grant fighting his way against the headwind. I don't think the sight of me stood on the hill taking pictures helped.

Onwards and upwards. The next section took us over the hill in the distance and then down some great

singletrack.

Al & Raph riding over the top ready for a great decent.

How could you resist this? The trail was great so far and the views spectacular.

Way, way off in the distance you can see Al & Raph (on the road bottom right). Al had a mechanical

and we hadn't realised they had not followed us down the hill. No phone reception either so we waited on the otherside of the hill until they arrived.

Grant working his way up the hill.

Some great peice of singletrack.

The journey back to hope led us up some tough terrain. Infact it was so tough, some of us had to push our bikes.

Come on Raph - push your bike up.

The way up was incredibly rocky.

What's wrong Raph? It's not all bad - i promise i will not put the photo of you walking on the blog.

Honest. (Heheheheheheheh not)

The decent down to hope was amazing and even better as it led us to lunch.

Lunch

We had to stop in Hope as Al had a mechanical an luckily Grant had worked out a way back. It was a great opportunity to have lunch, get the bike fixed and then head off again to finish the route. The sun was out and lunch was on its way. www.18bikes.co.uk

The bike shop was just next door.

Riding across the moors was amazing. The light making the clouds dramatic.

The ladybower Reservoir

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladybower_Reservoir
The final part of the route led us around the reservoir and mainly on the road.

The water level seemed low.