Hope Valley MTB Challenge

I had a great day. The Hope MTB Challenge is an ‘enduro’ type event from Bamford in the Peak District. It’s organised by a local school as a money raiser, and for £10 you get a choice of 20 or 38 miles of some of the best Peak riding, 3 feed stations with free drink and cakes and free tea and soup at the finish. A real bargain.

The whole feel of the event is relaxed. The start was somewhere up a narrow lane on Shatton Moor. 150 riders squeezed into the narrow space, a marshall up at the front, somebody shouts ‘Are we started yet?’, the marshall replies ‘I suppose so,’ and off we trundle.

My mate Derek is up ahead of me and I get held up by someone having a wobbly episode, so he pulls away. I have decided to do the 38 mile route provided my still sore thumb holds up. You can decide part way through the figure-of-eight route which one you do. I take it pretty easy on the first climb upto Shatton Mast, not wanting to burn out my singlespeeding legs too early. Plodding along though, I try to reel in Derek who is somewhere ahead, not in sight. A fast blast down off the moor, passing a few riders on full suspension bikes (always nice when on a shonky hardtail singlespeed), followed by a yomp up and over Win Hill via Hope Brinks.

The Racing Ralph rear tyre is hooking up amazingly well in the slightly muddy conditions, I was worried about it being too slick for the ride, but it was fine. You just have to remember you’ve got something fast and light on when you are heading for rocky stuff.

A speedy and sketchy descent to Jaggers Clough, tyres twitching sideways on the off camber gravel near the bottom was quickly followed by the climb and another drop down to the Edale road. I caught a couple more riders on this descent, but they pulled away on the road, my 32:16 gear proving a bit too spinny.

I gave my number in at the feed stop in Edale, but didn’t linger as I had been munching fig rolls and drinking plenty of water. Jacobs Ladder was next. The long drag up the valley is lovely on a singlespeed if you’re feeling strong, and I passed a few more riders here. It isn’t a race (at least ‘officially’) but I guess most riders are trying to get round in a good time, and that was my aim. From the bridge it’s mostly walking, unless you are some sort of trials rider, so I enjoyed the breather and a chat with some fellow riders. I was surprised at how few hardtails there were, most people around me were on FS bikes. All they guys I ride with regularly use hardtails. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I didn’t see any other singlespeeds.

Over Jacobs and hold on tight for the rubble strewn and technical descent. I tried to catch a guy on an Enduro but failed, and I was trying not to pop my light tyres on the rocks, so I was happy to get down reasonably quickly without any incidents. I had a chat with the marshall at the Hayfield feed station and asked if Derek had come through, he said he thought he was the first rider through, 15 minutes ahead of me, and I was in 5th. Surprised at this (me being in 5th that is), I decided to press on. Climbing out of Hayfield towards Roych Clough, I caught the guy on the Enduro and after a chat, I pushed ahead. This set a pattern, I passed him on the climbs; he passed me on the descents. After Roych came Rushup and a descent down Chapel Gate. I held my own down Chapel Gate until he passed me near the bottom, then pulled away on the last section and the road. The climb from Edale to Hollins Cross was hard and marked by cramp. I managed to pedal through it, with much gurning and grunting, and passed Enduro man before the top. Of course, he passed me on the descent and rode away from me on the tarmac section back to Bamford.

Chuffed at finishing 5th, in 4:13, I looked around for Derek. He hadn’t finished, the marshall had got it wrong. When he got in a bit later, he said I had passed him when he stopped to take a layer off on the first climb. I’d been chasing him all the way round, and he was behind me for the whole ride.

Overall it was a great event, well organised, friendly and good value. Obviously I’m biased because I had a good day and rode well.

It made me think we could organise a similar event from New Mills, for my son’s school…. hmmm.