Alex

Just a usual go to route to get back in the saddle after a few weeks. There was blue sky and dry roads! For a day at least. Great to get a few miles in.

Freezing cold. Icy in patches. An exercise in staying upright in places. Slipped once. Thankfully nothing but a scuffed break lever mainly. Bike still functions with no issues. Maybe not my smartest idea but there was some nice dry cycling in places too. Now to warm up.

Tried out Grange Garden Centre Café. The log fire was such a welcome sight and feel on a cool day like today. Lovely spot, one I'd certainly recommend. Highlights from today was seeing a field of red kites before some of them took off. Always makes me smile to these awesome raptors. This ride takes me to my 40th ride of 100km or more for 2025 to match my target of last year. One more ride will take me past 5000km. I'll take that for a weekend rider.

Nice run out to Hill Top Café. Bit chilly but warm enough when cycling and not too soggy thankfully. Fresh bar tape on the bars. I did them myself and thankfully they didn't unravel on me!

A grey day, but no rain. I had hoped to just be able to brush the bike down after but the roads were wet throughout most of the ride. So out with the hose after! Got a puncture half way. A huge thorn sticking out the side of my tyre. All good though, soon sorted. Closing in on 5,000km for the year. Hope to get it done in the next few rides. Also hope for a few dry rides 😂

Nice local ride. Trying out some 700x32s for a bit. Started damp on the roads but with the wind it soon dried. Stopped at Belvoir Castle café for a hot drink and a biscoff rocky road.

Couple of spots of drizzle and a short burst of rain. But plenty of dry conditions too. A tad under the weather this week so kept this one local and flat. Decided to go with one of my go to rides with Harvey's Coffee Cabin for a half way pit stop. Always a nice little spot to have a break. Happy to have gotten a ride under the belt today.

Started off pretty nippy and it wasn't until the afternoon when the edge was taken off when the sun came out. Glad I didn't pick the short sleeves today. There were many climbs and some awesome descents. Kicked off with the usual Sydnope Hill almost straight off the bat. Good to warm up to though and always an enjoyable climb. Other climbs included Horselygate Road, Winnats Pass, the incline out of Erwood, Crowdecote and finishing up with the climb out of Stanton-in-Peak. Usual two café stops at Coleman's Deli and Flash Bar Stores. Enjoyed this variation of this route. Winnats will stay in. May try and find a more interesting way around Chapel-en-le-Frith just to keep it more rural. Very happy with today's effort and just what I needed to decompress after a week to move on from at work.

C2C Day 2 2025 done. Great adventure. 3 years in a row now. Great company, cracking weather, super riding. 4 in a row next year? We'll see 😂

Third year in a row now. The weather was in our favour. Great company and got the job done. Happy days. Legs were hit by the lactic acid after stop one. Took a few km's to get into it again. Plenty of climbs. Really enjoyed Hartside Pass this year. Then coming down the other side to Alston was great. Absolutely flew down. Pretty sure I ate too much 😂 Let's see what tomorrow brings.