THIS IS A VARIATION ON THE EASY FAMILY POOTLE ROUND THE RESERVOIRS. I'VE THROWN IN A COUPLE OF CLASSIC SINGLETRACK SECTIONS TO SPICE IT UP, THESE BITS AREN'T FOR THE FEINT HARTED, SO LEAVE THE HIRE BIKES AND KIDDY TRAILERS BEHIND!
TOTAL MILES : DUNNO, ABOUT 25 I GUESS
TOTAL TIME : ABOUT 3.5 HOURS
MAPS : OUTDOOR LEISURE 1, DARK PEAK ( BUY IT HERE)
Fairholmes Visitor Centre
START
The best place to start this one is the Fairholmes visitor centre (SK173893). It has a bikewash and more importantly a cafe. You could also start it from Bamford train station as there is a cycle path in place all the way from the station/recreation ground to Dewrent. Also a good place to start is the Heather Dene car park, mainly because it's close to the Egon Ronay award winning Yorkshire Bridge Inn.
1 From Fairholmes, turn right out of the entrance and take the last exit off the roundabout, through the half closed gate. Follow this road round in front of the dam and just keep going, it becomes a dirt track at the site of the old Derwent village. This was flooded when the dam was constructed and if it's dry enough, you can still see the ruins in the mud. Keep following this track along the banks of the reservoir until it becomes tarmac again.
Derwent Dam
2 After the gate, turn left up hill sticking on the tarmac and follow the stone track it becomes until you reach a wall. In front of you, the bridleway carries on through a gate, the path can get a bit overgrown with bracken but is still obvious. Follow the bridleway to it's end, this section includes a lovely rocky descent. Caution - Sheep have a habit of jumping out of the bracken, I've come a cropper before. We now venture off the Dark Peak map for a while but the route isn't too complex.
3 At the end of this bridleway, turn left up the access track. The track climbs steeply and is very rocky but represents a good challenge. After the rocky bit, bear right along the muddy singletrack and cross the stream through the gate. Keep bearing left until you come to Cutthroat Bridge. The path runs round the shoulder of the gully and joins another steep bridleway.
4 Follow this bridleway across a boggy section and then a nice technical shallow ascent with lots of rocks to jump up and ruin your chain rings on. In the 10 years I have been riding this route, there has never failed to be a strong headwind on this section! When you reach the summit, take a moment to admire the view and test your brakes, lets face it, you haven't used them for about half an hour! What follows is a section of singletrack, mostly downhill but varying from sublime to ridiculous depending on how much rain there has been. Follow the bridleway round to the right along a precipitous traverse and then following the wall. Cross the boggy section then follow the wider track until you reach a gate on your left. The path heads downhill through some nice bomb holes and ends up with a fast grassy section with a good jump at the end, you'll be glad you checked your brakes now)
5 Go through the gate and head down the steep rocky descent round to the right, through a stream and up to some barns. Pass through the barns and through the gate on the left and down the paved path (slippery when wet). You'll come back to familiar territory now and you need to turn left back down the reservoir.
6 When you reach the tarmac bit again, go straight on down to the A57. Turn right (there is a cycle way on the viaduct) and then take the first right after the bridge. After about half a mile, there is a turn to the left up a tarmac farm track, this is a short pig of a climb. When you reach the Farm, enter the yard and turn right immediately. At the next gate, turn right again following the tractor track uphill.
7 Follow the waymarked Bridleway as it climbs through fields through a couple of gates. When you reach the summit, carry on along the fields and then along the top of the forest. until you reach a fairly large stone track. Turn right onto this track and follow it past the Lockerbrook centre. The track, which is a green road so watch out for slow moving four wheeled lumps, now becomes a great rock descent, a real let go of the brakes and pray that lovely pair of forks is up to the task. You can use the side of the track as a burm in places but there are hidden drainage cuts so beware!
8 At the bottom of this track, turn left onto the road. Alternatively you can turn right and head straight back to Fairholmes. The rest of the ride follows the road/track round the Derwent and Howden reservoirs and is simple enough to follow from the map. When you reach the tarmac again on the other side of the reservoir, turn right and then immediately left after the fence to cut the corner through the woods with a nice steep bit to finish off with. Jobs a goodun!