A recap video of our riding in the Peak District over the last 4 years. More info on the bridleways ridden in the video can found on the Tracks page.

I started out making a best of 2011 video and then extended it to include the last 3 years. Apart from it being previously seen footage to new music, quite a bit of the 2011 stuff is new and there are some older unseen short bits and a few alternate shots that weren’t in the original videos. For more of these videos see the Video pages for the last 3 years.

The bridleways we’re riding are all named, see more info on them on the track pages and you can also view their locations (and much more) on the OS tracks map.

On the Saturday of most recent May bank holiday weekend James and I made a late start and drove down past Matlock-on-sea to Ambergate, near Derby, to check out some of the semi-unofficial tracks in Shining Cliff Woods.

It seems the tracks have been there a few years and are generally tolerated, with most tracks towards the far end of woods. The first track we directed to was quite good with lots embedded rocks and tight steep sections making it very technical with a flatter fun section towards the bottom. With the heat and humidity it was a sweaty push to the top and we only did a few runs of that track. I got the only pictures of the day there, which I think came out quite well considering they were from one run and I sometimes need to shoot loads of runs to get what I want.
Further across the hill, beyond the footpath, there are more tracks starting from a small hill. There were many lines coming off the start point taking you into a small maze of rocky turns that led to two tracks. One was flatter with jumps and fun corners to slide into due the water still lingering on the track. The other went left and more steeply down the hill with some reasonable sized drops and big technical rock garden. I spent many attempts on this giant pedal and bash ring sander, eventually completing a run on the line I was aiming for, well more or less. For some reason when it came to ride back to the car my front middle ring was bent, hmmm. 😕
You can find more info on Ambergate and directions on Gravity Slaves, here.

09-05-23 Ambergate JI+JK, 5 Pictures by Jeff

So as the weather was great me and Jeff headed out for a couple of yours ride in the evening, as it would have been too hot and really busy with walkers during the day. But even at this time it was still roasting, with some people using the great weather to top up their tan at the top of Hagg Tor. With it being almost bone dry I was really enjoying myself putting in many runs of the top section of Hagg Tor, even trying the inside line 😉 in the lower woods!

After we had got enough shoots we headed over towards Gores to get some more there. In stark contrast to Hagg Tor the upper sections of Gores were much muddier looked like a 4×4 had been up there. Stopping over half way down to unblock a drainage gully. We did a couple of shoots on Gores but I don’t personally think it has the same level of interest as Hagg Tor. A couple more turns would make it alot more interesting. Which starting us thinking how good It would be if we had a transporter, which meant you could do a full run down Gores and then get transported to the top of Hagg Tor 🙂 One for the future maybe. Other highlights of ride must have been Jeff using a branch to hold his chain rings and bash guard to cranks. After completely destroying them at Ambergate isn’t it amazing how the Caveman comes out when required.

So back in mid September, James, Matt A and myself (Jeff) went for a ride of the EPIC loop. Heading up through Aston we did a bit of drain maintenance, unblocking the hole under the wall which was causing the steam to run down the path again, building on the previous work of a group known as Ride The Peak.

After lunch at top of the woods on HopeX DH we did one continuous run down which we all enjoyed. We pushed up the other side complaining about the dangerous and boring new surface that has been put down on the section up to the Snake, as a result of work on the bridge.

Sessioning Hagg Tor was great fun, we did about 3 runs each of the top section and got some nice pics. A slightly new line has appeared on the second to last corner on the top section, cutting back left just after the corner gives a faster line and better angle onto the next corner with the dropping tree that covers the exit.

Next we headed onto Gores DH, where we all set off from the usual spot, Irwin leading, and me sneaking out in front of Matt. I was doing well, good speed, clearing a few short rock downslopes with a slight hop, slightly manualling the two stream before the forest. I then tried to pull up off the lip of a piece of wood buried in the track, I landed in a slight dip and was forced towards the front of the bike, off balance, going fast and expecting to go down I braked, which was possibly my downfall… literally. I went down to the left, landing on my side and sliding along the bank and track. A quick check, nothing broken, my arm and leg pads doing a good job, my initial injuries being grazing on my hip and elbow and my left lower leg muscle was stiff, I think it must have taken a hit while tensed. This made getting to the bottom of the track ‘interesting’. We called off going up Grindle Clough to Whinstone Lee Tor and just headed home, which was quite painful on the uphill sections. I was walking with a limp for a week and not fully recover for two weeks, still at least it wasn’t a long term injury.

08-09-16 HopeX+HaggTor+Gores JI+MA+JK, 12 Pictures by Jeff and Matt

After the success of last year’s epic ride, a tradition was started so we headed out again this year. After some festive music in the car we arrived at Fairhomes. We decided not to go for the full on epic ride as it was a little bit windy and we were all feeling a little but lazy. After the climb up from Fairhomes to the Hagg Tor which was made even more interesting by the strong wind. We did many runs down the main section from below the first gate to the second gate.

There were four of us. Pete riding his brother’s bike for probably the last time before it gets sold, Matt riding his new Kona Dawg, Jeff, and myself. Joe was planning on joining us but hurt himself and Wharncliffe the day before. With myself and Matt putting the most effort into looking festive. Although the reindeer antlers did get in the way a couple of times and restricted my vision, o well 🙂

So after we had ridden Hagg Tor enough times we headed the short distance over to Gores. This has still got to be one of my favourite downhills. It really is a typical downhill of the area being very rocky fast and relatively straight. So after stopping half way down for some lunch we took some group pictures. It got a little out of hand. But before we set off for the last bit we had to change Jeff’s rear inner tube as he had got a flat.

So after blasting down the final section to the road we headed back on the short ride back to the cars. Not really an epic ride I know, must have been one of the shortest riders in terms of distance I have ever been on. But it was nice to be out on the bikes anyway. So after we had ridden Hagg Tor enough times we headed the short distance over to Gores. This has still got to be one of my favourite downhills. It really is a typical downhill of the area being very rocky fast and relatively straight. So after stopping half way down for some lunch we took some group pictures. It got a little out of hand. But before we set off for the last bit we had to change Jeff’s rear inner tube as he had got a flat. So after blasting down the final section to the road we headed back on the short ride back to the cars. Not really an epic ride I know, must have been one of the shortest riders in terms of distance I have ever been on. But it was nice to be out on the bikes anyway.

07-12-24 HaggTor+GoresDH JI+JK+MA+Pete, 11 Pictures