RetroRoadRide Series - Rd 2: Peak District ~ AFTERMATH

No camera, so words will have to suffice.

After pootling though Lichfield and Ashbourne in the car, the approach to Buxton was ominously dark. As i climbed higher rain drops splattered on the windscreen. It was at this very moment that i realised my rain jacket was hanging up at home in Atherstone. Bugger! Nevermind, Buxton was sure to have an Aldi and it was still 'bicycle week'. The Cat and Fiddle emerged from the gloom and boy was it wind swept and moist. I meditated for a while on Rule No.5 and girded my loins.

All had arrived and a mighty array of steel was present. After banter we were off, the first 4 or 5 miles rattling by in a blur of downhills and drystone walls. As we progressed the mist slowly evaporated and a beautiful warm sun shone down upon us. There were ups and downs but rather strangely mainly ups! There was some polite chuntering about ther climbs but I enjoyed every one, especially the final run in.

The cake stop was simply magnificent. A lovely cream tea for a meagre £2.80. I thought i was a touch greedy eating the remaining cream on it's own but was soon outshone by many of my colleagues who enjoyed seconds of Coffee and Walnut cake. And please remember this maxim 'You should never climb on cheese'!!

Creaking bodies mounted slightly less creaky bikes and off we went again. A brief stop at Buxton to 'enjoy the waters' and another steady ascent was upon us. We descended into a valley and then the final climb began. The banter had all gone and the gears were getting spinnier, all except for Robin, the new official Roadride Mountain Goat, who pushed on. We held on valiantly, Martin clawing his way back up and then with half a mile to go, and still rising, Robin shot off like 'a rat up a drainpipe'. We crested the hill and there was The Cat and Fiddle. Thank God!!

A really, really top day! Thanks Paul.

coffee and walnut, choice of kings.forget and that zipvit , high5 muck

+1 on that. Two slices for optimum performance.

Nothing beats the manly Bakewell tart ha,ha

It's a pudding mate - there are no tarts in Bakewell. (None that I've found anyway)

Finally recovered enough to drag myself to a keyboard...

Baptism of fire is the phrase that springs to mind! Fantastic day though, with nothing but gentle encouragement from the charming gents to keep me in good spirits. Views were superb and we hardly touched a busy road all day - top marks to dsp for putting together a stonking route, really impressed, cheers! Although I still maintain that twice up from the valley floor to finish at the very highest point was pure evil.

My biggest ever ride I think, definitely be back for more once I've figured out why my bike's so slow.


Incidentally, if anyone's wondering why I'm missing from most of the photos, I think bobbinogs' camera batteries went flat waiting for me to drag myself up to the Roaches... Didn't stop/walk anywhere though so happy with that at least.

Hope to see nearly all of you again soon

Yeah you're probably right about that. I think perhaps next time it'd be better to start the route in Buxton. Knock off the Cat and Fiddle climb early on in the ride and finish with a gentle descent back into Buxton.

I chose to start at the Cat and Fiddle because it's easy to find and I had intended to cycle, rather than drive, up from my house in the morning. Giving Rich a lift up in my van did save me from the extra miles though.

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the route. I did kind of just link together lots of nice roads I knew had some great views.
As I said before though, nice views generally require a bit of altitude...

Working on the Lake District route for September now.

I thought you had it spot on Paul

Looking forward to more of it

Recovered a bit more now [I had ten hours in bed on Sunday night, mind you I didn't get back home til twenty past eleven]. Thanks for a good ride and for waiting for me to catch up. It does feel like I was on a different ride to the rest of you though, how come I saw dead Badgers [Four at least] and you lot only saw broken car springs by the side of the road? El Pedro was right though it was a Buzzard I saw on Axe Edge moor and not a Red Kite [Or a Vulture waiting to pick me off], didn't know you could get Buzzards in England.
TTFN R.