Ride in Derbyshire

hammerite

Heading up to Derbyshire on Sunday, while the OH is out with her sister I was planning on going out on the bike for a few of hours. I used to live and work in the area, so know most of the roads to a degree, but didn't cycle then so I thought it's a good opportunity to seek out some of the local hill climbs. Please can anyone with local knowledge check out the route I've planned, are they all proper roads suitable for a road bike and not dirt tracks? (thank you!)

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/739725

If anyone has a suggested route (starting/finishing near Denby/Ripley) that takes in some climbs that would be cool.

Tom Butcher

As nobody else has responded.

The only bit of the route I couldn't comment on with authority are the roads you do between Darley Bridge and Rowsley - there are some small steep lanes round there and that's probably what you are going on but it's possible you've mapped a route on a bridleway or something because I don't know for sure.

There's a couple of really steep climbs in your route but I'm assuming that's on purpose ?

derbygrimpeur

I had a look at the Darley Bridge/Rowsley bit on Google Streetview and it looks ok I think.

Not sure what you mean by steep climbs, Tom

hammerite

Thanks for replying guys. I didn't see this before Sunday so set off and did the route anyway.

All roads were fine, the worst was actually the descent from Middleton, windy and shocking road surface. The road between Darley Bridge and Rowsley was fine, you go past the largest battery recycler in Britain (according to their sign!). Bit of a slog up towards Birchover, then the drop down to Rowsley was extremely steep.

It was a great, tough route. The big problem I found was an inability to let go on descents, it's nice to get the average speed back up on descents, but most of them were either too steep, too twisty, too narrow, or had cars parked along the road. Perhaps I should get bigger balls, or just ride them more often so I know what to expect.

Tom Butcher

The descent from Middleton would have been Nimblejack - yes it is a bit rough and quite often damp as it's shaded - some people can fly down it but it's not a favourite of mine.

derbygrimpeur

Yeah, I went up Nimblejack for the first time on Sunday and it's preferable to riding down it.

To be honest, I generally find that there aren't many descents in the Peak District that I can properly let go on. Most fall into your "too steep, too twisty, too narrow" definitiion plus alot have poor road surfaces. As I'm not doing this for a living, I'd rather make sure I get down safely than take excessive risks.

Did you enjoy Riber?

hammerite

Yes I kind of did enjoy Riber. Just looking at how ridiculously steep it was on the inside of some of the bends amused me while I was riding up. Found it easier than Rowsley as it seemed relatively short.

Feltup

If you want a nice flowing reasonably fast descent then Beeley Lane is fun (28m marker on your route).

Holly Lane is a good long slog with a fairly steep start as another climb in the area (between 42m and 10m markers).