Tagged: ladybower RSS

  • Dave 8:09 pm on January 6, 2007 Permalink
    Tags: , ladybower,   

    Ladybower Figure of 8 

    Ladybower Reservoir

    This route is one of my favourites in the Peak District. A circular version of this route is the first proper mountain bike ride I did a few years ago. I’ve done the route many times since in both directions and with various little changes here and there but this post represents what I think is the best way of doing it to get the most fun out of it.

    Distance: 18.7 Miles (30.1 Km)
    Ascent: 2634 Feet (803 Metres)

    Resources: Google Map | Google Earth | GPX | Tracklogs | Memory Map

    The reason I like doing this route in a figure of 8 is because I prefer doing the trails on both sides of the reservoir from South to North – doing both sides in that direction gives you the most fun (and possible) ascents and the most fun descents. In the opposite direction there are a couple of places that are a pain to climb and will most likely involve quite long pushes.

    The route was quite muddy in places today but nothing serious. In summer if you get a dry spell, almost all of the route dries out apart from the section on the East Side that descends from the highest point at Whinstone Lee Tor back down to the reservoir – that is perpetually muddy at the top however dry and hot it gets.

    If you have a GPS and fancy having a go at the route, loading the GPX file in to it will give you a trail to follow that was recorded on today’s run so it’ll be accurate. The Google Earth link has waypoints marked which is at least worth looking at to get you started in the right direction.

    The picture above was taken on Win Hill which is on the Western side of Ladybower Reservoir. There are a lot of great views on this ride. My Flickr photos tagged with Ladybower were taken mostly on this route.

     

    • Gnorb 4:32 am on January 7, 2007 Permalink | Reply

      Man, that is a beautiful route you have there. Reminds me of some of the stuff I saw over in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina a couple of weeks back. (I did those hiking, however, not biking.) About how long does it take you to do the whole thing?

    • publicenergy 8:45 am on January 7, 2007 Permalink | Reply

      Yesterday we were out for about 4.5 hours but according to the GPS we were only moving for 3 hours out of that so we must have spent quite a long time mucking about having lunch and chatting!

      That means that the overall average speed is just over 4 mph! (Moving average of just over 6mph). Either way, that seems slow if you think about speed on flat tarmac! It’s definitely NOT flat or tarmac up there though! ;)

  • Dave 10:03 pm on August 4, 2006 Permalink
    Tags: , ladybower,   

    Ladybower on a Friday 

    Cycling on Win Hill

    A mate was taking two weeks off work and was heading up to Ladybower Reservoir for a day out cycling today so I decided to take the day off and join him. It was misty on the drive there and there was some light rain. On the positive side it was cooler than it had been of late which made the going easier. We were off on the bikes at 9:30 but by 10:30 a lot of the mist had disappeared and it took the rain with it. The day then continued to get better – warmer and sunnier.

    Because it wasn’t a Saturday or Sunday, there were far fewer people around – we only met two other cyclists all day and a couple of walkers. We also bumped in to ranger who was surveying  paths on Win Hill – he seemed to be in control of his own destiny to some extent, while we were talking about our path not appearing on his old aerial survey he spotted a path further up the hill side that he liked the look of and told us he’d do that one today. Every 50 yards or so he had to make notes in his PDA about the path – he also had a Garmin eTrex hanging around his neck. It was quite funny that he had all of this technology with him but had a really old looking measuring wheel lent up against the fence as well. He seemed to be chilled out and enjoying himself though .

    Today’s route as a bit mixed up to my usual favourite Ladybower route, going up the old Roman Road instead of down it for a change. Climbing up that is so much easier now than it was when I first tried it a few years ago. I remember the first time I saw it from the bottom and my mate who was showing me around that day pointed to it and said we were going up it – I thought it was a joke – but he was serious. Paul who came out with me today is just getting in to mountain biking and the conversation at the bottom was very similar to mine when I saw it for the first time.

    So an enjoyable day out and it felt even more enjoyable because it was on a day when I’d normally be at work which gives it that extra bit of sweetness!

