4 Places to Cycle in the Peak District Visited by the 2014 Tour de France

holme-moss-cycling

After the incredible success of the 2014 Grand Depart; what better way to celebrate the event than by providing our readers with some fantastic suggestions for places to cycle in the Sheffield region that were visited by this year’s Tour.

Based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, we are well placed here at Wheelie Good Guys to share knowledge of where the best places are to cycle within the region. We’re always looking to bring useful information to our readers, and this is just one of the many articles encompassing great local places to cycle which we will continue to deliver.

Holme Moss

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Extensively covered by us here at the Wheelie Good Guys in the build up to the 2014 Tour de France; Holme Moss really is a truly jaw-dropping place to cycle. Tipped by many of the media outlets as the place to watch the Grand Depart, it did not disappoint; as thousands of adoring fans came to cheer on their heroes here. For a truly epic circular route Holme Moss can be combined with the legendary Snake Pass – setting up a memorable 50-mile loop in the process – we recently answered an enquiry about this route and provided a detailed route which you can see here.

Snake Pass Combination

The two fearsome climbs are not for the faint hearted, but the effort is more than worth it thanks to the beautiful Peak District scenery on show. Speaking after this year’s race Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas described the Holme Moss climb as ‘unbelievable’ to roadcyclinguk.com; before going on to detail that ‘the last 35km was hard, it was steep, up and down, left and right. We took control there, didn’t go too hard, took it nice and steady, and stayed at the front out of trouble.’

Woodhead Resevoir

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The 2014 route also passed adjacent to the Woodhead reservoir, another particularly picturesque place to base a cycle route around. For a scenic ride you can start at Woodhead reservoir; where the corner of the A6024 meets the A628. However, where the Tour route carried on up towards Langsett; you can instead follow the A628 in the other direction towards Hollingworth.

5 Reservoirs in a Picturesque Loop

By doing so, you can encompass 5 reservoirs – Woodhead, Torside, Rhodeswood, Valehouse and Bottoms – within an excellent circular route back to the same point. The surrounding roads provide scope to extend your route throughout the surrounding countryside; depending how long you wish the ride to be. This particular suggestion is particularly accessible from Manchester.

Langsett

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For a shorter and gentler ride, Langsett – and more namely Langsett Resevoir – provides the perfect centre piece for an excellent circular route. For those looking for more varied terrain, a route here could be perfect as the woodland surrounding Langsett Reservoir is full of natural surfacing, woodland tracks and rocky ground. There is also the possibility to take a steep ascent up to expose moorland terrain if you are interested in exploring wilder terrain.

Scope for 3 Varied Routes

A route round just Langsett reservoir could be restricted to about 8 miles; but if you’re after a longer journey you could also encompass Midhope Reservoir. If you’re feeling even more adventurous then a truly mammoth ride could also include Underbank Reservoir as a third landmark. For any of these 3 options you base your starting point at Bank View Café just outside of Langsett.

Broomhead Wood

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If you’d like to witness some of the fine woodland that the Peak District has to offer, then Broomhead Wood can be a great place to start and end a ride. Impressive, extensive surroundings provide scope for plenty of variety ensuring that no cycling that you undertake here will ever be the same twice.

High Bradfield and Oughtibridge

A great route suggestion would be a circular ride encompassing Broomhead Reservoir, the famous River Don, Wharncliffe Wood, Todwick Wood and Hague’s Wood are just some of the fantastic natural surroundings that you can incorporate within your route. To keep it with a distinctive 2014 Tour de France appeal, you can make sure to pass through Oughtibridge and High Bradfield along your route.

Do you have any great rides that you’d like us to share on the Wheelie Good Guys site?

If so; we’d love to hear from you. You can get in touch by emaling james@wheelie-good-guys.co.uk. We’re always interested to hear about the cycling experiences of our audience, and are especially keen to share fantastic cycle routes – both local to the Peak District and further afield.

 

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