The Hope Café ride – I’m a cyclist and I live in the Pennines

Cycling into the Peak District where the mighty Southern Pennines rise high above the counties of Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, Lancashire and South Yorkshire. On today’s ride, me and my cycling buddies cycled to the Courtyard café in Hope, near Castleton in the Peak district, where we took on two iconic climbs. The Snake Pass and Mam Tor.
I hope my videos offer you some inspiration and motivation to get out there and to go for a ride.
I’m a cyclist and I live in the Pennines

Mike, let me run with you. I’m running. Come on, quick. Come on. Quick, quick, quick. So, the Snake Pass, it’s the A57 and it links Manchester and Sheffield. And yes, it’s in the Penines. In fact, the Penine Way just starts up over the top here at Seedale. This will be a proper ride in the Penines for sure. [Music] [Music] I’m a cyclist and I live in the Penines. And what a cracking ride we’ve got in store for you today, people. And that’s where we’re based in the northwest of England. Let’s have a look in more detail at today’s ride. So, you can see where we set off and the village of Littleborough, which is also nestled in the foothills of the Penines. So, the first 20 or so miles would take us through some of Lanasher’s industrial towns. There’s not much to film there. But after riding for about an hour and 20 minutes, reach this town of Glosser and our legs are properly warmed up with the mighty Snake Pass looming ahead. This is a high level road which takes you over some of the highest parts of the Penines. And there’s also so much to take in when you’re around here. The views are spectacular with Dermant water and ladybower ahead. But further on down the road, we was also going to take on challenging climb of man tall. But before that, we had a spot of lunch at the Courtyard Cafe in Hope and we cycle 39 mi at this point. So the distance today going to be 86 mi and over 5,300 ft of elevation. So let’s get back to the ride where we’re on the approach towards Glosser on the A6018 at Motram cutting which dates back to 1841. And this was a huge engineering achievement for its time, but it took away the gradient, it steepest parts and made it safer for road users back in the day. Hello and welcome back to another cycling video. We’re at 20 mi just cycle through Glossup and I’m out with three more of the guys. So up ahead we’ve got Mike, Phil, and Owen. And we’re currently on Snake Pass. So if I sound out of breath at times, that’s the reason this will be a proper ride in the penines for sure because we got our first big righthander. There’s O and Mike ahead. And then if you look up there, the road starts to climb. And this is where the climb really starts to kick in. And the views definitely open up. And we’re at around 820 ft above sea level. It’s looking a bit moody over there. We’ll keep on riding at a nice pace. There’s no rush. We’ll always get up these climbs. So, whenever you are on a big hill like this one, find your own pace. If you’re a big lad carrying a bit more weight than your fellow rider, you’re going to struggle anyway. You rely on your natural fitness. So, just get a bike with a right gearing. Living around here, I’d always say have a 34 on the front, maybe a 32 on the back. So, you’ve got like an insurance policy. you will get up it. [Music] If you try and go at someone else’s pace, you’re going to really struggle. But these are big hills. And that range up there is around 2,100 ft above sea level. Further on up the road now. I’ve caught up with O and Mike. Bill’s a bit behind cuz he had a nature break. And we’ve passed the 1200 ft above sea level contour. So this is the summit of the snake pass. We’re all together. We’re over 1,700 ft above sea level. The Penine Way is here. Just crossed it. So, come on. Let’s get down here. This could be fun. And it might be a bit chilly. Now, I love a good descent. And this is a really good descent. It can be super fast on its day. There’s the guys ahead. We just look around the corner. We’ve got temporary lights and they’re on red. That’s all we need. Criy. It’s all the way along here now. Oh, is it? Yeah. Well, that’s spoiled it, ain’t it? So, due to the geology in the area and the extreme weather and rain that occurs in the penines, it suffers from land slips and the road requires a lot of maintenance with costly repairs. But anyway, we’re underway again, building up some pace. Mike’s gone to the front. I’m about to come through here. And if you know about cycling on the front, you’re taking all of the wind. and then all of a sudden every pedal turn is an enormous effort while the guys behind you, they can be freewheeling and just tapping away lightly if they’re very close to your back wheel. So, just skipping a bit further on ahead now. Mike’s back on the front. There’s a popular car parking spot on the left there. If you know the road, you’ll know exactly where this is. I’ve come through again on the front. Um, I’ve probably reached as fast as I can go really. So, I’m freewheing. And when you’re in this section here, cuz of all the trees, the pine trees, it gives you the feeling like you could be somewhere else. It doesn’t feel like you’re in the United Kingdom. And I’m not just a cyclist. I also enjoy getting out getting out onto these big hills. I’ve walked all around the penines in this area. It’s just a fascinating place. Here comes Owen. Now Owen’s a powerful unit. He can get