Organised Sunday Social trip to the Peak District 4th October 2020.
This Sunday a group of us Andy Parker, Iain Callaghan, Eddie Smith, Ondrej, Steve Webster and the youngster of the group Hudson and myself (Ian Bird) wisely ignored the weather forcast and set off up north to the Peak District for our Sunday ride.
Autumnal chill and blue skies
As we climbed out of our vehicles at Whatstandwell train station car park we were greeted by an Autumnal chill and blue skies. Feeling the chill and fearing the rain a couple of us added waterproofs and criticized those in shorts only to stop an hour later to remove waterproofs and admire the great views.
We were admiring the scenery
Our ride continued onwards with some long climbs that left us watching the supremisy of Hudson very often joined by Eddie ride off into the distance while the remainder of the group chose to admire the stunning scenery and take our time and the views were stunning, that’s what we are saying and we are sticking to it.
Gravel track puncture
After some comments on how much smoother the roads are up there we took a right hand turn onto what could have almost been described as a gravel track but enough tarmac to make it rideable and even a few cattle grids to keep us on our toes.
Things were going great as we went steadily uphill and enjoyed the downhills until Eddie came up with the fatal words of puncture! We hadn’t bargained on how good he was at punctures until after mending the rear wheel he found out he’d double punctured. Pure genius!
These were mended as we basked in a touch of sun until clouds came over. We still had the wit of Webster to entertain us whilst waiting and we were soon on our way.
Welcomed refuel
A few miles later we found a coffee stop and a welcome refuel before we set off again for the second half of our journey and a surprising mile downhill towards Bakewell which was great if not worrying as to what the uphill may be like after that! Fortunately it didn’t come but my sigh of relief definitely did!
A regroup outside the Rutland Arms left us happily sitting on the wheels of Andy and or Ondrej for the last few miles through Matlock and back to the cars where we got changed and headed for the pub to celebrate the end of a lovely day out.
A memorable day… here’s some photos from Iain Callaghan. Thank you Iain.
