The Peak District minus the usual tourists!
With the forecast promising the hottest day of the year so far and a small football game combining to ensure quiet trails, plus a rare weekend off from racing, Sunday was set up for an epic point to point ride. The initial plan was to clock 100km riding from my flat up into the Peak District National Parktaking in as much singletrack as possible. However an early start (well, 7am) to make the most of the beautiful morning sunshine soon had me daydreaming about the tales from the NUE series from fellow 29er crew members.
The only times I’ve ridden 100 miles offroad have been during 12 and 24hr solo’s and my plan to do a 100 miler on the road every month this year lasted, errr, all of one month! The UK’s only 100 mile mtb race will take place the day before the last round of the Midlands XC Series this year,so while I’m hoping to be on the startline in Kielder this September, race organiser duty means it isn’t certain!
Moorland singletrack
I made fast progress in the first few hours, making the most of a deserted BMX track for a quick muck around and a chance to add another type of trail type to the days scoreboard. Out through the Charnwood Hills and into the National Forest fast woodland singletrack and gravelly country lanes kept me to my plan of a steady 20kmph average speed and zone 3 heartrate - this was just a ride after all and I had to keep next weekends round of the British XC Series in mind.
Zipping along with a Bontrager XR1and XDX combo, I covered some fast miles riding in a paceline along the national cycle network with 2 cyclocross riders. Over the county boundary into Derbyshire a detour bagged me my second stream crossing of the day before a succession of climbs took me over the 100km mark and a pit-stop at a mates house for tea and cake (seeing as he lives on a bridleway, it was rude not to).
With Camelbak refilled and legs recharged, clocking a century was def. on the cards as I descended down into Matlock. With everyone watching the football, the roads were earliy quiet as I climbed out of the Derwent valley and into the national park. The further North I went, the bigger the climbs became, while the dirt and roots of the first half of the ride were replaced by rocks and dust.
4 maps, a train timetable and some sunscreen!
While the area is synonymous with technical rocky descents, there are also some sweet singletrack gems hidden away and I cherry picked the best of both as I headed onto the moors. Having the whole day to ride was like being a kid again, no constraints, no set route, even the destination was fluid.
With the speedo ticking down the miles it was time for a blast down the finish: a screamingly fast 45mph road descent into Chesterfield followed by fish and chips while waiting for the train home and a chance to plan the next epic.
8hrs ride time, 165km in the bag, 7 litres drunk and many calories consumed…
As IMBA says, long live long rides!