some power through his bike. He’s got a really good bike as well. And um I think as you can see there, he’s come through and he’s put the effort in and all of a sudden he’s he’s done basically and I’ve recovered and I’ll come through again. Um and on this occasion we had a headwind on the descent. It made it hard going. Nice and simple this part of the road. There’s nothing technical. The views are opening up. It’s beautiful place to ride your bike. Really is paying attention here now. We’ve got the a series of left and rights. The thing is, you know, I’m always hoping that someone’s going to come through sooner rather than later. And um unfortunately, you know, when when you’re cycling along here with all that wind hitting you in the face, most of your mates, they don’t want to really come through. They want to just kind of uh enjoy the speed and let someone else on the front do all the donkey work. Just looking across to the right there. You’ve got Seal Edge, you got Blackton Edge, and the River Asher down below on the right. Just cutting through this vast wilderness. It’s a pretty long descent. Again, here comes Mike. You see he’s putting his head down. He’s pushing a big gear. Yeah. And appreciate it when someone comes through. We all appreciate it, but at times you can leave your mate out on the front just to um coast along behind, shall we say. We’re not racing. We’re having a bit of fun. It’s always nice to capture these moments and share our experiences with you. But at the end of the day, I’m a passionate cyclist. I like to come through. I like to do my little bit on the front. Always contribute. I’m always happy to go up there, take the wind, keep the pace moving, and most of all enjoy enjoy my riding. I just love it. That’s really hard that descent. The headwind really making it tough going. Even getting here 35 mph is tough. So on this section here, we’re on the approach to Lady Bower. We’re really into the ride now. This is proper cycling countryside now. It’s just a fantastic place to be riding your bike. There’s no other way of putting it really. I’ve gone to the back. It’s great to see the guys in a good line out. And we’ve got Phil on the front. And he is a really, really good rider. He’s a strong rider. He’s younger than us. And sometimes, yeah, um, let’s embrace his energy. And again, trying to capture these moments. If you’re at the back, it can give some perspective of the line out, how it really looks, what it’s like being in a small group. So, I like these kind of shots. And just on the right there, that’s our first glimpse of Ladyb Reservoir. Not far to go until we take our next right turn. So this is where we leave the A57 behind us and we take a right onto the A6013 and then shortly afterwards we get onto the A6187 and head towards the cafe stop. 38 mi on the dot to the cafe and we had a bit of a a spin down the valley there towards Hope. How was that for you then, Phil? We’re averaging 16.6 miles an hour as well. 2 hours 17 minutes. And so here’s the cafe stop. It’s the Courtyard Cafe. And this where the camera work gets a little bit sketchy. A bit loose around the edges, shall we say? Not quite. Here’s black pudding, man. Mike, I need to ask you something. I don’t know. I’m not gay. No, Mike. I’m not doing you any sexual favors if that’s what you’re asking. No. A lot of people were wondering if you were the anonymous rider. Me mate asked me the other day walking his dog. He said, “Was that Mike?” No, it was me. So, who was it? When I sworn to secrecy, it was Owen. It was a village idiot. It was Owen. Owen also. So, just for the record, it weren’t you. No. Because what what confusing was you’re obviously on this? I thought it was Chris. I thought it was Chris F. Well, Chris from Froom. Yeah. Chris from Froom. Right. There’s not many people on them, did he? Oh, he’s on his shed. Yeah. And all them lovely carbon bikes outside the cafe. It’s a sight for sor. So, Mike, what were it like sniffing KC? I have to delete that. Why was it on there? So, we’re at the Courtyard Cafe. No flat puddings. Having sausage and egg flat jack is the other guy. He’s good. I like him. We seen his videos. I bet you can’t make eat all that. Had an average of 3 mph last week. Oh, coming home. Coming home through bul. It was busy, wasn’t it? Last week. That was a great cafe stop, but I can’t film it all. That was a good coffee stop. That really nice that. enjoyed that. And here comes Michael. Wait, why you doing that? Michael, what we doing now? Is it Is it Mamour? Officially the climb of Mtor Mam Nick. Mamour, whatever you want to call it. Yeah, it’s uphill. It’s uphill. So, we’ll go down Edale Road now. Been down here a few times and take on this really big climb of Mamour. Get to Edale. I can hear someone calling me name. Hello. Dude. Yeah. Know him? Yeah. He’s um a rally. He rides a rally t Scooby-Doo. Yeah. Used to ride rally bikes, didn’t he? Zoo. He rides with your mate. Um to today’s your ple car. Oh yeah. Yeah. And Gary. Anyway, look. If we’re going up here, you’re going to follow what Sean Kelly would say. Mike, don’t be getting into the lead now because you’ll blow. Okay, Michael, you’re not taking me on, are you? He’ll be doing some behind me back. I know he will. Yep. So, this is Eale Road. It’s a gorgeous place to ride your bike. It follows the river. No, it really is nice around here. The sun’s just coming out as well. I’m going to keep me jacket on for the time being. So, Edale twinned