Hope Valley

Cycling

We ride on the second Wednesday of the month, normally starting at 10:00 and take turns to lead the rides. The meeting place and route details are sent to riders by email.

The following is an edited version of what original convenor, Roger Hilyer, wrote about the group.

We ride together in companionable style on easy-paced rides of up to twenty miles.

We are not technological purists. One or two members now have electric assisted bikes, which help them to stay with the group on the hills.

We have had some good and varied rides. A very good one was from Hope up the Edale valley to where the tarmac runs out. Various routes round the dams provided excellent rides and there are roads in our area that are on the one hand relatively free of traffic and on the other not too steep. On this page there are links to a list of past rides, and to few more detailed reports.

But route planning will always be a problem for cyclists in the Peak District. There are people who like hilly, and there are people who like flat. The flat are in the majority, I think, but the real, breathtaking, beauties of our part of the world are best seen from the hillier places.

Cycle trails are ideal. They are mostly old rail tracks, free of traffic, with fresh views of the countryside, allowing long rambling conversation as we ride. There are some very good ones in our district but not enough. Hills and rail tracks don't occur together much.

If you are interested in riding with us, by all means get in touch with me, Andy Smith, the current Cycling Convenor.