Page 122 - 2022-08-01 RiDE

BRITAIN’S BEST RIDE-OUTS ADVENTURE

‘It’s worth all the

effort for the

views alone’

Take a break,
enjoy the view.
You’ll need to

Challenging
Ahead is a crest, which on my enduro surfaces build Back in the 1990s, I visited it as a starry-
bike is definitely a jump but even off-road skills eyed sportsbike owner, but now after years of
keeping to my 25mph limit, the 1200 closure, it has reinvented itself as a distillery
goes light and lands with composure. and coffee shop. It’s a great place to stop and I
We continue to roll, climbing and supp on a latte, eat a sausage roll and calm
descending. There so much going on in down after the concentration of it all and plan
such a small area that it’s a great place what’s next: a gentle bimble through some
to refine your skills through repetition. lanes and then an attempt at the rocks and
Next, we roll through to Buxton, this technical riding of the Cumberland Clough.
time avoiding the green lane that You’ll need to be skilled for this one if
heads through the golf course and runs you’re on a big bike and I’m not ashamed
into town. Buxton’s been one of the most Exiting the to say I turned back before it got too much.
important towns in the Peaks for centuries. newly revamped The route is topped off by a great road
Cat & Fiddle
In 1759 there was a proper effort to make a loop back to Dove Holes Quarry, passing
toll route and it’s remains, the Old Coach over the moors and though some lovely,
Road, are rocky, steep and enjoyable. lovely towns. There are some amazing
Heading from Buxton the Old Coach Road roads in the Peaks – and owning an
is not the easiest to scale at its start. The adventure bike lets you see them in a
steep climb was part of its fall from whole new dimension.
popularity (they built the road that became
the A537 because of it). But it is more than
doable – you have to trust the suspension and
go for it without slipping the clutch too much.
Heading the other way is much easier – gravity is your
friend: you drop over the rock steps rather than forcing
your way over them – well worth remembering if you
fancy trying this road and you’re a bit nervous: just
attack it from the other end.
It’s hot, sweaty work, but once you’re through,
everything is straight forward and it’s worth all the effort
for the views alone.
Riding aged roads like this is all about loving being
loose. Laid more than 250 years ago, those cobbles
wobble under your wheels and you need faith to know
it’s all going to be OK. It’s not very far, but I’m actually
quite tired by the time it’s all over. As the Old Coach
Road finishes, I roll down quaint single-track roads and
end up at the A537, just in front of the newly-revamped
Cat and Fiddle Inn.
Cumberland Clough
is hard work: don’t be
14 | BRITAIN’S BEST RIDE-OUTS afraid to miss it out