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@The_Seldom_Killer
That was a great day out. Trep (the soon to be Mrs TSK) has been recovering from a nasty cold so we called off the starting ride over to Matlock and drove instead. It was soon discovered that we'd not loaded a water bottle each and I had forgotten my gloves so we popped into Stanley Fearns Cycles, which it turns out is one of the finest LBS' in the land.
Met up with KT Bee and oat44 in Matlock Park and then I grudgingly lead them up the A6. I would have considered an alternative but other routes would probably have rendered the ride a bit too long and hilly.
A turn off at Rowsley led us through the Chatsworth Estate and up to Pilsley before heading though the old lead mining town of Hassop. We stopped briefly at Outside in Calver for coffee and cake before rolling through Grindleford to Hathersage and up the Hope Valley to Winnats Pass.
Everyone put in a rather sterling effort here except for me when I developed what I thought to be a stitch and had to do a bit of stopping. A short descent pack into Castleton brought the lesson that front jersey pockets should remain zipped when in motion to prevent people riding over your chocolate and money.
The haul up Peveril Hill was far easier and afforded lovely views of the Hope Valley, neatly defined in patches of snow from earlier in the week. At the top some muppet had grounded his Porshe on a snowdrift and ripped a few pieces from the undercarriage. The rescue SUV wasn't achieving much other than wearing down his clutch.
We rolled on amused as we headed to the Queen Anne in Great Hucklow for a late lunch and caught then end of the Oxford Cambridge boat race. A nice tailwind then carried us for a bit of descending practice through Eyam and Stoney Middleton as far as Calver and back the way we came.