From the mast that marked the highpoint there track descended steadily – this top section was fast but soon the ruts from 4 wheel drives meant puddles and more ice. This was entertaining, though each time the front wheel crashed through the surface ice the immediate thought was of an irreparable shredded tyre. It didn’t happen and our various puncture repairs all held well. One of the big bonuses of the icy conditions meant that there was very little mud, making for very clean going. Of course the flipside of this is the complete lack of traction in places, check out how the Ice Princess got on below.

I came a cropper on the moor proper as I got bounced out of a frozen mtb track. This was a comedy crash, I could tell a few seconds in advance how it was going to end as soon as I realised that I was going to have to try to change lines at a shallow angle. The rear wheel refused to make the change and I was off. At least it was a flattish landing.

 Further along the trail we encountered some monster puddles with a good inch of ice. I figured that I'd probably be able to ride over them if I didn't try to steer. It was pretty straightforward and I pedalled right over them. Candy took it a bit slower opting just to coast. In the video you can see the result of an attempted course correction at slow speed.

Candy coming down from Mam Tor

The descent off the moor is by a rough track leading down to a metalled road. The track is bumpy but fast. I'd recommend front and rear suspension. I have neither but that just adds to the adrenaline. It was close and the brakes were complaining but I made it mostly in one piece (debatable if I had my brain with me) but my fingers ached from gripping the handlebars so tightly. Candy cruised down behind me using her shocks to the design spec. After a minor navigational embarrassment we lunched in Castleton and reviewed the video output thus far. We both agreed the new recording unit was doing its stuff with output far superior to the older mobibox. 

The morning plan had been to head over mam tor and then sneak up the back of Win hill, descend throught he woods and loop back to the bunkhouse via Joan lane.

The daylight was waning fast so we opted to cut out win hill and go back on the roads before it got dark. The climb up to the high pass along the collapsed road was excellent. Just the thing to get us going again after the stepping out of the pub into the cold. From the pass we traversed mam tor ridge to a junction of several bridalways, even stopping to chat to a chap who was walking his dogs and had already been up on the kinder plateau. The descent route was new to us and having experienced the conditions up on shatton moor we took it really slowly. Luckily, although it looked very steep initially the gradient soon eased off and we were able to coast all the way to the road, the only sections that needed care were the places where the track took drainage and had frozen over. On one of the bends we even found a packet of hi energy gel which a previous biker had obviously dropped.

We eventually hit the road just as it was turning dark. The lights went on and we schmoozed back to hathersage with a good day behind us.