Off to Fulwood, then a stiff climb up the from Mayfield Valley to join the Route of the Peak District anniversary ride. Alan suggests my route may be much steeper than his preferred Brownhills Lane. From Ringinglow the only way is up to Burbage (did I mention that Burbage valley is my favourite view in England..maybe even the world!) , bloody hell it was windy. Couple of lads on touring bikes come past us into the wind , one chap spinning an incredibly low gear on a Dawes Super Galaxy but keeping up a good pace all the same. Slip in behind for a rest then we set off at a higher speed before the cattle grid and off to Stanage Edge.
Over Bamford moor and a fast run down to Yorkshire Bridge, back toward Bamford and on to Hathersage. Hathersage is packed, cars and cyclists every where. There is some kind of event on as numerous triathletes with race numbers on are descending into town at daft speed.
We've got the strong wind behind us now so a relatively easy ascent up to Surprise. We are joined by a young lady from Chesterfield on a serious locking Scott bike. She asks if she can take a breather behind us for two mins, then disappears up the hill in a cloud of carbon fibre (BTW it wasn't Victoria Pendelton!).
Uneventful trip back via Fox House apart from Family Guy in his Ford Focus attempting to wipe out his whole tribe by overtaking a queue of cars on the double whites, what's the point? You don't need to make this years Darwin Awards.
Back home , nearly 30 miles and back well before 12 but Sarah wants a trip out on the trailer bike. I hook it up to the Cannondale. Two trailer rides later, one down the Rivelin Valley trails is much harder work than the morning ride and I start thinking maybe a tandem is going to be easier. At least she pedalled hard on the hills and I got my bike cleaned!