with Kirk Yetham. So, this is where the Penine Way starts way up there in them hills over there. I’ve walked all around here. So, up there to the left is the great ridge with loose hill, Mamour. It really is impressive. Wow, that’s an amazing view. So, on this section, I got quite ahead of the guys. I was hoping to get some good shots on the climb of Mamour. and we’ll just take this corner here and then the climb begins really. Um, and I’m quite a bit further on down the road. Hopefully I can get some nice shots of the guys on the climb. The scenery around here though is absolutely stunning. So, here I am now on the start of the Mamour climb. It’s about 1.3 miles in length with an elevation gain of 689 ft. By the time we get to the summit at Mamnik, we’ll be around 1,500 ft above sea level. This is a bit of a bruise of a climb. Look at the hill line there. We’re going to go that way. And that’s looking back down the valley we’ve just cycled up. I mean, wow. Yes. I see it ramps up there. It really does. These are big hills in the penines. I see people on the tops. They look like little ants. Tough section this. No more gears left. Oh yes. [Music] Out of breath now. Can you see the people on Mour up there? So yes, this is a challenging climb high up in the penines. I love it. But I’m so glad that this bike is light enough. I’ve got the correct gearing to allow me to enjoy this experience. I have to go now. I got to get around here and up there around the back of that null there. [Music] I think we’re nearly at the summit. [Music] There’s a little nick here in the hillside and that’ll be it. And now if you crested, that is it. You’ve got over the top and it’s down the other side. It’s as simple as that really. It’s a fantastic climb. I will tell you that. Oh, thank God for that. When I had to cycle back, turn around and cheer the guys on. Here’s one of the guys. They’re here. Hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop. Keep going, Phil. Here’s Mike and Owen. Go on. Keep going. Keep going. Hey. Hey. Hey. Let me run with you. I’m running. Come on. Come on. Quick. Come on. Quick. Quick. Quick. I like to ride back up there again with Mike and Ooey just to cheer them on again. This is M Nick. Take two. We’re rolling. Yes. Easy that way. Yeah. There you go. Right. I’ve took my uh jacket off now. I’ve warmed up. Got a nice descent down Sheffield Road now. And the guys are about 500 yards ahead. I’ll try and catch you up on this long parallel section. And so this is a long descent down Sheffield Road, which takes us towards Combmes Reservoir and eventually on towards Why Bridge. It’s a really good long descent. It’s not super steep. You can carry some really good pace along here. Well, me and Mike were a little bit behind, so we’re trying to catch up with Owen and Phil. Well, that descent down Sheffield Road then was pretty good. It wasn’t super fast, but it was consistently quick in general. So, we’re just uh 53 miles now, and this is why Bridge. Oh, it’s tough going down there trying to catch up again. Yeah, there you go. Never do you. And then we left rural Darabasher behind us and we ended up in Dizzy. It was around 60 mi. It was very busy. Well, we had a blast down the A6. Then we were touching 23 and 24. Occasionally we could all 25 miles per hour and then uh it just got really busy. You did well there late. So we were just getting a bit of a a pace going, weren’t we, Mike? Setting a nice little tempo, weren’t you? Well, quite out from my standard, but No, he never will be, will he? He did all right. Well, you know, he didn’t do. So, this is 60 mi in and uh we’re on Talkingington Lane. Lovely little uh stretch of tarmac. Nice hedge. And you know what? This is a hidden little gem. It’s a cracking little road, albeit there’s a few potholes. It can be a bit busy with traffic, but in general, you can carry some really nice pace. If you’re fit, you can definitely get the big gears turning. And I enjoyed it along here. I was pleasantly surprised. We came off talking Lane. Now we’re on Offington Road and it’s really busy. Wow, it’s super busy. We must have passed about a thousand cars here. It’s super busy, isn’t it? Yeah. That’s on the outskirts of Hyde. It’s getting quite busy as well. We stopped into a local service station just to get some refreshments for ready for the final brush. We’re on the outskirts of uh where are we now? Is it Staley Bridge? So 67 miles outskirts of Hyde. Time for a quick refreshment. Owen went on a cycle pagement and got a twig stuck in his rear mech. So they’re not always good these cycle patients are they well clear of them. They don’t clean them. They don’t sweep up all the the the pickup and the grit and for once was being courteous and going in it. Yeah. And then gets mechanical. So not always good. Stay clear. Plus you can’t ride that fast on them either because you got to stop at junctions and side roads and everything. So, we’re at 72 miles and we’ve completed now the loop on the map and we’re on the B6194 just heading back towards Old. So, this is the outskirts of Glaic Oldm now. There’s three of us. Um, and there’s some parts around here that are left to be desired to say the least. It’s just a litter. It’s people with litter. It frustrates me. Don’t believe [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] warming up now, Mike. Yeah. Climber in Rock Trail. Yeah, we were nippy before, wasn’t it? Snake past my nippy. Should we do another loop? If you want.