59-mile, 6000 foot ride in the hills which proved a bit too hard for a man of my age. Looking forward to next year when I’ll be John’s age, since he didn’t seem to have any trouble.

Edale was heaving with Kamikaze ramblers as we headed north from what I image was the busy Penny Pot Cafe to the (new to me) Coopers Cafe which was empty when we got there at 11.50 after 34 miles. Service was accordingly very quick, although one or two of us would have happily have waited another minute for our hosts to heat our good-sized helpings of baked beans a bit more. As we left we chatted with Dan O’d, there in civvies with his family.

Oh the riding? Well, our (well my) post-prandial assent of Mam Nick was as bad as I might have expected, actually it was quite a bit worse than I expected, but yes, decrepitude on my part notwithstanding, you simply cannot beat the Peak District on a sunny day. I urge you to try it. Here’s our route (others available in the back catalogue available through the Rides page).

Additional images from John, Darren and Christian. Click on any photo to enlarge (check the grimace on the face of the ride leader in all its pedal-stroke by pedal-stroke pain).

Chris