     

  • Dave 11:43 pm on April 3, 2006 Permalink
    Tags: ladybower, , ,   

    The sign at Whinstone Lee Tor 

    It was a nice surprise today when I discovered that two fellow Flickrers had made it up to Whinstone Lee Tor in the Peak District to get photos of their bikes against the post, high up in the hills overlooking Ladybower reservoir.

    So, congratulations to Reign and .scooter – nice one

    There is a flickr group for them: That Post

    I remember my first journey up there going from Cutthroat Bridge over the Derweent Moors in very strong wind – it was very hard work but rewarding once you get to the sign and can see the view down in to the valley.

    It sounds like the conditions were the same today for those two. So respect due

     

  • Dave 10:15 pm on January 22, 2006 Permalink
    Tags: , ladybower,   

    The old Roamin’ Road 

    Ladybower20050122The Old Roamin’ Road was one of the first major routes I did on the mountain bike a few years ago and one I’ve done quite often since. I’ve been using a GPS to record the routes recently, which enables me to get the route statistics as well. During winter I’m aiming for a minimum of 50 off-road miles per week, in Summer that should increase – especially when most trips are over 20 miles even at this time of year.

    The Google Earth image can be clicked on to show a larger version which shows today’s route – you can also download it to show on Google Earth: Ladybower 22-Jan-2006.KML.

    Today’s trip to Ladybower Reservoir produced these stats…

    • Distance: 20.7 Miles

    • Moving Time: 3 Hours 12 Minutes

    • Moving Average: 6.5 Mph

    • Maximum Speed: 25.0 Mph

    • Total Ascent: 809 Metres

    It’s going to be interesting to compare those numbers against doing the route in summer when it’s dry. There were climbs today that were like trying to cycle up a log flume – really muddy and messy and it took a lot of effort and concentration to keep any traction and actually get up them. Getting up to the top of Win Hill was tough today due to the gloopy muddy conditions, but I always get a good feeling having beaten something like that! Looking at Wikipedia just now, I’ve discovered something I didn’t know…

    With around 144 m of relative height, Win Hill is only a few metres short of qualifying as a Marilyn.

    Marilyn? What the? I’ve obviously led a sheltered life, I’d never heard that term before!

    It was very foggy today so not ideal for great photography. Just after noon, we stopped for lunch next to Ladybower Reservoir, which is the bottom reservoir in a set of three, Howden and Derwent being the uppermost two. Both of those reservoirs have great looking dams separating them from the next reservoir down. You can get very close to the Derwent Dam and it looks amazing when the water is flowing over it. Ladybower Reservoir doesn’t end with a dam like the other two though – it has two huge plugholes like the one pictured below. I have yet to see the water high enough to see the water spiralling down these things but hope to one day.

    Ladybower plug hole

    It was very foggy today and there was no wind at all. It’s not often that I’ve seen the reservoir have such a still glassy surface.

    Ladybower,Peak District, GPS, Google Earth, Tracklogs

     

    • Leigh 12:42 am on January 23, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      I am so impressed by that photograph and your stats. I can just imagine how muddy it was, bet that was plenty fun!

      Glad you’re using your GPS, it’s all so eyecatching when I see it here using the google earth image. Google Earth is just so neat.

      You’re making me yearn for a GPS unit. I think it may be time to sell some photographs ;-)

    • Diana 2:58 am on January 23, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Like Leigh said, I think I need to sell some stuff and get a regular ol’ GPS unit.

      The photo at the bottom. I’ve never seen anything like that. At quick glance I thought it was a whirlpool.

    • Roger B. 9:48 am on January 23, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks for the new word (“Marilyn”). Have you read Muriel Gray’s excellent book “The First Fifty: Munro-bagging Without a Beard”?

  • Dave 7:30 am on December 1, 2005 Permalink
    Tags: ladybower   

    Ladybower 

    .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }
    .flickr-yourcomment { }
    .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }

     

    • Roger B. 9:40 am on December 1, 2005 Permalink | Reply

      Nice shot. Where did you take it from?

    • publicenergy 9:52 am on December 1, 2005 Permalink | Reply

      I”ve just looked on a map and it looks like the end of the Roman Road on Blackley Hey about to cross the A57 towards Rowlee Farm. I do like it around there! :D

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