Sump To Summit

I met Chris in Tideswell to do a car/van shuffle, leaving my van in Castleton for us to sleep in later, as we were meeting people there for drinks that evening. After sorting the logistics, we headed back to Tideswell and set off for a wee ride around the Peaks.

We initially rode south toward Bakewell, stopping at Ashford-in-the-Water for a late breakfast. From there, we carried on vaguely south through Youlgreave and Birchover. Along the way, we passed a group of about 10 middle-aged men on e-bikes. Chris was in front when one of them shouted, “Oh, look, a Stooge!” to his mates. As I rode past, he added, “Another one! Two Stooges!” Laughing, I rode away, down a technical bit of trail. The group eventually caught up with us on an uphill section to ask about our bikes—exactly the kind of respect the Stooges deserve!

We carried on to Darley Dale and stopped for a classy picnic of pickled onions, some fancy cheeses, apples, and Tuc biscuits—washed down with a bottle of chocolate Yazoo. After fueling up, we climbed into the woods along Darley Dale, which led us toward Chatsworth. Riding through the grounds, we had a minor skirmish with the turnstile gate before continuing up the bridleway to the top of Curbar.

From Curbar, we dropped down through Longshaw, passed through Grindleford, and climbed up Sir William Hill. Naturally, we couldn’t ride past The Barrel at Bretton without stopping for a pint. A Guinness and some chips later, we were racing the sunset to Castleton. We dropped down the bridleway to Bradwell, cut through the cement factory, and finally made it to Castleton.

At the pub, we met Mike, Georgia, Barney, and Rosie to celebrate Rosie’s birthday with dinner. Somewhere during the evening, Chris and I decided that instead of sleeping in the van, we could keep riding after our beers and make it back to Tideswell for a proper bed. At around 10:30 pm, we left the pub and hatched a plan to turn the ride into a 103 km epic.

We headed up the broken road, in the opposite direction of Tideswell, to loop around over bridleways and moors. Riding in the dark with wind and drizzle made it a proper adventure. By the time we rolled into Tideswell at 1:30 am, we were knackered. Cheese and crackers were the perfect late-night reward before collapsing into bed. Safe to say, our gussets are going to need some recovery time after this one!