March newsletter - is spring here?
Hello, and welcome to our March newsletter. By now, we had hoped the worst of winter would be behind us, but it looks like the beast from the east is set to return this weekend. That means we will have to keep dreaming of riding in warm and dry conditions a little bit longer.
Still to look forward to in 2018
Mountain Bike Skills
(MTB Skills)
Arguably the best value upgrade for your bike that you can buy, Mountain Bike skills training is something many people overlook.
If you invest even a small fraction of your annual spend on bikes, kit and clothing to improve your techniques, you will improve your riding both at the trail centre and beyond the trail centre.
We run our MTB skills weekends in Derbyshire, using the best Dark Peak trails in the Hope Valley and Edale. Concentrating on essential core mountain bike skills, we spend 2 days building your techniques, confidence and speed.
Our MTB skills weekend is competitively priced at just £120 for 2 days expert leadership and instruction, 28/29th April and 23/24th June. We also offer a ladies only MTB skills weekend, 19/20th May.
If you want to push your skills on further, our Beyond the Trail Centre weekends develop your riding skills plus add essential stuff on kit, navigation, riding in a group and what to do if mechanicals or injuries happen. We have 3 Beyond the Trail Centre weekends in 2018, 14/15th July, 13/14th October (Ladies only) and 3/4th November. The price is just £130 per person.
Why not book onto a MTB skills weekend and follow up with a Mountain bike tour later in the year? Have a look at our website for more details (peakcyclinguk.com).
Gravel Biking
Regular readers will know we love Gravel Biking, mixing up road bikes for covering the miles, with tyres that can munch up the lanes, cycle trails and farm tracks we have in abundance in the Peak District.
Now if you’ve checked out our website at (peakcyclinguk.com) you will have noticed that we are running a four day Tour de Peak District ride from 26th to 29th July. If you want an adventure, a challenge, or to ride a classic route (its all three) book your place while you can. We’ll book your accommodation, take your luggage so you aren’t laden like a pack horse, sort your lunch, provide van support at key points (just when you feel like a brew) and guide you round so you don’t even need a map.
The route largely follows the boundary of the Peak District National Park. Starting in the Derbyshire town of Matlock in the White Peak, heading north west into furthest reaches of the Dark Peak before turning south back towards the White Peak again, to the finish back in Matlock. Turn that dream into a reality and live it.
You can check the route in Chiz Dakin’s excellent guide book – Chiz says this about the route “The Tour de Peak District is a challenging but enjoyable multiday route around the edge of the Peak District - and is perfect for gravel bikes”. For more info about the route or Chiz, visit https://www.peakimages.co.uk/cycling/tour-de-peak-district/.
Please note we do this ride in four days as we feel this is within the scope of most regular cyclist but does make it a little more challenging.
Too much? Not sure what gravel biking is about? Give us a shout and we can put a weekend together for you. We’ll even do a single day if you prefer so its just part of your holiday. Doing it with a few mates spreads the cost of a single day making it better value. We can make it as easy or as challenging as you want.…I just can’t guarantee that sunshine….
Children’s holiday cycling
Easter is just around the corner, and schools break up for 2 weeks. We have 4 cycling activity days on the programme, and look forward to welcoming back some previous customers now conditions are improving, plus extend a warm welcome to new riders. All dates are open for booking, priced at £30 with optional bike hire available too.
Wednesday 28th March- 9 till 4 drop off/pick up Mapperley Res, Shipley Park
Thursday 29th March- 9 till 4 drop off/pick up Mapperley Res, Shipley Park
Thursday 5th April- 9 till 4 drop off/pick up Mapperley Res, Shipley Park
Friday 6th April- 9 till 4 drop off/pick up Mapperley Res, Shipley Park
More details available at peakcyclinguk.com/childrens-cycling.
Book your place by emailing hello@peakcyclinguk.com.
Also coming in 2018
Ronde de Peaks –a classic road cycling weekend, crossing the Peak District from Macclesfield to Chesterfield, linking superb quiet roads and classic hill climbs (18/19th August)
Wales coast to coast – a challenging MTB tour, crossing Wales from North to South, taking in some of the best trail centres but also taking you beyond the trail centre onto great tracks, trails and bridleways (29th August to 2nd September)
For dates of other events, please refer to the website for details (peakcyclinguk.com)
GDPR
Yep, data protection even applies to Peak Cycling. If you’re receiving this newsletter, that means either you have subscribed on the website, or not opted out of marketing stuff when you filled in a rider registration form. In both cases, thanks for your support! If you wish to opt out and stop receiving our messages please just drop us an email and ask us to stop. We’ll be sad to see you go, but will remove your details from our website based contacts database. You can always subscribe again at any time.
