About
Monkeyspoon.com was created so that Mountain Bikers in North Derbyshire could share their knowledge, and have a laugh!
Monkeyspoon was set up by James Irwin in October 2005 and is run by a group of downhill mountain bikers based in and around the Hope Valley, between Sheffield and Manchester in the Peak District. Mountain bikers have been coming to the area for a long time for its unique and challenging trails. There’s nothing quite like downhill mountain biking in the Peak District.
![[Cameras pic]](http://monkeyspoon.com/Pictures/SitePics/MS_InfoPage_Cameras.png)
We try to ride at least once a week depending on what we’re doing, and when we do we usually get some pictures to put in the Image Gallery, and often do a post on the main page. Our cameraman (and first-aider), Jeff King, often films our riding and does short videos of our more interest rides, these end up in the Videos section. You can view detailed guides to the local bridleways and tracks we ride in the Tracks page, which we hope will be useful to visitors and locals alike. Since 2009 we have developed an interactive OS map showing track locations and info useful for mountain biking.
![[Races pic]](http://monkeyspoon.com/Pictures/SitePics/MS_InfoPage_Races.png)
We attend races as and when we can, such as rounds in the Pearce series and Northern series. If Jeff is in tow he’ll be filming for a race video and taking pictures which will be posted up here, which proves popular with the riders.
![[Riders pic]](http://monkeyspoon.com/Pictures/SitePics/MS_InfoPage_Riders_Group.JPG)
There are about 8 regular riders, plus a load of other guys we ride with, you can read more about our riders in the Rider Profiles page. Several Monkeyspoon riders are members of Ride the Peak, a group whose aim is to enhance mountain biking in the Peak District.
Thanks for stopping by, check back soon,
The Web Team
![[Register pic]](http://monkeyspoon.com/Pictures/SitePics/MS_InfoPage_Register.png)
You can Register as a new user, this will allow you to do more stuff, mainly it means that once your first comment has been moderated (ie. checked and allowed by us), your comments will appear on the site straight away. Its very easy, click on the register tab at the top of this page. Feel free to comment about anything that’s relevant or if you have any questions or suggestions for us. (We prefer not to see rude or inappropriate language in comments, but we’re not here to police people’s language.)
You can leave a comment about the site, a question or and anything general down the bottom of this page. If you want to contact us, you can use the Contact Form to below to send a message to both James and Jeff, you can also email Jeff at 
.
Some parts of the site won’t work with Internet Explorer 6.
This site has been designed to be displayed in the Firefox web browser. Firefox is free and a great alternative to Internet Explorer or, if you must, you download the latest version of Internet Explorer here.
You will need Flash and JavaScript enabled in your browser for some features of this site.
matt said,
Wrote on June 1, 2008 @ 11:15 am
can someone put sumfing up about litter at the pump track the coucil will trash it if they see wat mess it is in
matt
King_Jeff said,
Wrote on June 1, 2008 @ 1:45 pm
Yeah we keep mentioning to everyone, and ‘the kids’ know. Personally I don’t think most of it comes from people who ride the pump track, more likely people walking through and youvs from the street messing about there. For example, there was torn up cushion there the other day, I don’t know many riders who carry cushions.
So yeah so if anyone sees anyone dropping litter have a word.
We usually clear it up every so often, but it doesn’t take long to reappear.
Thanks for your concern,
Jeff
matt said,
Wrote on June 1, 2008 @ 8:27 pm
hi Wat is a Gd place for beginners ?
James Irwin said,
Wrote on June 2, 2008 @ 4:05 pm
The rubbish down at the pump track is a problem that has been around since we first went down there. The main problem is the amount of rubbish that has been dumped and subsequently covered over by dirt. There are all sorts of things around there. I found an old bed once! The other half of the problem is rubbish that is dropped by people who either are walking across the area or who just “hang around” down there. With most of it coming from the local shop. And as Jeff said the riders are not often the ones responsible. But Matt you are right even if we are not responsible we still need to keep the place tidy otherwise it will get the place flattened. So we all need to take responsibility to try and stop people dropping litter in the first place. And to keep on top of any litter that is dropped. I have been down there many times when people have collected a load of rubbish together, which is a good start but we need to pick it up and take it home with us/or put it in a public bin. Anyway end of my little rant.
Matt to answer your question there are loads of routes within the hope valley suitable for beginners. Do you have a particular area in mind?
Chris Collins said,
Wrote on November 13, 2011 @ 9:23 pm
Hi there. I hope I am contacting the right people. Myself and a couple of others run a youth mountain bike club based at Glossop fire station. The age range of members is 13-18 years. We regularly ride in the Hayfield, Edale and Hope Valley areas and are always looking for new members. Our current group are of a good standard and we ride all trails and hills with rides lasting around 3 to 4 hours. I just wondered if this site could mention the club at all. Our email address is glossopymbc@googlemail.com
We also have more info on the sports section on High Peak Borough Council website (we are on the list of clubs). Excellent website, keep up the good work. Cheers, Chris Collins