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@atk
So, here goes... before the weekend I swapped the forks on the Karate Monkey for an ECR fork to allow a small front rack to be fitted and in the future a pair of Anything Cages on the fork. I had a play around trying to fit the dry bag to the handlebars but as they're a bit short, I couldn't keep it off the barrel adjusters on the brake levers. I tried making some spacers and a harness for it but ran out of time to finish this off. I took the rack rather than run the risk of the adjusters rubbing through the drybag and making quick work of my sleeping bag and jacket (a new fork was cheaper than a set of Jones bars too, the other option to avoid lever interference).
We started off in Marple, headed over to Edale and along the road into Hope. After a quick stop at 18bikes and some food we had a look at the guidebook and opted for one of the routes that ran up towards Derwent Reservoir, figuring we'd cut it short at the pub by Ladybower Reservoir and get some food, then head back up the reservoir and camp out somewhere between there and Langsett. On Sunday we rolled down into Langsett for breakfast, then followed parts of the Trans Pennine Trail towards Glossop and caught the train home.
Looking back, maybe I should have paid a bit more attention to the elevation for these route, both being on rigid bikes (single speed in my case) and with luggage meant quite a bit of pushing in places and some interesting rocky descents...
Here are the routes for anyone interested:
Couple of snaps...
More... here!
Gear:
I took this photo after the ride, mainly to remind myself what not to take next time... I didn't need the long-sleeve baselayer in the end, various combinations of a short-sleeve merino tshirt, longsleeve merino jersey and gillet were fine for the riding. I could probably have replaced the Patagonia jacket with a smaller insulated vest, it was nice in the morning while waking up and making coffee but overkill for the evening. The guidebook was nice to have, next time I'll just photocopy the routes I'm doing or load them onto the GPS. The caddysacks are good but a bit bulky when packed with first aid, I think two smaller pouches (one for flat items and another for bite-cream, bandages etc.) would have packed better. Two lights was overkill for the amount of night riding we did, the Diablo was fine on it's own and the headband wasn't needed. The Jetboil was nice to have in the morning, possibly too bulky for an over-night ride though. Alpkit Ti mug, gas and their mini burner might be a better solution for overnight trips (one person carrying gas, the other with mugs/coffee/burner/matches).
The Alpkit bag contained a sleeping bag, liner and bivvy bag with the jacket, baselayer and spare socks stuffed in the top. The Jetboil, guide book, gilet, tools, tubes, lights, first-aid pouch, hat, buff and toothbrush/paste were all packed in the Ortlieb saddlebag. Everything else went in two feed-pouches I made earlier in the week along with a camera and phone.