4th- 7th October 2019
Seven Club members met at the garden centre in Keresley for a tour to the Peak District. The first night was spent in the Derby Travelodge – for the last eight miles we used a splendid traffic free cycle way following an abandoned railway and the Trent and Mersey Canal.
On the Saturday we visited Carsington Water and enjoyed a hilly ride through classic Peak District scenery to Youlgreave and onwards to Hope. We picked up provisions for an evening meal and carried them a few uphill miles to Edale Youth Hostel.
The weather on Sunday did not look promising, so we took a shorter route through Millers Dale and down the Tissington Trail. Some of the trail is damaged by water erosion and by the time we arrived in Ashbourne our bikes were liberally sprayed with crushed limestone from the trail. A more luxurious night was spent at the Travelodge in Ashbourne.
The forecast for Monday was also grim. Actually we only experienced a odd light shower later in the day. We had lunch at the same café in Ashby de la Zouch that we had used on the outward journey – quite busy at lunchtime, but the staff in The Courtyard were very helpful. Norihan and John left us in Ashby, whilst the rest of the group continued to Atherstone for tea and completed the tour in Coventry.
An enjoyable few days of cycling took us through some demanding countryside with good banter along the way: the bikes behaved well although we did suffer three punctures, which were quickly fixed.
